Scott, Jessica Lynn

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in drastic impacts for people with disabilities across Canada. The pandemic opened questions about what meaningful access practices are and how these can be utilized to better engage people with disabilities in the arts. 10 participants, comprised of people with disabilities, were recruited for semi-structured interviews to understand their experiences with the local arts over the past five years. Five themes arose within the data findings, including: Access as Community-Based Care, On the Fringe, Access Labour, Passive Consumption, and Neoliberal Compliance. A document analysis was conducted to compare the participants' views on effective access practices to the recommendations included in the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. Using a critical disability studies lens, the thesis concluded that meaningful access emerges through the grassroots work of communities, requiring ongoing communication with and between invested parties to prioritize the complex and unique needs of those with non-normative body-minds.

Author Keywords: accessibility, arts, covid-19, critical disability studies, disability, neoliberalism