DAKOTA DURAN
The Disability Visibility Art Show brought the Intercultural Center to life on April 4 with paintings, digital art, multimedia pieces and poetry that reflected the diverse lived experiences of disabled students. Every spring, USF takes a week to center disability awareness, accessibility and advocacy through events hosted in collaboration with Student Disability Services (SDS).
The talks and panels were accompanied by SDS’s art show, a creative twist that offered students with disabilities a space to be seen, heard and celebrated through their work. The theme, “Visibility,” aimed to break through the social silence that often surrounds disability, pushing past stereotypes and stigmas in favor of empowerment and authenticity.
One standout piece, a painting titled “Dance of Domanergia” by Ananth Das, a first year student in the psychology doctorate program, depicted what it’s like to be diagnosed with a disability at an older age. “My sophomore year of college I was probably in one of the worst mental pitfalls of my life. It got to the point where I was like, ‘Alright, I should probably see a therapist or psychiatrist,’” Das said.
Das said that they always had a suspicion that they had ADHD, but it wasn’t until the summer after their junior year of college that they had neuropsychology testing and were formally diagnosed. “It was one of those things of me being socialized in an Indian family – I didn’t externalize my ADHD in the way that a lot of men do, which is why it wasn’t caught until it started to catch up with me more in college,” they said.
“Dance of Domanergia” originally started as a self-portrait, released under Das’ artistic moniker, “Alien Daydreams.” The underlying landscape showed Das with gray skin and a third eye, looking ill. “A lot of angst, sadness and helplessness are the main things I was feeling,” they said. “When you start to align yourself with the identity of being a person with a disability, it can feel really limiting at times. Neurotypical society has such a view of certain ways to function [with a disability]. It’s just like ‘I have all this s— wrong with me and I could never fix that.’”
Das redid the painting their senior year of college, a two month process. The self portrait is now covered in an ombre of red and orange, showing a “chaotic entanglement of neurons that are paradoxically engaged in a spontaneous dance of beauty,” they said. The visible layer of the painting depicts Das’s brain, inspired by their bachelor’s in neuroscience and ADHD diagnosis. The painting also includes quotes on the sides of the canvas, such as, “Get lost in the movements of your soul.”
“I realized it’s the things that make me inherently dysfunctional that are also just tied to who I am and the way that I express myself and take up space,” they said. “[Redoing the painting] was like a little mental rebranding.”
Collages and digital pieces were also displayed by other SDS students, but Theo Chapin, senior psychology major, expressed himself through words. His poem, “Plastic and Metal,” was inspired by his own experience of learning to live with his disability.
“I’ve had a lot of conflicting feelings about being disabled and this piece was sort of a vent for me, expressing the frustration and also the relief around using a mobility aid,” he said. “I get a lot of weird and confused looks and it’s something I’ve had to come to terms with personally.”
Chapin has used SDS services his entire four years at USF. “I have dynamic disabilities so they fluctuate in terms of pain levels, ability to do daily tasks […] Being able to have the support of my specialist Jessica as well as the whole SDS office really helped me accept and also embrace my disabilities and I’ve also made great friends through SDS,” he said. “These events allow for disabled people, or me at least, to feel less alone dealing with disabilities. Hearing other people’s experiences really makes me feel connected to them and I feel closer to the community when I am in spaces where disabled people are represented.”
“We wanted to expose the community to what disability awareness and pride is […] I think disabilities are a very underrated and undervalued aspect of diversity,” said Rocelyn Evens, a disability specialist at SDS and one of the event’s organizers. “Disabilities are more than just someone being in a wheelchair. All of these professions and fields that have to do with taking care of other people are under threat right now, and I think it is more important than ever to see who needs help and who needs to be taken care of.”
Evens and the SDS team have been planning the event since January, curating different themes and ideas that could make this year stand out more than others. “We wanted to make sure to create a space on campus where everyone feels welcome, not only in the SDS office, but in a wider sense,” said Colby Burns, a member of the SDS staff.
In addition to the art show, Gleeson Library also showcased a Disability Awareness Display, giving students resources on disability history, identity and culture. “It is important to understand what kind of community needs to be built in order for something to thrive,” Evens said.
If you’d like to learn more about Disability Awareness Week or SDS programming, visit their office in Gleeson Library or follow @usfca_sds on Instagram.
Editor-in-Chief: Jordan Premmer, Chief Copy Editor: Sophia McCrackin, Managing Editor: Jordan DelFiugo, Opinion Editor: Dakota Duran, Scene Editor: Elina Graham
