Philly's Inclusive Arts Festival demands an art scene accessible to all

What makes an arts festival “inclusive”? For starters, holding it at locations that are accessible for people who use wheelchairs or have mobility issues is key to making any event inclusive for all. This includes making sure that all venues have barrier-free entrances and accessible bathrooms — something that can be challenging with many of Philadelphia’s historic buildings.

Intersectional inclusion

The seed of the Philadelphia Inclusive Arts Festival was a conversation between occupational therapist Alanna Raffel and Caldera magazine founder and curator Zoe Rayn Evans. Raffel runs Access Point, a consulting firm that strives to increase inclusion in Philly and beyond by advocating for access, creating solutions, and promoting awareness of accessible opportunities for people with disabilities and their friends and family. Caldera is publication highlighting artwork by people of color and those in the LGBTQIA communities.

“Zoe and I talked about how to make Caldera’s events more accessible to people with disabilities,” Raffel explains. “We began talking about finding accessible venues in Philly — which isn’t always easy. From there, the idea of creating an arts festival focused on inclusion in an intersectional way held in all accessible locations was born.”

Accessibility and allies

The four-day festival, which runs September 6 through 9, is a partnership of Access Point, Caldera, and also Creating United Empowerment (CUE), a charitable online art gallery representing women and genderqueer artists. Thursday’s Festival Kickoff Concert & Party ($20) is a special partnership with Groupmuse, featuring the Madkoi Quartet in a program that includes voices that have for so long been left out of the classical canon. It’s happening at 7pm in what organizers call the “splendid but raw” Workshop at BOK space, and it’s BYOB and BYO blanket, chair, or floor pillow.

“September 6 through 9 will be jam-packed with art workshops, panel discussions, and community building all across our City of Brotherly Love,” explains Davinica Nemtzow, the founder and executive director of CUE. “The goal of the festival is to highlight creative work from people of all backgrounds and abilities while encouraging each other to be inclusive allies."

What to expect

While some of the festival looks at inclusion through an academic lens, Raffel was sure to include art workshops that “will appeal to a neurodiverse audience,” she says. That is, the art processes and experiences will include accommodations for people with cognitive or intellectual disabilities. On the festival’s online registration form, there is a place to share information about what kinds of accommodations — such as an interpreter, captioning, or other kinds of support — you might need to participate in the festival.

On Friday, September 7, at 6pm, at Fishtown’s Common Room art gallery, you can catch the panel discussion “Breaking Through Stereotypes,” featuring local artists, educators, and leaders. On Sunday, September 9, “Being a Productive Ally,” a free event at 2pm at CultureWorks Greater Philadelphia, brings artists and the general public together to creative an advice wall for “being a productive ally to marginalized groups/communities.” Details on these and other events are available online.

Inclusion for the festival includes the acknowledgement that not everyone is able to afford ticketed events, so the two art workshops and a closing community dinner are free, and student discounts are available. Subsidized tickets are also available.

“Our vision is to have opportunities for people to engage throughout the city,” Raffel adds. “We hope that when people leave, they will think about what they can do to make our city more accessible.”

The 2018 Philadelphia Inclusive Arts Festival is happening September 6 through 9 at venues throughout the city. For tickets and more information, visit the festival online.