What is Giving Voice?
Giving Voice has empowered young people with disabilities since 2006 and is a partnership of Access Gallery and AIGA Colorado. The program pairs young artists in their late teens and early 20s with a professional graphic designer to create an educational poster based on a personal experience, frustration, hope, or global issue. The program takes place over three sessions every summer and culminates in a gallery exhibition. Young people with disabilities are rarely asked what is important to them. Giving Voice aims to combat this and have their voices heard!
Giving Voice is a part of Access Gallery’s summer internship program, an eight-week creative career program for young people exploring advocacy, professionalism, art skills, and job development.
What “problem” does Giving Voice address?
An estimated 70–90% of people with disabilities are unemployed or underemployed in this country. Artists are no exception and face barriers to accessing training and work opportunities that will advance their craft and careers. Furthermore, young people with disabilities are at risk of a poor transition into adulthood. This is a systemic problem that is exacerbated by inaccessibility in society at large. The transition from school to adult life is often complicated by a failure to involve young people in making decisions and addressing issues that are important to them.
Access Gallery strives to decrease this national average on a local level. We aim to center access and inclusion by creating opportunities for artists with disabilities to thrive creatively and economically. We firmly believe that the arts, including graphic design, are viable career options for many people with disabilities, as evidenced by the success of our award-winning social enterprise Creative Services and the success of Giving Voice.
Meet Allie G.: A practicing artist and graphic designer who got her start through Giving Voice
I first met Allie in 2010 when she joined Giving Voice and Access Gallery’s summer internship program. She was transitioning out of high school and needed support with her next step in life. At the time, she didn’t speak much and we were paired to design a poster. As I was trying to understand the topic she wanted to explore, Allie asked for my pen and notebook. She started drawing and I was impressed with her ability to clearly express her feelings through sketching and writing. Allie explained how she was bullied at school because of her disability, and I used her sketches from that first meeting for the poster’s central theme.
I began to see Allie blossom through the design process and our work together. After completing the internship program, Allie continued to participate in Giving Voice and has now been with Access Gallery for 14 years. She has since become vocal and very conversational, her graphic design skills have become advanced, and her meticulous attention to detail has gained her professional clients including Denver Arts and Venues, Children’s Hospital, and Developmental Pathways.I’m thankful to have met Allie through Giving Voice and to be able to witness her transformation.
This year, Giving Voice is coming full circle; Allie will be paired with a young artist and serve as a graphic designer for the 2024 program. Giving Voice is truly intergenerational as it connects young artists with professional designers of all ages.
Who we are
Access Gallery is a local nonprofit that engages the community by opening doors to creative, educational, and economic opportunities for people with disabilities to access, experience, and benefit from the arts. Access Gallery works with a roster of 45+ artists and advances its mission in three ways: a professional gallery space, a free community art studio, and a social enterprise that offers professional art and design services to clientele.
Founded in 1989, AIGA Colorado is the statewide chapter of AIGA, a national professional association for design. Nationally, AIGA represents over 25,000 designers through more than 70 chapters and 240 student groups. AIGA Colorado’s mission is to create a place where design and creativity are for everyone.
Interested in getting involved with Giving Voice? Reach out to info@accessgallery.org for more information and follow us on Instagram: @accessgalleryco
Thank you for reading along and check out the exhibition before it closes! Here’s to a more inclusive and creative Denver.
