Freedom Through Flight: Performing a Counter-Narrative of Disability

Abstract

This project explores how discourses of difference sustain the separation of people with disabilities from community life and highlights the efforts of one organization, Passion Works, as members perform a counter-narrative of disability. Passion Works is a non-profit organization housed within a sheltered workshop sponsored by its local county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, and provides innovative employment opportunities by supporting artistic collaborations between individuals with and without disabilities. Our ethnographic portrayal is based on our experiences as participant observers, narratives performed in daily routines and collected through in-depth interviews with staff artists, and document analysis. We unpack how artists perform a counter-narrative of freedom through flight that fosters both autonomy and connection, allows artists to accomplish mind and body, and provides opportunities for artists to perform the personal in the public sphere.

Keywords:

• Narrative
• Disability
• Aesthetic
• Dialectics

We are grateful to Tim Sellnow and anonymous reviewers for their supportive and challenging feedback. We also appreciate the thoughtful reflections of Roger Aden, Bill Rawlins, Greg Shepherd, and the artists of Passion Works in helping to tell this story.

Notes

1. All profits from the sale of artwork are dedicated to the continuation of arts programming and developing employment in the arts for people with and without disabilities.

2. In consultation with the staff of Passion Works, we chose not to interview client artists. As indicated earlier, a majority of client artists struggle to express themselves linguistically due to illnesses or injuries that have hindered their speech development. In most cases, it would not have been feasible to interview client artists without a care provider present to help interpret conversations and without unintended consequences and discomfort for clients.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lynn M. Harter

Lynn M. Harter is an Assistant Professor in the School of Communication Studies where Jennifer Scott, David Novak, Mark Leeman, and Jerimiah Morris are doctoral students