We are a Disability Justice-centered incubator for art, culture, and justice producing.
Justice Producing is a form of artistry that results in social change. This could be curating an anti-oppressions training, leading a podcast, making transformative theater, and more! The language of Justice Producing was created by Claudia Alick of Calling Up Justice.
We are a space that centers Deaf and Disabled Black, Indigenous, multiracial, people of color, queer, and trans people, but all Deaf and Disabled people are welcome.
Image Description: Text over pink flowers says “Black lives don’t just matter, Black lives INSPIRE, UPLIFT, BRING BEAUTY, SPREAD WISDOM, REVOLUTIONIZE, and MAKE THE WORLD AN INFINITELY MORE BEAUTIFUL PLACE.”
About
Begun as Oregon Cultural Access in 2001, Disability Art and Culture Project–renamed in 2014–has been the backbone of disabled performing arts organizing in Portland for 20 years. DACP was founded by Kathy Coleman, Erik Ferguson, and Jody Ramey as a way to support and expand upon a number of inclusive and mixed-abilities dance events that have been occurring in Portland since 2002. Kathy remained Executive Director until 2020, when she passed away unexpectedly.
DACP underwent an equity assessment in 2020-2021 by LaVant Consulting in response to harms caused by the organization going back 15 years. As a result, we are pivoting to try to become a transformative anti-oppressions organization. Our goal is to be a community-led organization by and for Black, Indigenous, Multiracial, People of Color, and Queer and Trans Deaf and Disabled artists.
White, heterosexual, and cisgender disabled artists are welcome, but not centered in our work. This may feel uncomfortable, but we invite you to lean into that discomfort as a learning opportunity for what it is like for many disabled BIPOC and queer and trans people in the disabled arts scene.
Image Description: Text reads, “White supremacy won’t die until white people see it as a white issue they need to solve rather than a Black issue they need to empathize with.”
Upcoming Events
Please note that all programming is temporarily on hold until further notice. Thank you!
Nonprofit Leadership Education Series
Check out our curriculum here! It includes the dates and times of all sessions.
Invitation to our message board is here! Email info@dacp.art if you need help.
Beginning September 20th, 2021 from 3:00-4:30 p.m. PST, Disability Art and Culture Project will be holding a six month Nonprofit Leadership Education Series for Deaf and Disabled Black, Indigenous, multiracial, and people of color as well as Deaf and Disabled queer and trans people.
(Note: The term Deaf and Disabled is used to indicate that not all Deaf people consider themselves to be Disabled, so these may be two separate groups as well as having overlap.)
Please register at the link above if you want to participate. You will receive email updates as they are available.
The Nonprofit Leadership Education Series will be held every two weeks over Zoom webinar with automatic captions and ASL-English interpretation. Please let us know other access needs in the registration form.
Because it takes place over Zoom, participants may attend from anywhere in the United States or elsewhere. To honor the Disabled bodyminds of this series’ producers, please understand that we may need to reschedule events due to emerging access needs.
These sessions will be recorded and available after the session for asynchronous viewing and participation via Discord (a message board).
This is a FREE offering to Deaf and Disabled BIPOC and queer and trans community across the United States. Our hope is that this Nonprofit Leadership Education Series will prepare Deaf and Disabled Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, multiracial, and people of color to become a Board member, Volunteer member, Staff member, or even Donor to an organization that resonates.
We hope to build relationships with you through this process, and welcome your emails to info@dacp.art These will reach our Executive Director, Rebel Black. Please be patient regarding response times as Rebel is disabled and works limited hours.
OPTIONAL: Each training is valued at $50 per person. If you would like to donate toward an accessible Nonprofit Leadership Education Series, please do so through PayPal. We invite white and non-Disabled allies to donate in support of this Nonprofit Leadership Education Series.
The first 50 BIPOC participants will receive a $100 gift card.
Image Description: Text on a green background with swirls reads, “Nonprofit Leadership Education Series. Come learn skills that will help you work against impostor syndrome! Disability art and Culture Project is offering a six month series of trainings to help you build knowledge and skills to participate in and lead nonprofit organizations as a volunteer, staff, or Board member. Some topics include working against racism and white supremacy, embodying disability justice in the nonprofit industrial complex, Board roles and responsibilities, grant writing, leadership, and more! Go to http://dacp.art for more information.
Sponsored by Northwest Health Foundation.
Board of Directors Recruitment
Disability Art and Culture Project is pivoting into a new day of racial and disability justice. We are making reparations to individuals and communities that have been harmed and transforming the leadership of our organization. This includes the Board of Directors.
Joining our Board is a 3 hour per month commitment, plus any volunteering you wish to do. The Board of Directors governs the organization, participates in long-term strategic planning, and supervises the Executive Director. To read our Board Charge, click here.
For these reasons, we are focusing our recruitment on Black and Indigenous people (we have reached our target of other groups) because these are the groups that have historically most been harmed by Disability Art and Culture Project and need to take leadership of the organization. We also value the expertise of people who have lived experience with classism, sexism, immigration and refugee status, speaking English as a second language, and more forms of oppression because of the unique wisdom these lived experiences bring.
Attending the Nonprofit Leadership Education Series above will be good preparation for being on the Board of Directors, however you may apply before the series is complete. Simply schedule a meeting with our Executive Director to talk about Board membership, and fill out our Board application and email it to info@dacp.art. Board meetings take place on the 3rd Tuesday of the month from 6-7 p.m. PST
Image Description: Pink and purple background with yellow and white text. “Board Recruitment: Disability Art and Culture Project. Join us as we become a transformative racially just organization by prioritizing disabled BIPOC and queer and trans artists and culture bearers! http://dacp.art There is a happy kitty with moving whiskers beside the text.
