Disability and Joy Roundtable: Chella Man, Judith Heumann and Jezz Chung

Friday, July 29th: In-person and online

6PM-8PM

Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art

26 Wooster Street | New York, NY 10013

This is a hybrid program

Disability and Joy

Join us for a roundtable organized by artist Chella Man in collaboration with the museum and 1969 Gallery as we consider the creation of spaces that center disability community in joyous ways.

Chella Man will be joined in conversation by the disability advocate, Judith Heumann, and by fellow artist, Jezz Chung.

Roundtable & Museum Accessibility

• Captions and ASL will be provided both in person and online.
• Any visuals presented will be audio described.
• For in person visits, five external steps lead to our main entrance: a wheelchair lift is available. All galleries are wheelchair-accessible.
• There is a single-occupancy accessible restroom located behind the visitor services desk.
• All restrooms are gender-neutral.

Lorenza Böttner: Requiem for the Norm Exhibition Accessibility

• Audio tour available here (downloading the Gesso app is required)
• Large print didactics are available at the front desk.
• Braille handouts are also available at the front desk for Lorenza Böttner: Requiem for the Norm, that include the curator’s essay and information about upcoming programs.

Covid Safety:

Masks must be worn by all visitors and guests unless eating or drinking. Proof of vaccination, or a negative rapid test result taken within the last 24hours is required at the door for in-person participation. Additional instructions may be provided ahead of the event for registered guests.

For additional access requests or to connect around access needs and desires please email morgaine@leslielohman.org.

Artist Info:

Chella Man is a New York-based artist, director, and author, Chella Man’s work features the continuums of disability, race, gender, and sexuality. His identity includes being Deaf, trans, Jewish, and Chinese as well as determined, curious, and hopeful.

He blends the genres of painting and performance art while simultaneously exploring sculpture, writing, and live workshops. Currently, Man is a mentor and resident at Silver Art Projects located in The World Trade Center. He has shown at institutions such as the Brooklyn Museum, Mana Contemporary, and will be exhibiting at The Pacific Design Center and The Abrons Arts Center this coming year. He was an artist-in-residence at the Palazzo Monti in Brescia, Italy in 2020. This past year, Man published his first book, Continuum, with Penguin Publishing, highlighting how to heal from systemic oppression and the revelations he has come to growing up.

Since leaving high school as a Junior to attend college early, he has published his first book, Continuum, with Penguin, shown in film festivals internationally, participated in numerous gallery shows and artist residencies worldwide, worked as a columnist for Condé Naste’s first queer publication Them, launched a radically inclusive clothing line in collaboration with Opening Ceremony, signed as the first Deaf and trans-masculine model with IMG Models, and was casted as a superhero within Warner Brother’s DC Universe, Titan’s.

He hopes to continue pushing the boundaries of what it means to be accessible, inclusive, and equal in this world.

Judith Heumann is a lifelong advocate for the rights of disabled people. She contracted polio in 1949 in Brooklyn, New York and began to use a wheelchair for her mobility. She was denied the right to attend school because she was considered a “fire hazard” at the age of five. Her parents played a strong role in fighting for her rights as a child, but Judy soon determined that she, working in collaboration with other disabled people, had to play an advocacy role due to continuous discrimination. She is now an internationally recognized leader in the disability rights community.

Her memoir, Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist, co-authored by Kristen Joiner was published by Beacon Press in 2020. Following in 2021 was the Young Adult version, Rolling Warrior. Judy is also featured in Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution, the 2020 award winning, Oscar-nominated documentary film, directed by James LeBrecht and Nicole Newnham, produced by the Obama Higher Ground Production. She has been featured in numerous other documentaries including on the history of the disability rights movement, including Lives Worth Living and the Power of 504. Judy also produces and hosts a podcast called The Heumann Perspective, which features a variety of members from the disability community.

She has been instrumental in the development and implementation of legislation, such as Section 504, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which have been advancing the inclusion of disabled people in the US and around the world and fighting to end discrimination against all those with disabilities.

Jezz Chung is a multidisciplinary artist based in New York City, creating in the intersection of personal transformation and collective change. With a background in movement, performance, and community facilitation, Chung blends elements of their personal history as a neurodivergent, queer, Korean American into their work.

They have been featured internationally in Paper Mag, Vogue Italia, and Spain’s El País, they’ve written for Washington Post and i-D, and were named a Pride 30 honoree by Logo TV and a mental health advocate by Made of Millions. You can follow their journey @jezzchung on social media.