INCREASING ACCESSIBILITY IN THE ARTS
A conversation with Anne Mulgrave, Manager of Grants and Accessibility, Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council.
The Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council (GPAC) is the primary arts advocacy and service organization in the Pittsburgh region, as well as a local grantmaker. We spoke with Anne Mulgrave, Manager of Grants and Accessibility.
This interview is from the annual D5 State of the Work report.
D5: GPAC is well-known in the Pittsburgh community for its efforts to increase the accessibility of arts and culture to those with disabilities. How did you become involved in this work?
Anne Mulgrave: In 2010, GPAC was approached by the FISA Foundation to increase access to the arts to those with disabilities. As the primary arts service organization in the Pittsburgh area, GPAC has the relationships with the arts community that made it logical for us to undertake this field-wide effort. Our first step was to survey GPAC members. We asked, “Where are you with accessibility?” We learned that organizations were interested in the topic of accessibility, but for most of them it wasn’t a priority. They felt held back by capacity issues and were unsure where to begin.
GPAC sees it as our mission to make it a priority. We put goals related to accessibility in our own strategic plan and started a pilot program for organizations in our region. In 2011, we began to bring together people with disabilities with staff from arts organizations for Lunch & Learns to discuss what each needed–what those with disabilities needed in order to access the arts and what arts organizations needed to have in order to become more accessible. More and more people started coming to these gatherings and learning from each other. Arts organizations started to see barriers that they hadn’t known were there. The great thing about arts organizations is that they’re full of people who are creative problem-solvers. They came to this work with the attitude that problems can be solved.
Since 2010, there has been remarkable growth in organizations that have jumped on board with access. Today there is positive peer pressure, where the question is, “Who’s not doing it?” No one wants to be the odd man out.
D5: How have you changed your own work as a grantmaker?
AM: We provide technical support to grantees before they submit proposals and take the opportunity to ask them questions about access for people with disabilities. The grant review panels now also include people with disabilities. One member is blind, and the applications were not accessible to people who are blind, so we had to make changes — and were able to show that a person who is blind offers a valuable perspective. GPAC also tracks how grants serve artists with disabilities, if artists choose to disclose. These steps build trust between GPAC and the disability community.
D5: What does it look like when someone has greater access to arts and culture?
AM: The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, which owns the seven biggest arts venues in the city, is a great example. The Trust decided to make all their venues accessible programmatically.
Their first big undertaking was to host a sensory-friendly performance of The Lion King that would be accessible to people with autism spectrum disorders. It was a really big deal! In addition to changes in the music and lighting, the theater created quiet spaces with special carpet for audience members if they became overwhelmed. Staff were trained and performers were prepared to expect more vocalizing in the audience. The website provided details ensuring the audience knew what to expect, down to the parking set-up.
Families were really moved — they said they had never felt so welcome. And it had a big impact on the people with autism, mostly kids. The idea is that over time, social inclusion would be prioritized and all performances would include these accommodations.
D5: What’s your overall vision for this work?
AM: Art changes the world. If you’re going to the Civic Light Opera every week and there’s an American Sign Language interpreter, it’s a distraction at first. But the next time, if the interpreter isn’t there, the absence is noted. These steps change people’s attitudes toward disabilities. It becomes the norm.
Read more stories from the movement to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in D5’s State of the Work report.
