Call for Participation: Artistry “Under the Table”: Disabled Artists’ Livelihoods in Canada

White text on a blue background says “Artistry “Under the Table”: Deaf & Disabled Artists’ Livelihoods in Canada. Smaller text in black below says “Call for Participation: Interviews with Deaf and disabled artists and non-artists about their experiences making a living.

White text on a red background says, “We want to learn how disabled & Deaf artists and non-artists sustain themselves, their families, and their communities.”

White text on a yellow background says, “To schedule an interview, contact Chelsea Jones: cjones22@uoguelph.ca.” Smaller black text above says “45-60 min. online video interview, with ASL interpretation available.” The same black text at the bottom of the image says “$90 compensation.”

White text on a green background says, “This project is conducted by the Disabled Women’s Network of Canada, The Canadian Council for Rehabilitation and Work, The Live Work Well Research Centre, and Re•Vision: The Centre for Art and Social Justice.”

We are looking to interview disabled and d/Deaf artists and non-artists about their experiences making a living.

We want to find out more about the various means that disabled and D/deaf people use to make a living, and how and why they make decisions to sustain themselves, their families and their communities.

About the Interviews:

We are interested in your perspectives on the opportunities and challenges pertaining to your experience as a disabled and/or d/Deaf person involved in artistry. 

 The interviews are confidential. They may be done virtually on a video call, or over the phone (in the current interest of maintaining social distancing, we will not be conducting in-person interviews). The interview may take 45 minutes to one hour to complete, with breaks if needed, though the length of the interview will depend on how much you wish to share, which is entirely up to you. You will have the option to skip any question you do not feel comfortable answering and to end the interview at any time.

Topics We Will Ask About in the Interviews

During the interview, we will ask questions about: 

• What it means to you to be a “professional” artist, such as: do you identify as a professional artist?

• Your experiences in the Disability and Deaf Arts scene, such as: Do you feel the scene supports you?

• Questions about money and income, such as: do you ever do any “under the table” work to earn money?

• Questions about arts funding, such as: have you ever applied for an arts grant?

• Questions about state-delivered benefits (i.e. Ontario Disability Support Program), such as: Have you ever received state benefits?

• Questions about livelihood, such as: what does living well mean to you? 

Compensation

We acknowledge that artists must be paid for their time. Therefore, you will be paid $90. Once you have received payment you are under no obligation to return this payment.

How to Get Involved

 If you wish to participate in an interview please contact Chelsea Jones at cjones22@uoguelph.ca. We will contact you prior to the interview to ask some questions about your demographics.

If we proceed with an interview, we will obtain your consent before the interview, and you will not be identified in any reports or publications.

About the Research Project: 

This project is conducted by the DisAbled Women’s Network of Canada (DAWN), the Canadian Council for Rehabilitation and Work (CCRW) and The Live Work Well Research Centre at the University of Guelph.

This project has been reviewed by the Research Ethics Board for compliance with federal guidelines for research involving human participants through the University of Guelph Research Ethics Board [REB #19-12-020]