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Basic Income Through the Lens of the Disabled, Deaf, and Mad

The inaugural project “Basic Income Through the Lens of the Disabled, Deaf, and Mad” brings together talented community artists with disabilities (AWD) to share their perspective on basic income.

Community artists with disabilities have been nominated to the project. These artists will each receive an honorarium to research basic income principals and create a sketch, design, or piece of artwork inspired by these basic income principals.

Professional print maker Skye Louis will use the chosen designs as inspiration to create a print in the style of an old school protest poster. The prints and digital files will be used to promote and engage the community in the discussion on basic income.

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The Artists

  • Ash Adams

    Ash Adams is a multidisciplinary artist, with a strong visual arts and therapeutic arts background. Their work is extremely intricate and always rewards a closer look.

  • Alison Cherer

    Most of Alison's inspiration comes from her own imagination. She has a big portfolio and displays it in her home and during the Calgary Stampede at the Western Oasis in the BMO Centre.

  • Colleen Peters

    Colleen Peters, Artist at Play, loves to focus her attention on something very visible, which she reports is good for her mental health. Colleen works in many mediums.

  • Penny Gunderson

    Penny works primarily in encaustic, which is molten beeswax combined with tree resin and pigment, fused to a natural base. This is a very intuitive medium since the wax reacts to the heat in many ways.

  • Yunsun Lee

    Yunsun was born in South Korea and moved with her family to Canada as an adolescent. Her family has nurtured and supported her love of art, and her artistic training.

  • Alberta Rose | Ingniq

    Of mixed settler/Inuvialuit heritage, Alberta often creates work that reflects both aspects of her cultural identity, as well as broader social issues related to Indigenous and non-Indigenous people today.

  • Kathy M. Austin

    Inspiration envelopes Kathy like motes of dust. Potential art bombards her through taste, touch, smell, hearing, and sight. Through her limited vision she sees her world uniquely. Nature stimulates her creative spirit.

  • Mary Salvani

    Mary works with digital media to tell stories in photos. She finds inspiration in listening to other people tell their own stories.

  • Melissa Knive

    Melissa chooses to flex her talents in various artistic mediums including painting, photography, singing, writing, and public speaking.

Skye Louis
Skye’s work is rooted in knowing that the arts transform our lives and communities for the better. Skye collaborates with other artists and groups to create prints with themes of empowerment, justice, and human connection. Skye is proud to have partnered with local groups like Action Dignity, Canadian Artists Against Poverty, and Basic Income Calgary. Skye created the screenprinted posters for the Basic Income YYC Arts Collective in collaboration with the core artists.

Goals of the BIC YYC Arts Collective

  • Build relationship between the Calgary arts community and Basic Income Calgary
  • Increase awareness of the need for a basic income program in Canada
  • Create a tool based on basic income principals to promote basic income within Calgary
  • Build intersectional connections with artists/activists who self identify as living with a disability, other marginalized activists, artists, and organized groups
  • Build this as a prototype for future arts projects
  • Highlight talents of Calgary Artists who self-identify as having a disability

Special thanks to:

Steering Committee of Basic Income Calgary Action Dignity, Disability Action Hall, Engineers Without Borders — Calgary Chapter, Poverty Talks, The Alex, Social Workers for Social Justice, Women’s Centre of Calgary, Vibrant Communities Calgary, and We’re Together Ending Poverty

Financial Partners for Basic Income YYC Arts Collaborative Calgary Scope Society/Disability Action Hall, Calgary Arts Development Association (CADA), Calgary Foundation Neighbourhood Grants

Artist Referral Collaborative Organizations/Groups Action Dignity, Basic Income Calgary, Calgary Social Workers for Social Justice, Disability Action Hall, Vibrant Communities Calgary, Women’s Centre of Calgary, Elephant Artists Relief, Studio C and Indefinite Arts.

Administrative Support for Basic Income Calgary’s “Educational Outreach Team” Ben Patmore, Colleen Huston, JD Derbyshire, Rosemary Brown, Raina Schnider, Kurt Archer

Consulting Calgary Artists/Artist Organizations Burnt Toast, Alberta Printmakers Association, Elephant Artists Relief (EAR), Jared Tailfeathers, Indefinite Arts Centre, Skye Louis, Studio C (Prospects)

Photographs of art and Artists by Emily Cox-Robertson

The Basic Income YYC Arts Collective is an initiative by Basic Income Calgary made possible by the Calgary Foundation Neighbourhood grant and a Calgary Arts Development project grant.
The artists’s voices will resonate and influence the basic income academic community, and will help educate Calgarians who are either already connected to the work or want to learn more about basic income.