Art-to-Art Palette Journal

Centers to honor ‘differing abilities’

By Dana Graap from the Starlight Studio and Art Gallery

     (AAPNW-NY) – Every third week in October it begins, the annual celebration of “Disability History Week” by organizations in Western New York, are dedicated to honoring the history and accomplishments of people with differing abilities.

    Artists from The Arts Experience, Starlight Studio and Art Gallery, St. Mary’s School for the Deaf, and the Matter at Hand program at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo acknowledge the impact that individuals with disabilities have had on our society.

     Advocates across the country, including the WNY Disability History Week Coalition are mobilizes to create understanding and celebrate the history of individuals with disabilities. Since West Virginia passed the first Disability History Week bill in 2006, fourteen states have also passed similar legislation, earmarking time dedicated to the celebration of disability history and awareness.

     Member Western New York organizations are: Albright-Knox Art Gallery; Cantalician Center for Learning; Creating Assets, Savings & Hope (CASH) Buffalo; Community Services for the Developmentally Disabled; Deaf Adult Services of Western New York, Inc.; The Developmental Disability Alliance of Western New York (DDAWNY); Disability Awareness Training; Erie County Office for the Disabled; Epilepsy Association; Headway of Western New York, Inc.; Heritage Centers; The Lions Club of Buffalo, Host Club; Mental Health Association of Erie County, Inc.; Museum of disABILITY History; Parent Network; People Inc.; Self Advocacy Association of WNY; Starlight Studio and Art Gallery; Talking Leaves Books; the University at Buffalo’s Center for Disability Studies; United Way of Buffalo and Erie County; WNY Heroes; and Western New York Independent Living, Inc.

     For more information, see www.albrightknox.org, www.disabilityhistoryweek.org and www.museumofdisability.org.

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