Socially Distant Art

Learn more about us and our residents by visiting our website!

Socially Distant Art is a digitally-based, grassroots arts residency program with a focus on cultivating accessibility and inclusivity into our residents’ creative and organizational practices. We are shaping our program with an intersectional approach to accessibility, building our work upon innovations within mutual aid movements and the Disability Activism community. In addition to integrating intersectional accessibility into their work, our residents explore topics related to social (dis)connection, solitude, interdependence, isolation, and community bonds.

Founded in March 2020, Socially Distant Art was originally launched in response to social distancing procedures enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the pandemic heightened our experiences of social isolation, solitude, and community, these themes are clearly relevant beyond that specific historic event. We hope to use the potency of our experiences during these times as a springboard to explore social connections - or the lack of them - in our lives and cultures overall.

Socially Distant Art community members explore loneliness, social (dis)connection, solitude, and community bonds, while expanding their own knowledge of digital accessibility practices. Our inaugural cohort is investigating these themes and modes of art-making within the unique circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a collaborative, interdisciplinary program, we use universal design principles to create a more accessible Art world.

Socially Distant Art imagines an inclusive, accessible Art world that engages with and expands upon creative innovations built by the Disability community.