Hope-Adina Adler
Hope-Adina Adler is a Two Spirit multi-disciplinary artist. They are an Inuit and Métis person as well as Jewish. You can typically find them either at a burlesque show or protest or both at the same time. They are a disability advocate especially for ostomates and other disabilities and the intersections of identity within those communities.
Natasha “Courage” Bacchus
Natasha “Courage” Bacchus (She/Her) is not only an advocate as a Black Deaf woman but is also an actress and athlete. She has a goal of uplifting BIPOC Deaf Artists in the theatre community. She’s best known for her role as “Squib” in Black Drum and Courage Bacchus Talk Show. Natasha is also an elite competitive athlete with three-time Deaf Olympian, Silver Medalist for Pan Am Games for the Deaf, and so much more.
Art Gunter
Arthur Gunter is a profoundly deaf former Hamilton, Ontario native who after extensive travels, now resides in Toronto. Graduate of Humber College’s AAS Rehabilitation program, Art is Rehabilitation Worker/ Counselor helping people with disabilities to improve their job opportunities and living skills. He is an active community member, advocating for employment and Disability Rights. He has a vibrant interest in the arts and culture community and hopes to increase awareness of people with disabilities, including the Deaf /Hard of Hearing, so more can enjoy the experiences of arts and culture in society. He believes strongly in equality and human rights laws.
Jack Hawk
Jack Hawk is a multidisciplinary artist, astrologer, community worker and autistic, two-spirit mutt. Jack currently invests his time as the Outreach Coordinator for Tangled Art + Disability with the strength and love of the Tangled team. Previously, he worked in non-profit gallery management and held positions with George Brown College and the Griffin Centre. Originally from Utica, NY, he now lives in Toronto with his blue-tongued skink.
Sean Lee
Sean Lee is an artist and curator exploring the notion of disability art as the last avant-garde. Orienting towards a “crip horizon,” he is interested in the transformative possibilities of crip community building and accessible curatorial practices that desire the ways disability can disrupt.
Sean holds a B.A. in Arts Management and Studio from the University of Toronto, Scarborough and is currently the Director of Programming at Tangled Art + Disability. In addition to his role at Tangled, Sean is an independent lecturer, speaker, and writer adding his insights and perspectives to conversations surrounding Disability Arts across Canada, the United States and internationally. Sean currently sits on the board of CARFAC Ontario, Creative Users Projects, and is chair of Toronto Art Council’s Visual Arts / Media Arts Committee and a member of the Ontario Art Council’s Deaf and Disability Advisory Group.
Christine Malec
Christine Malec is an arts and culture consultant within the blind community and co-host of the podcast Talk Description to Me. She offers culture and music programs to blind adults through the CNIB Foundation, and hosts a monthly segment on Accessible Media Incorporated, Kelly and Company called Curious Minds. She is a musician who is easing the pain of being unable to busk during the pandemic by posting music on her Patreon Page. She lives in Toronto, Canada.
Gaitrie Persaud
Gaitrie Persaud (She/Her) is a Queer Tkaronto-Indo Caribbean raised theatre maker who develops performances using an eclectic mix of visual and physical theatre styles. Acting is her passion that she lives for. She had been involved in a big play The Two Natashas: Our life in Guyana with her co-actor and collaborator Natasha Bacchus.
She is also an ASL Music performer, ASL coach and Deaf interpreter of theatre. She is the founder and Artistic Director of Phoenix The Fire which is a theatre community hub for IBPOC Deaf artists.
Brennan Roy
Brennan Roy is a wheelchair dancer and performance artist. They co-founded The Cyborg Circus Project with Shay Erlich and Naomi Moore in 2018. The Cyborg Circus Project has performed original dance work both locally and internationally and has also run several community arts and social service programs. Jen has a diverse teaching practice focusing on movement, access and inclusion. Her practice stems from their experiences as a queer, trans, mad, multiply disabled person. They envision a future where disability-justice informed art has permeated the fabric of the arts in Canada.
Theodore Walker Robinson
Theodore Walker Robinson (they/them) is a first-generation Caribbean Canadian multi-disciplinary artist, social activist, politician, scholar and writer. Born with 10% vision and 50% hearing, the subject of Theodore’s work discusses intersectional identities, life in diaspora and paths to liberation for self and community.
Theodore creates work that crosses multiple media from Visual Art, Literature and Fashion Design. In 2021, Theodore was the first Black, Disabled and Transgender candidate to run for Federal office in Canada. As a freelance writer and scholar, Theodore currently serves the Editorial Team at ByBlacks.com. Their 2023 forthcoming book, The Seven Seals of Black Power explores the topic of self-love, social justice and Black intersectional identity.
Jessica Watkin*
*Independent Consultant
A multidisciplinary Blind artist Jessica started as a playwright and has since developed performance movement pieces, ensemble-created performances for the Fringe (Toronto), created a rug for an exhibit called Productive Discomfort where her piece was called This Was Not Made For Your Visual Pleasure #PleaseTouchMe and is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Feminist Space Camp (Magazine).
Jessica is a PhD Candidate at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies. Her research focuses on Disabled Artists and their creation processes in Canada, as well as systems of support and training institutions and the effects on Disabled people.
View the 2022 Access Advisory here.
