Join DiverseWorks for the Fall 2021 Diverse Discourse Lecture with Amanda Chachia, Independent Curator and Critic. The Diverse Discourse Lecture & Studio Visit Series brings national curators, artistic directors, and critics to Houston to present a free public lecture and conduct studio visits with Houston-area artists, performers, and writers.
This is a virtual event that will livestreamed on Thursday, September 30 at 6:30 PM CST.
Curating Access: Disability Art Activism and Creative Accommodation
Oftentimes exhibitions tack on access once the artwork has already been executed and ready to be installed in the museum or gallery. But what if artists were to ponder access as an integral and critical part of their artwork? Can access be creative and experimental? And furthermore, can the curator also fold access into their practice, while working collaboratively with artists, considering it as a theoretical and practical generative force that seeks to make an exhibition more engaging for a wider diversity of audiences? This talk will consider how a growing number of artists, curators, and scholars ponder these ideas through experimental approaches within exhibition-making and artistic practices.
About Amanda Cachia
Amanda Cachia is an independent curator and critic from Sydney, Australia who received her PhD in Art History, Theory & Criticism from the University of California San Diego in 2017. Her research focuses on modern and contemporary art; curatorial studies and activism; exhibition design and access; decolonizing the museum; and the politics of embodied disability language in visual culture. She is currently working on two book projects: a monograph based on her dissertation solicited by Duke University Press, and the edited volume, Curating Access: Disability Art Activism and Creative Accommodation, under contract with Routledge that includes over 30 contributors from around the world. Cachia currently teaches art history, visual culture, and curatorial studies at Otis College of Art and Design, California Institute of the Arts, California State University Long Beach, and California State University San Marcos. She serves as caa.reviews Field Editor for West Coast Exhibitions (2020-2023).
Accessibility
Live ASL interpretation will be provided for this talk. For additional accessibility requests, please email Jennifer Gardner by September 16, 2021.
Studio Visits
Houston-area artists may apply for a studio visit with Amanda Cachia through the DiverseWorks Submittable application portal. The portal opens Thursday, August 12, and closes Monday, September 13; studio visits will be on September 30 and October 1.
