NEWSLETTER
July 5, 2023
FEATURE SPOTLIGHT: AN INTERVIEW WITH LINDSEY FLAX
Madeline : Tell me about yourself and what led you to work with the arts.
Lindsey : So I will actually give a self description because that's what we do in the disability community. I’m Lindsey Flax. I have on a pink blouse with shoulder length hair with black tint. I am a white woman wearing purple glasses. So, that's my self description but just to give you a history of who I am, I am the Full Radius Dance Community Engagement Manager. Full Radius Dance is a physically integrated modern dance company in Atlanta for dancers with and without disabilities. That essentially means that dancers with and without disabilities are dancing on stage together. How I got to this point is I have a museum background, so not a dancer. My story started in college. I attended a school down in Florida and got my bachelors degree in Psychology and studio art and I didnt know what I wanted to do with it and ended up in the museum field kind of at the last minute. Specifically working in museum accessibility because I knew I wanted to go into the arts and work with the disability community. I did a bunch of internships; Kennedy Center, Smithsonian… I landed my first role as accessibility intern at Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden so I di d that for a summer. And I knew that was the field that I wanted to go into. Three years later, unfortunately Covid happened and I moved to DC again for an amazing job as an accessibility coordinator at the Smithsonian Natural History. I arrived right when covid unfolded and we were shut down for the year, So I knew that museum life wasn't for me yet. Since then I have been doing a lot of accessibility work and I found Full Radius Dance because their philosophy really spoke to me because of the social model. I also am now part of Jewish Abilities Atlanta which is a part of Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta . It's a philanthropic organization and I am their training coordinator, also diving into accessibility training for our communities
Madeline : Yes! I love that. You're doing a lot of good work in the community! In what ways do you think society can help educate people about accessibility?
Lindsey : I think it's embracing arts accessibility. Coming from a museum background, accessibility wasn’t really being embraced. I think if museums or other cultural institutions embraced the mindset of accessibility , from its programs , its people, even the digital environment , it would open up so many doors for people . I was talking to a professional colleague that I know named John Ore up at Artreach Philly, which is an accessibility organization, and we were talking about the comparisons of Philadelphia versus Atlanta. They have a very strong accessibility mindset. Whereas the south is kinda behind and not moving forward. We know that Atlanta has very diverse backgrounds in our community, but one of those people in those groups that we are forgetting is the disability community. I don't think we put two and two together often when it comes to accessibility in the arts.
M : Yeah and I'm hoping through technology and more awareness, people will realize that accessibility is needed. People with disabilities should be able to experience art and to know that there are certain places that they can’t go just because they don't have a wheelchair ramp isn’t fair. One thing I have noticed when I’m going places , I've become more aware of the fact that there isn't wheelchair accessibilities in a lot of establishments. I just think people need to be more aware of those things in their everyday life and try to make those changes for people.
L : And it's not the museums fault or the theaters fault. It's definitely something that people need to be more aware of, but what if you have a scenario of older buildings or older cultural historical sites? Alot of them were not built with accessibility in mind , and that is one of things Full Radius Dance has to battle with when it comes to structures that don't have a ramp or a ramp has to be installed in the back of the building. We have to be more conscious. We call this the curb effect. When you think of the curb of a sidewalk, you have strollers that go down it, wheelchairs , or rolling devices like a suitcase. You have to think of everybody
M : That's a great analogy, a great way to explain that. What do you think is the most rewarding aspect of your job at Full Radius Dance ?
L : Full Radius Dance is a really amazing touring company. All the dancers are professionals that go out and express themselves through artistry. One of the things that I love is the idea that physically integrated dance is a radical act. Being able to say that I have a role and the pleasure to be a part of that. Whether it's connecting with a cultural facility that we’ve never worked with before or organizations that are often forgotten about because they don't have a large team and they have one or two people working there. I love interacting with small organizations where we can do big things
M : Yeah usually the smaller the organization those organizations are conscious of the people. You don't see people as numbers
L: We have worked with larger organizations in the past, but it also allows us to collaborate longer term with smaller organizations who, you know, they’re just like us. We’re a nonprofit, we get the idea that funding doesn’t come as often to us, and we want to make sure we’re providing what we know to them and also vice-a-versa.
M: I agree because we’re also a small organization, so we can kind of connect because we probably deal with the same challenges. Of course, Full Radius Dance’s mission is different because it’s very niche, but being able to support each other is so important with smaller organizations. No hate the big orgs, but the big orgs have to stick together!
L: Absolutely!
M: So, can you describe the importance of having accessibility in the arts.
L: I think I touched on it a tiny bit before, but accessibility is going to be changing. It always is and the unique thing about accessibility is that it's everywhere - when it comes to our staff, when it comes to our social media, when it comes to just how everything is built around an organization. Sometimes organizations forget about different models of disability which I can get into now. One of our philosophies at Full Radius Dance is including the saying “Nothing about us without us” and, also, again the social model which really shows how disability needs to be included in all aspects and it’s not a bad word, or it’s not a “dirty” word and that sometimes people think “oh, because they have a disability they might be in the way of something that they’re going to have like an event.” We’re not fire hazards, we’re not bothering you, we are people and that is part of the human experience. The cool thing about the social model is that it really is the definition of what inclusion is; and I don’t think organizations realize that. If you want to get technical the social model really is where it’s the system or something that is built that is the problem, not the disability. If there is also a decision about anything accessibility related, we need to have the voice of someone with that lived experience. That’s kind of the mindset we go for as an organization and not many organizations in the arts, at least in the South, remember that. We need to have people on our boards who have disability experiences. We also need to have advisory boards from the community with lived experiences as well in order to make the real change in order to hear what the community wants.
SFI: That’s very true because someone who has no idea what that means, they’re not really going to know what to do. But, I know there are people who want to learn more, so I’m glad that there are organizations like Full Radius Dance. Though I was aware, such as when I went to the Alice, Peter and Dorothy, that was my first experience with physically integrated dance and it changed my life. That sounds so melodramatic, but it did! And I realize that a lot of people like me, it will change their perspective on things and the art of it is just so beautiful. Again, keep doing what you’re doing in the community, and it’s great that you have people who represent that community involved in the artistic process. You’re representing the community that you serve and the people who work there are also representing the community that you serve and I think that’s very important.
L: Yeah! And like you said, a lot of people don’t know, like, how do you talk to someone with a disability? Talk to us like you would with your friends, and talk to us like you would with anybody in your network. I think a lot of people who haven’t met someone with a disability, you’ve met a disabled person and there’s hundreds of us out there. That's a chance to really learn and embrace that disability is not something to be afraid of, and that anybody can have a disability at any time, and that is something that a lot of people think of as scary or daunting, but the thing about people with disabilities is that we love sharing about it. We love sharing that education with you and bringing that awareness while meeting you in the middle where you feel most comfortable learning as well.
M: That’s great! My last question is how have the fellow artists and dancers at Full Radius inspired you?
L: Oh, they’re inspired me greatly. I’m going on my second year with them which is wild to think about the fact that I found them and I‘ve seen just in a short while the community really grow. It used to be that Douglass Scott, our Executive Director, was in charge of everything and now we have someone in charge of community engagement. WHile they’re not in-studio, they’re excited to keep going, and they’re doing it themselves within their own artistic work. Some of them outside of the studio are teaching artists or they are accessibility consultants, or videographers in the world of dance and I think that is so unique when it comes to a company like us that is so small and really enjoys the work. They all enjoy the work that they do and it makes me really excited to share that more with the community.
M: And one thing I thought about was Douglas saying that usually the dancers stay within that group for a while and I could just imagine how empowering that must be for them to go out and do other types of art. And I do think that Full Radius dance is very empowering. If I were to ask some of those dancers I'm sure they would say they are reassured that the art they’re doing matters.
L: Yes. And, they’re always accepted. And they could do amazing things without having to put the “disability ones” on it. They are part of the human experience, the social model again is prevalent all throughout our philosophy. And, there are people who do move on and do really exciting work. One person I have in mind is Eric Graise he is one of the dancers who does have a disability and he moved on to be part of the show Step Up and we just always love to share stories like that because I feel the dance world, and the art world in general, everyone’s jobs are very non traditional. It’s a path that’s very non-traditional, so you want to share stories like that and get the word out about what they do.
M: That’s all of the questions I had! We really feel like our community could definitely benefit from knowing about Full Radius dance.
Want to know more about Full Radius Dance, Check out their website here. Stay engaged and follow them on their socials :
