Social Practice Artist and Disability Inclusion

The power of the “image” has been well documented over the course of history. In the 21 st century, visual culture, image is further empowered as it both sustains and subverts cultural norms and meanings. Socially engaged or social practice artists are an important yet diverse group who are creating and displaying image to disrupt injustice, truncated rights, devaluation, and inequality. Typically, these artists define a social problem and a desired outcome that will result from the creation and dissemination of their imagery. Because this contemporary-relevant strategy is becoming increasingly powerful as image and visuality are omnipotent in all aspects of advanced economies, this study is being conducted. The inquiry focuses on social practice artists who are engaged in a collective effort to shift the characterization of disabled populations from devalued and stigmatized to included and fully participatory in all aspects of intellectual, civic, productive, recreational, spiritual, and social life. The study examines the work of social practice artists, the genesis of their work, their processes and the outcomes of their products. Using a life history methodology, 23 artists will be interviewed specifically to chronicle their entry into socially engaged art, to explore their thinking and to ascertain their methodological growth.The study will reveal depth of understanding of social practice art as a set of creative processes that can be taught and invoked for broad and current social change