Mill City Museum's "The Art of Disability Justice Now" aims to teach the art of understanding
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota History Museum is steeped in history that tells many a story, but it now tells a story that's not always told.
Angela Carter helped curate its new exhibit, "The Art of Disability Justice Now," which she hopes brings insight into the experience she lives every day.
"One in four Americans is disabled, so disability touches all of our lives in some way or another," Carter said. "And if it hasn't yet, it will."
What does Carter wish more people understood about what it's like to live with a disability?
"For instance, if I am going to come here and work on the exhibit, I have to think how am I going to get my chair in my car? How am I going to get it out of the car? Is there going to be a parking place? How long will it take me to get there?" she said. "So every single thing that I do, there are 473 considerations."
And those are the nuances depicted in the new exhibit, which features artists with disabilities showing what it's like to spend your days sitting in waiting rooms, or getting blood draws amidst sterile medical environments. One textile in particular depicts what it's like to live much of your life in a bed.
"We hope that by engaging with disability art and art about disabled lives and disability justice In Minnesota, folks will be able to get a glimpse of our experiences and hopefully connect and realize that disability is the human experience," she said.
The exhibit is appropriately accessible on the ground floor, something that is far from a given.
"Access isn't the only thing we need. We also need people that treat us decently, right?" she said. "And so there's so much stigma and there's so much misconceptions around disability."
So they are hoping to change that. The exhibit is a collaboration of the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota Historical Society and Amplify MN, shedding light on those marginalized even within the disability community as they work to depict the art of understanding.
"I really hope that folks can come through and engage with the art and find that touch of our shared, connected humanity," she said. "And that will help us work toward a more just and equitable society and culture."
"The Art of Disability Justice Now" will be on exhibit until November.
