Co-founder of Arts Access for All, Sherry Shirek is a passionate advocate and accessibility consultant in the Fargo-Moorhead area that straddles the border of North Dakota and Minnesota. Shirek recently produced “Artist First,” an accessible, multimedia arts exhibition featuring artists who identify as having a disability. 

 Shirek, originally a Massachusetts native, developed an interest in art, culture, and history at a young age. As she grew, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, became one of her favorite places. After she lost her eyesight, Shirek’s experience of cultural institutions changed. “I didn’t feel satisfied. I thought there had to be more to providing meaningful experiences to people with disabilities in art museums,” Shirek shared of her personal history. 

Although Shirek didn’t begin her career in the arts, her work has consistently been based in serving others. “I was always, always, always wanting to have some kind of influence or a way of advocating for people with disabilities, across all disabilities, not just my own,” she say. She has held positions with the Department of Labor, as an advocate, and as an administrator of an independent living center. 

It wasn’t until Shirek moved to North Dakota that she began working directly with the arts. Mureen Kelly Jonason, Executive Director of the Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County, invited Shirek and her husband, Jesse, to a meeting focused on audio description for the theater. In the car ride together, the three of them were able to speak in-depth about accessibility and, as Shirek puts it, “magic happened.” Through this partnership and a grant from the Lake Region Arts Council, Shirek was able to convene a task force, which would soon become Arts Access for All.

For Shirek, access means institutions are “inclusive, no physical barriers, no attitudinal barriers. Accessibility ideally would be a world that is considerate of everybody’s needs, without having to ask or advocate.” This vision is one Arts Access for All is working towards through a variety of programming. In 2015, one of their first initiatives was a two-day audio description training led by Audio Description Solutions LLC for art, exhibits and live performances. Now, several of the participants offer audio description regionally on a regular basis and contributed to “Artist First.” With a renewed year of funding, Shirek curated lunchtime seminars for regional organizations, each month focusing on a different disability-related topic. In 2016, Fargo-Moorehead visual artists created “Touchable: Come to Your Senses,” a show designed to be fully accessible. 

This year, Shirek, who previously never had curated an art exhibit, devoted much of her time and energy to organizing a new show, “Artist First.” The exhibit features 11 artists, all self-identifying as having a disability, and 22 works. “I wanted to offer artists the opportunity to enter their artwork into a juried exhibit if they’d never done it before or had been intimidated. I wanted people to connect with each other, find other artists with disabilities and different cultures,” she says of her vision.

The gallery layout includes Braille, large print and high contrast numbers, tactile floor pieces, a Braille book about the art works, and audio description. The opening reception was interpreted in American Sign Language. 

The exhibition was well received, with both artists and patrons positively impacted. Shirek says she would like to expand it, do it again, and perhaps eventually travel.

“I’m an idealist; I like to dream big. Why settle for less?” she says.  “Things aren’t ‘just good enough’ for people with disabilities, we deserve to have equality in society, to have everything that everybody else has access to. We shouldn’t have to call in advance. This was a great opportunity to bring awareness and change.” 

“Artist First'' will be on exhibition in the Hjemkomst Center through March 31, 2020.