UW-Eau Claire art exhibition’s focus increases gallery accessibility

The unique student-faculty collaborative exhibition “Beyond the Gaze” was curated by senior integrative visual arts major Josh Deutschlander, in collaboration with Jill Olm, associate professor of art. The concept for the show was largely inspired by Deutschlander’s experiences as a disabled person in the arts.

“In the summer of 2023, I took an art history class with Jill Olm, and the representation of disabilities in the arts came up as a topic, along with the experience of taking in art as a person with a disability,” Deutschlander says.

“I asked her about the possibility of an exhibit in the Foster Gallery around this theme, and to my surprise, she replied that I should create one,” says Deutschlander, previously unaware that students could curate an exhibit in the Foster Gallery, other than their own bachelor of fine arts show upon graduation. 

A collaboration to benefit all

Olm says that while she heavily mentored Deutschlander through the 18 months of preparing the exhibit, they had full ownership of the project. 

“What Josh has done is pretty remarkable,” Olm says. “Together we learned a lot about exhibit design in general, and about ways to make the art more accessible to all, both the physical pieces themselves and the concepts behind the art as well.”

Through researching organizations and groups that support artists with various types of disabilities, Deutschlander was able to contract eight artists to take part in the show.

“We reached out only to artists who self-identify on their websites or social media as having some sort of disability,” Deutschlander says. “We ended up with a group that represents members of the disabled community in areas like mobility and other physical disabilities, neurodivergence, mental health or emotional/developmental.”

The contributing artists were:

• Kae Pershon (photography)
• Matt Bodett (painting)
• Victoria Dugger (mixed media and sculpture)
• Pooja Pittie (painting and fibers)
• Gwynneth VanLaven (photography)
• Alex Dolores Salerno (3D interdisciplinary art)
• Ayin Es (mixed media)
• Clovis Blackwell (paint and printmaking)

Pershon and Bodett, both based in the Midwest, were able to visit campus during the exhibit dates to talk about their work and their lived experiences as people with a disability in the art community.

“The campus artist talks with Kae Pershon and Matt Bodett were amazing,” Deutschlander says. “Kae talked about her experience with neurodiversity.  For example, in one photo she explains how the image she captured elicits in her a feeling like her tendency to lose track of time, as a person with ADHD. I was personally able to connect strongly with her images.” 

Improving the gallery experience for all attendees

Deutschlander and Olm incorporated accessibility accommodations for the five-week exhibit, with some to remain in place in the gallery. The accomodations included:

• Added building signage for accessible parking and pathways.
• Expanded gallery space between sections of the exhibition.
• Increased seating options in the gallery.
• Artworks hung at lower wall heights for those who view from a seated position.
• Increased detail in written descriptions of the art and added assistive technology devices for use in playing a recorded audio description.
• Tangible, tactile pieces of art for those with impaired vision to get a sense of the themes at work.
• Cushions for floor seating.
• An added sensory “decompression” space within the gallery.

Deutschlander used many of their own past experiences with art in the research for what accommodations to bring into the Foster Gallery, and the sensory room was one that was exciting to implement.

“I attended a gallery in Minneapolis that included what they called a sensory calming space, which was such a great idea,” Deutschlander says.

“Art can cause strong emotions for many people, with or without a disability, and having this quiet room off the edge of the gallery for people to just regroup if they find themselves having a strong reaction was important to me. I had no idea it would be possible, but we made it happen.”

Another facility addition that Olm's and Deutschlander’s persistence brought about was the addition of a new automated door opener for the entrance to the Haas Fine Arts Center located closest to the stained-glass bus stop on the Water Street side of the building.

“We contacted Facilities about that, informing them that many area bus riders have some sort of disability that makes driving a car or walking difficult or impossible,” Olm says.

Olm says that knowing some attendees of the exhibit would be people with disabilities was concerning because the only automated exterior doors of Haas were located on the opposite side of the building, near the river.

“Initially it seemed that this addition would not be possible, but a new opener was, in fact, installed in time for the Jan. 31 opening reception,” Olm says. “A lot of positive forces came together for many elements of this exhibit to succeed.”  

Katie Bublitz, director of Services for Students with Disabilities at UW-Eau Claire, was impressed by the thoughtfulness that Deutschlander and Olm put into “Beyond the Gaze,” work she says will make future art exhibitions better for all attendees and will raise awareness about accessibility across campus.

“The work that Josh and Jill did is extraordinary and will create new avenues of disability representation,” Bublitz says.

“Too often, events are created and then accessibility features are an afterthought or implemented at the bare minimum. They created the exhibit with inclusion in mind from the inception. Hopefully the campus community was able to learn that creating something with inclusion in mind from the start benefits everyone.”

Well-received efforts and outcomes

Foster Gallery director Amanda Bulger says the reaction from visitors to both the art and the accommodations in “Beyond the Gaze” were overwhelmingly positive.

“The comments in our gallery guestbook showed that attendees were moved by these efforts and by the art,” Bulger says. “They offered praise and even suggestions for future considerations for these kinds of adaptations. For example, some offered ways to accommodate aging guests with similar thoughtfulness.

For Deutschlander, who has navigated all of life as a person with a disability, the expanded accessibility to art they were able to bring about in “Beyond the Gaze” may not change life on campus for fellow students with disabilities, but every little change matters.

“Every little step toward making the world more accessible is a step in the right direction,” Deutschlander says. “And it’s not only for people with disabilities. If everyone starts noticing how others around them can or cannot experience things as they do every day, we can all help make change for the better.”