Beyond Utility: Accessibility, Art, and the Cultivation of Beauty

This master’s report explored accessibility through the lens of artists and museums. The following tenets were foundational to the research: art is necessary to the health of people and communities; it is a social gauge to understand the past and present; all work done in accessibility and for the disabled community must be led by their own voices – “nothing about us without us.” Through two rounds of interviews and a literature review spanning the fall and spring semesters, a surprising discrepancy was uncovered: the extensive accessibility work being done in museums was antithetical to artists’ perceptions of and experiences, who reported having no to little exposure to accessibility in their schooling and within exhibitions spaces.