A Conversation With 3Arts: Building Accessible Services & Promoting The Professional Development Of Disabled Artists
Monday, April 19, 12:00PM EST
Operating at the intersection of arts and equity, 3Arts supports women artists, artists of color, and Deaf and disabled artists in the Chicago area by providing awards, residencies, project funding, and professional development programs to help artists thrive as their careers evolve over time. In this presentation and conversation, we will candidly share our experience in building accessible services and promoting the professional development of disabled artists. After an overview of our latest advocacy effort, the Disability Culture Leadership Initiative, 3Arts awardee and visual artist Reveca Torres will discuss disability aesthetics and how her art centers her experience of disability and her activism in the field.
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Esther Grisham Grimm – 3Arts Executive Director: Esther’s career long work in the arts spans museum education, arts education, and philanthropy. Since 2002, she has served as the Executive Director of 3Arts, a social justice and arts organization that advocates for women-identified artists, artists of color, and Deaf and disabled artists working in the performing, teaching, and visual arts in Chicago. Prior to joining 3Arts, she was the Associate Director of Marwen, a nonprofit visual arts organization that provides out-of-school art instruction, college planning, and career development programs to Chicago youth in grades 6-12. Before Marwen, she served as the Assistant Director of Museum Education at The Art Institute of Chicago and worked in museum education at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut. In 2020, Esther was appointed to Mayor Lightfoot’s Cultural Advisory Council, accepted into National Arts Strategies’ Leadership Coaching Training Program, and presented with the Diversity Award on behalf of 3Arts from the College Art Association. She also received the Kathryn V. Lamkey Spirit of Diversity Award from the Equal Employment Opportunity Committee of Actors’ Equity Association and the Wren Award in honor of women in theater from Rivendell Theatre Ensemble. Esther is the immediate past Chair of the Alliance of Artists Communities, a member of Dance/USA’s disability affinity group, and Co-Chair of the American Friends of the Vienna Museum Board of Directors. She is also an executive coach in National Arts Strategies’ coaching program.
Sara Slawnik – 3Arts Director of Programs: Sara joined the 3Arts staff in 2014 as its first Director of Programs. In this role she oversees all programming, including the annual 3Arts Awards, 3AP (3Arts Projects), residency fellowships, and other artist support initiatives. She has been working in nonprofit arts administration for 18 years. Prior to 3Arts, she was Deputy Director of the Chicago Artists Coalition where she managed fundraising and operations as well as helped to steer programmatic growth and build awareness of the organization’s professional development services for artists. From 2007-2011, she served as Program Director at the Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women and Gender in the Arts and Media at Columbia College Chicago, facilitating a range of multidisciplinary programs. Previously, she held positions in development at The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, The Drawing Center in New York City, and The Archives of American Art, a research unit of the Smithsonian Institution. Since 2016, Sara has been Board President of Comfort Station, a multidisciplinary art space in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood. She earned a BA in the History of Art from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
Reveca Torres – visual artist and 2020 3Arts/Chandler Family Awardee: Reveca Torres was paralyzed in a car accident as a teenager. After completing degrees in Fashion Design and Theatre Arts, Reveca worked as a costume designer and simultaneously with organizations doing disability work in health, advocacy, recreation, and peer support. She started a nonprofit called BACKBONES after realizing that years of interaction and friendship with others living with spinal injuries (SCI) made a significant impact in her own life. Reveca wanted to ensure that others, especially those newly injured, had access to resources, information, and the same type of support she has had. She is co-director of ReelAbilities Film Festival Chicago and has curated touring photography and art exhibitions that showcase work of people with disabilities and bring awareness to disability rights. Reveca received Creative Access Fellowships at Vermont Studio Center (2014) and Santa Fe Art Institute (2017). She was selected as a fellow for Kartemquin Films Diverse Voices in Docs program (2017) and Hulu+Kartemquin Accelerator Program (2020). She received a 3Arts Residency Fellowship at the University of Illinois Chicago in 2018. Reveca uses painting, illustration, photography, film, movement, and other media as a form of expression and a tool for advocacy and social justice.