By Frank Boles
Every exhibit opening is accompanied by a
list of organizations and people to whom we are indebted. Last Thursday we
opened “(dis)ABLED BEAUTY: the evolution of beauty, disability and ability,”
and I would like to thank the staff of the libraries for their work in creating
this exhibit as well as our CMU institutional partners, including:
• The
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
• The
Fashion Merchandising Design program within the Dept. of Human Environmental Studies
• CMU
History Department
My thanks also extend to our external
institutional partner, the Fashion School at Kent State University, where many
components of this show were first conceived and exhibited through a
partnership between Dr. Stacey Lim of CMU and Dr. Tameka Ellington of Kent State.
The exhibit crosses disciplinary lines in
interesting and informative ways. It addresses the subject of disability and
ability both from a scientific and clinical viewpoint, as well from the more
subjective world of fashion. In addition the show, as we have constructed it
here at CMU, includes substantial additional components reflecting oral history
interviews done with individuals with disabilities who are members of our
campus community and also, as part of CMU’s celebration of its 125th anniversary,
a discussion of both how Central’s academic program has addressed disability as
well as how the campus itself has changed to accommodate individuals with
disability.
I would particularly like to acknowledge the
contributions of the Libraries Exhibit Coordinator, Janet Danek. Although what
was created for the exhibit at Kent State was beautiful, their exhibit space is
not our exhibit space, and the Kent State show had to be redesigned and
sometimes reimagined to work within our galleries, while at the same time
honoring the integrity of the original exhibition. In addition Janet had to
incorporate substantial additions to the original show, which reflected the
contributions of Central faculty and staff who had not participated in the Kent
State exhibit but who helped center the exhibit you will see tonight in ways
that more fully represent CMU.
Much of what you will see in the exhibit
reflects Janet’s creative ability and hard work, designing the CMU iteration of
(dis)ABLED BEAUTY to high standards and working within a very tight timeline.
Despite all the rest of us involved, we collectively could not have created the
exhibit without Janet’s many contributions. It just wouldn’t have happened.