Immerse Yourself

Artists Beyond Boundaries, October 12 @ 5:30pm
Artists Beyond Boundaries is an art event and fundraiser hosted by non-profit agency, Access to Independence. Now in its 6th year, this is a unique fundraising event is designed to celebrate the talents of artists with disabilities living across the state of Wisconsin.

Immerse yourself in a vibrant atmosphere filled with artistic expression. Learn more about each artists, and discover the stories behind each work of art.

Event Schedule
The Artists Beyond Boundaries event features a few distinct components throughout the year which will all culminate to our first in-person event in four years!

1.

Call for Art

June 1st - August 31st, artists with disabilities of any age, and of any skill level, are invited to submit up to two works of art to the event.

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2.

Jurying 
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We work with a panel of jurors made up of professional artists and others from the visual art community to help us determine the top twelve works of art.​​


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3.

Event Night
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On October 12th, 2023, we‘ll host an in-person event showcasing ALL artwork submitted to the event and announce the year‘s “Top Twelve” works of art. These winning works will be featured in the next Artists Beyond Boundaries calendar, and each finalist will receive a cash award.

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Meet the Jurors

Ann Kohl Re

I have been an artist and art educator for 30 years.
Within my 24 years of teaching in public and private schools as well as workshops and presentations, my students have ranged in age from 2 to 80. As an artist, my photography and mixed media work has appeared in group exhibits in Wisconsin. I have a small studio in my Madison home.
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I have served as a docent at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art since 2008 and have helped train new classes of docents for the past 10 years. I have an endless passion for art and the courageous people who make it. In my roles as teacher, docent and leader I have always felt privileged to be connected to those who create art.

Ashanti Fortson

Ashanti Fortson is an award-winning cartoonist, illustrator, editor, and professor with a deep love for kind stories and fantastical settings. Their work explores transience and reflection through a tenderhearted lens, themes of disability and chronic illness, and life's co-existing beauty and grief. Their work has been published by Bitch Magazine, DC Comics, Abrams Books, The New York Times, Longreads, and more. They’re currently working on their debut graphic novel, Cress & Petra (HarperCollins), and they teach comics and illustration on the side. They're the spider-saving sort.

Deb Bushy

I was born in Madison, Wisconsin in the 1960’s. I grew up enjoying the natural world that surrounded my childhood home. I learned to appreciate conservation and preservation of nature early in my upbringing. I started to create art as a child, drawing figures, creating simple Origami and painting simple pictures.

As an artist and creator, I created art as an answer for many of my emotional difficulties that some label as a disability; it is not my label. As far as I’m concerned art and disability do not conflict. Art is the saving grace for my setbacks. Art allows me to have many abilities: Photography, painting and drawing to name a few.

I feel so much gratitude to Access to Independence for treating artists like myself with so much compassion and respect. My “symptoms” are not visible, so for much of my life experience I do not come forward with disclosing my disability. I feel such a comfort level when I’m able to be seen as a whole.

My hope for the future of art is we see all artists as abled and all art worthy of showing with pride and accomplishment. Art is about all abilities, all emotion and inclusion of everyone.



​Access to Independence

Artists Beyond Boundaries is proudly presented by:

Learn more

Learn more about Access to Independence's services by visiting out website. 
Artists Beyond Boundaries is an unique art event and fundraiser created by non-profit agency, Access to Independence. Access to Independence has been empowering people to live as independently as THEY choose for over 40 years by providing resources, services and advocacy to people of any age and with any type of disability. The agency itself is unique because the majority of its board and staff are people with disabilities. 

Artists Beyond Boundaries is an extension of Access to Independence's mission. Just as the agency's goal is to empower people to live as independently as they choose, Artists Beyond Boundaries is all about empowering artists with disabilities to share their works of art with a wider audience, as well as have an opportunity to be recognized for their work. Artists Beyond Boundaries is an event created to demonstrate the power of art, and the contributions of artists with disabilities to our communities, and beyond. ​