Inaccessible, 2021
courtesy of Justin Cooper
Common Use:
About the Event
MCA Advisory Partner Bodies of Work invites you to Access Praxis, a collaborative and participatory event in the Commons. Combining theory and practice, “praxis” describes ideas in action.
Join disabled artist Justin Cooper as he shares how narrative, accessibility, and disability aesthetics coalesce across his work in documentary film and photography. As part of Access Praxis, museumgoers will have the opportunity to meet Cooper and participate in a hands-on activity in and around the Commons related to their own experiences moving through the museum.
Common Use programs are coauthored and designed by Chicago community group Bodies of Work and Nolan Jimbo, Marjorie Susman Curatorial Fellow.
Accessibility
This in person program is free and open to the public. ASL interpretation and verbal description will be offered on site. For any other access needs, please contact Carrie Sandahl at csandahl@uic.edu
About the Artist
Justin Cooper is a Black visual artist and disability advocate who has been working professionally in art and film since 2012. The lack of media representation amongst people with disabilities motivated him to work on his own documentary film called The Wheelchair Chronicles. As an advocate, Cooper works as the President of the Young Professionals Council at Access Living along with working with the racial and social justice advocacy group AYLP (Advance Your Leadership Power). He also works as a committee member for the annual Chicago Disability Pride Parade, a member of the Chicago Disability Activism Collective (CDAC), and a board member for the Illinois Partners for Human Service (IPHS). In 2020, Cooper was selected as a Junior Artist In Residence for the Disability Culture Activism Lab (DCAL) in conjunction with Access Living, and in 2021 was a 3Arts/Bodies of Work Residency Fellow.
About Bodies of Work
Bodies of Work is a consortium of four programs at three Chicago organizations that share a commitment to programming that is distinguished by its integration of disability artistry, academics, and activism.
- Program on Disability Art, Culture, and Humanities and the Disability Cultural Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago
- Disability Culture Activism Lab at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- Art and Culture Project at Access Living
Along with partnering artists and organizations, Bodies of Work serves as a catalyst for the development of disability art and culture that illuminates the disability experience in new and unexpected ways.
