Michigan Artists Partner with MSU RCPD for a Dynamically Inclusive ArtPrize Entry

Wed, 09/04/2013 - 4:32pm by monkk

With a large demographic of the population that can be excluded from a variety of art forms, a group of artists known as The Diatribe took on the challenge of changing how art can be accessed. These Grand Rapids natives’ passion to expand the limits of accessibility to art inspired them to create their own exhibit at ArtPrize, the world’s largest public art competition. While hosting ArtPrize, the city of Grand Rapids becomes home to a diverse collection of independent artist’s work from 45 states and 47 countries. The Diatribe felt that ArtPrize was far too important of an event to still be inaccessible to some very large demographics. They set out to change this through their spoken word and in particular their exhibit, The Word of Mouth.

Their piece will feature live portions of their poetry, along with videos, Braille text, murals, and visual art pertaining to sight, speech, or hearing. The videos will feature sign language and/or captions of the group’s spoken word. When faced with the challenge of making an entirely accessible exhibit, one of the collaborators turned to the MSU Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities when doing research. After a meeting, RCPD was left in awe of the work that these artists were doing and was ecstatic to be able to help them through the captioning and building tactile and Braille elements of their work and spreading the word about their exhibit. The biggest way you can help them spread their words and share in their art is by attending ArtPrize and voting on site for their exhibit. ArtPrize runs September 18 - October 6, 2013 and The Diatribe’s shows will be Mondays and Wednesdays from 5-8 pm.