On July 13, the Whitney Museum of American Art will host the workshop “Disability Pride, Disability Joy, Exist,” in honor of July being Disability Pride Month, and the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) on July 26.
The museum is located at 99 Gansevoort St., New York, NY 10014. The workshop, which will be held in The Susan and John Hess Family Theater at the museum, explores and celebrates the intersection of disability and art.
It also seeks to engage diverse audiences and highlight the contributions of artists with disabilities. It was created with disabled people and their families in mind. It will be led by Annie Nishwani Lachhman, a disabled artist, and Lakshmee Lachhman-Persad, an educator on disability inclusion and accessibility, fostering inclusivity, understanding, and empowerment.
The sisters were born in the South American country of Guyana. They are the only children of their parents, and are now in their 40s. They grew up there until they immigrated to the US as teenagers. The family is normal, despite the fact that Annie has cerebral palsy.
Their family loved traveling, but with Annie being disabled, they realized that information was not accessible enough. Additionally, there was not enough positive disability representation in the travel and tourism industry.
Lacchman-Persad created Accessible Travel NYC in 2018 to change that. The mission of the blog is to inspire and empower disabled people and their families to enjoy all that New York City tourism offers.
According to the disability organization RespectAbility, the original disability pride flag, which was created by Ann Magill in 2019, underwent a makeover by Magill for accessibility purposes in 2021.
“On the improved flag, the parallel stripes stand for intracommunal solidarity. The colors on the flag symbolize various disability experiences. The black background mourns disabled people who have died due to negligence, suicide, rebellion, illness, and eugenics,” the website continues.
The color of the stripes represents disability types: red for physical disabilities; gold for cognitive and intellectual disabilities, white for non visible and undiagnosed disabilities; Blue for psychiatric disabilities and green for sensory disabilities.
You can read more about the family’s NYC travel experiences here. The blog also provides information on accommodations for certain hotels, wheelchair access for certain restaurants, and accessible transportation across the city.
The family has several other significant achievements. For example, Annie is an artist and she decided to create several types of Disability Pride pins last year. Find out more about the pins here: https://www.accessibletravelnyc.com/disability-pride-pins-always-moving-foward6f75e724
The pins are now released, and they are available to purchase here: https://www.accessibletravelnyc.com/Shop.
Do you have any questions about planning an accessible trip? If so, you can email Lakshmee Lachhman-Persad at accessibletravelnyc@gmail.com.
The program, happening from 1:00-3:00 pm, is free with registration, with limited capacity. Those who are interested in attending are encouraged to register in advance, which they can do here: https://visit.whitney.org/Tickets/ItemList.aspx?node_id=1090356
The Susan and John Hess Family Theater is equipped with an induction loop and infrared assistive listening system. Accessible seating is available.
To stay updated on the work of the Whitney Museum, those interested can sign up for its email newsletter here: https://whitney.org/. Those interested can also find details on ways to support the Museum here: https://whitney.org/support.
