Frost Art Museum continues its mission to offer access to free arts programming for the community.
MIAMI, FL– On March 19, in celebration of National Deaf History Month (March 13-April 15), Frost Art Museum FIU is hosting a virtual event in partnership with the ASL Panthers at FIU Honors College.
Co-hosted by John Paul Jebian — an American Sign Language (ASL) world languages teacher at G. Holmes Braddock Senior High School and adjunct ASL modern languages professor at FIU — and Miriam Machado, Frost Art FIU education director, this closed-captioned virtual event will celebrate the contributions of the Deaf community to American society. This is part of the museum’s overall commitment and continued effort to an inclusive experience for all visitors.
“It’s a great time to recognize Deaf champions throughout history, many of whom are part of our local community,” Machado said.
This virtual program will involve many components including: highlighting an exhibition currently on view at the Frost, “Transfiguration: a Black Speculative Vision of Freedom,” a Deaf poetry reading by the FIU Honors College ASL Panthers, and more.
“Deaf representation through programs like this one, are an important piece in introducing the Deaf community to the hearing world. Hearing people walk the world never noticing how much information they get from videos that aren’t captioned, announcements coming out of a speaker or presentations that have no interpreter. We hope it opens peoples’ eyes to the importance of accessibility,” said Jebian, who is deaf himself.
With future plans to use 3D printing to make exhibitions accessible to the visually-impaired, and in continued support of arts education for children with disabilities, this month’s program is part of the museum’s larger programming vision, which is committed to inclusivity, diversity and access for all. This includes ASL exhibition tours, visually-impaired exhibition tours, website accessibility and interpreters for select educational pro-grams.
“While we have always catered our programming to people with disabilities, this next phase of projects and initiatives will even further expand our educational programming through accessible art for all cultures and communities,” Machado said.
Key Moments in Deaf History that will be discussed:
- March 13 – 1988 Deaf President Now movement succeeds. I. King Jordan becomes president of Gallaudet University.
- April 8 – Gallaudet University founded. President Lincoln signed the charter in 1864 establishing a college for the deaf. This event is known as Gallaudet Charter Day and is usually marked with a luncheon and awards program at Gallaudet University.
- April 15 – American School for the Deaf in West Hartford, Connecticut, the first public school for the deaf, opens in 1817.