Disability Hacks: Strategies for Arts Adaptations

Disability Hacks is a webinar series presented by SAORI Arts NYC and hosted by Ja’el Batyah and Chiaki O’Brien, that will explore the intersections of disabilities and the arts. Our speakers will draw from personal experiences to discuss supports that aid budding weavers with disabilities, as well as highlight the various chronic conditions that people commonly experience within a lifecycle. We will also talk about the creative process, and how it can be built to be accessible from the ground up, to promote everyone’s creativity.

In this first of a series of webinars, SAORI Artists and studio owners Ja’el Batyah and Chiaki O’Brien as well as Teaching Artist Hannah Tishkoff will share experiences creating art with geriatric populations, highlighting the unique aesthetics and creation processes, as well as the adjustments made for the varied disabilities that appear within an older audience.

Schedule:

Panel Talk: 11:00am – 12:00pm

Q & A & Discussion: 12:00pm – 12:30pm

About the Speakers:

Ja’el Batyah Hatch is an Israel-based SAORI weaver and instructor, whose artistic practice combines sculpture, performance, and poetry/prose. A native of Ontario, Canada, she moved to Israel 13 years ago. In 2012, she discovered SAORI weaving, and in 2015 she founded Studio Tiferet HaYetsirah, to share her creativity, art, and experience with other weavers. Through her studio and the SAORI philosophy and rooted in her own experiences of disability, Ja’el advocates for fully accessible workshops, equipment, and studios. Ja’el was drawn from a young age to craft, such as woodworking and metalworking. She earned a BA in Geography, with a focus on urban planning, cultural geography, and landscapes in literature. Ja’el is also a dancer and a trained EMT.

Chiaki wants people to feel she’s a “Santa Claus” who brings JOY to people! Chiaki became a SAORI certified instructor in 2001 after studying at the head SAORI school in Osaka, Japan, where she learned from and worked alongside Misao Jo, the founder of SAORI. In 2004, Chiaki moved to Minnesota, where she founded Studio FUN in Bloomington, MN, where she teaches people of all ages and abilities. For her, SAORI is not just a weaving style, but a life philosophy. SAORI has opened up “life doors” for Chiaki, unlocking new skills and experiences to build confidence and joy, and instilling a belief that if you try hard, anything is possible. In addition to her weaving practice, Chiaki is also a Taiko (Japanese drumming) performer and instructor.

Hannah Tishkoff (Brooklyn, NY) is an artist and facilitator of creativity for people of all ages and abilities. They have worked as an Education Assistant for the Museum of Modern Art’s department of community and access programs, a virtual arts program coordinator for Caring Kind, NYC’s largest Alzheimer’s and Dementia care organization and most recently, as a teaching artist and mentor for Saori Arts NYC and Summertime Gallery, a gallery where artists with and without disabilities make and experience art together. Their work encourages embodied, sensorily engaged and playful encounters with art and each other.

About SAORI Arts NYC:

We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring creativity, joy, and self-confidence through freestyle weaving for people of all ages with disabilities or chronic illness. Learn more about our work, get involved, and donate at www.saoriartsnyc.org.

Suggested donation: $10

Accessibility:

Captioned recordings will be sent to all registrants after the event. Please contact Danaleah at danaleah@saoriartsnyc.org for access questions or accommodation requests.