Deaf Artists at Pyramid Atlantic & Worldwide
On Saturday night of November 19th, my friends and I went to the opening reception at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center’s 10X10 Invitational exhibition, an annual artist-driven fundraiser for the art center. The exhibition assigned two rules: all works must be 10 x 10 inches and priced at $60. The gallery was packed with over 300 pieces of original artwork donated by nearly 200 artists. [1]
Before the opening reception, we were told by a friend that the gallery had three Deaf artists, so we were eager to get in then we looked carefully at over 300 pieces to find Deaf artists’ works. Ended up, we identified eleven pieces by six Deaf artists, which was three more artists than we were told!
One day later, I posted on the Deaf Art Central page on Facebook about the gallery’s eleven pieces by six Deaf artists. Ellen Mansfield, one of six Deaf artists, messaged me that there are another two Deaf artists. What? Did we miss another two artists? Yes, sure we did. The gallery had fourteen pieces by eight Deaf artists! Eight Deaf artists are Rashmi Amafya, Fran Flaherty, Daniel Katz-Hernandez, Ellen Mansfield, Michelle McAuliffe, Mary A. Rappazzo, Roy Ricci van der Stok, and Meeya Tjiang. [2]
Rashmi Amafya, a Deaf artist based in Nepal, is an activist through her artwork. She is associated with social organizations that focus on the deaf, disability, and women’s rights. She can be found on her Facebook page, Rashmi Art House. [3]
Fran C. Flaherty, a Deaf Asian American Pacific Islander artist, was recently hired as the new director for Dyer Arts Center at Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf (RIT/NTID). Fran’s website can be found at https://franflaherty.com/. Her one piece is shown on a pedestal. [4]
Daniel Katz-Hernandez is a local self-taught artist. His works were recently shown in the Si Se Puede exhibition featuring Hispanic/Latina/o/x Deaf Artists in the Washburn Arts Center at Gallaudet University during the 2022 National Hispanic Heritage Month. His website is https://www.dkhdraws.com/. He donated a piece to Pyramid Atlantic. [5]
Ellen Mansfield is a Deaf artist based in Frederick, Maryland. She runs a home studio called Ellen’s TileStroke Studio. She is known for her Deaf View/Image Art (De’VIA) works, her website is https://www.ellenmansfield.com/. Here are her three pieces in the gallery. [6]
Michelle McAuliffe, a Deaf artist based in Washington, DC, is a Professor of the Art & Media Design program at Gallaudet University. To explore her works, visit https://www.michellemcauliffe.com/. Her piece is shown. [7]
Photo print, paper, fabric, and glue
Mary A. Rappazzo is a fine arts painter, digital artist, and graphic designer based in Los Angeles, California. She is known for her works with a one-eyed signature style. To see her fine arts is https://www.rappazzo.art/. For digital art, visit https://1eyeartdesign.com/. Two of her pieces are shown. [8]
Say Baseball, Say Pancake, n.d.
Roy Ricci van der Stok, a visual artist of Antillean origin, was raised with Dutch foster parents in Montfoort, Netherlands, and resides in Maryland. He is the founder and owner of ARTSEEPAH, its website is https://artseepah.com/. Here are his three pieces. [9]
Meeya Tjiang, a Deaf Asian female designer and illustrator, currently works as a multimedia designer at Gallaudet University. Her website is https://www.meeyamtjiang.com/. Her two works are shown. [10]
You can see the red dots on the labels below the pieces in these photos, which means they are sold. Nearly all fourteen pieces sold quickly in less than five hours! Pyramid Atlantic provided American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters for that night. We got inspired by feeling welcome as part of the local art community. It is wonderful to see Pyramid Atlantic Art Center including the diversity of Deaf artists and their works and engaging the Deaf audience. It is not their first time spotlighting Deaf artists…
Earlier this year, the center hosted an exhibition of Deaf artists before this 10X10 exhibition. Exploring Deaf Geographies exhibition was on view from January 22 to February 27, 2022. It featured five Deaf artists: Laural Hartman, Youmee Lee, Melissa Malzkuhn, Aaron Swindle, and Yiqiao Wang. It was curated by Tabitha Jacques in collaboration with the Dyer Arts Center at RIT/NTID. That happened right before she left as the director of the Dyer Arts Center in RIT/NTID for a new job at Gallaudet University as the Director of Placemaking in March 2022. “I’m delighted to be partnering with the Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center. They have been incredibly supportive in making sure deaf artists are included and working with the deaf community to make sure they are represented!” Tabitha says. She is one of the members on the committee for nominating artists for the 10X10 exhibition. [11]
Pyramid Atlantic Art Center is in the heart of Downtown Hyattsville, Maryland, less than half a mile from the Deaf-run brewery, Streetcar 82 Brewing Co. “The number of Deaf artists has grown considerably at Pyramid over the past few years,” says Mark Burke, founder/owner & head brewer. “Pyramid as an organization is a leader and is always trying to find new and exciting ways to support the community. My being on the board helps connect both the Deaf and hearing people together.” Mark is in his second year of a three-year term on the board of directors at the Pyramid Atlantic. [12]
Presently, Pyramid Atlantic is not only one local art gallery exhibiting the artworks of Deaf artists in the United States of America, but other two local galleries are exhibiting their artwork.
The Festejamos el Arte de los Sordos exhibition is on display in Balcon (2nd-floor gallery) at La Cosecha in the Union Market area, right near Gallaudet University in Washington, DC. The exhibition features Deaf artists from Latin American countries, curated by Leticia Arellano. Among the Latin American Deaf artists are Iris Nelia Aranda, Miguel Díaz Calderon, Ixchel Solis Garica, Abelardo Parra Jimenez, Rolando Sigüenza, and a few more artists. “The exhibition is made possible by Gallaudet University’s Creativity Way which aims to bridge the Gallaudet, Deaf, and neighboring communities through art and other programming as well as Sorenson and Latino Deaf and Hard of Hearing Association of the Metropolitan DC Area, Inc.” says the website. The gallery was on view for the month of October but it recently has been extended to the end of this year. [13]
Another local art gallery in Seattle, Washington, Slip Gallery features the exhibition of DEAFhood: Reflection on Identity and Deaf Culture. The exhibition presents the works of Deaf artists living in Washington State. Among the Deaf artists in Washington are Gabriella Duncan, Toby Fitch, Jena Floyd, Tommy Fuglestad, Kimi Hager, Jennifer Harris, Amelia Milling, Aistē Rye, Paul Scearce, Jerry Steffen Jr., and Brad Thornberry. The exhibition includes various works such as painting, photography, mixed media, motion graphics, and digital art, the view is on November 3 to December 2, 2022. Deafhood is a term coined by a British Deaf scholar, Paddy Ladd in his book, Understanding Deaf Culture: In Search of Deafhood. DEAFhood explores the Deaf experience in a world primarily designed for hearing and able-bodied people, the art pieces express the Deaf experience from a cultural, linguistic, and intersectional point of view, also known as De’VIA. [14]
Just three local galleries? Is that all? Nope, there is more…
Currently, Gallaudet University presents an exhibition, THE QUEEN IS DEAD: Faculty Art Show. The soon-to-be-ended exhibition features the artwork by the faculty members from Gallaudet’s art and media design program at Linda K. Jordan Gallery in Washburn Arts Center. The view is from November 3–30, 2022. The previous exhibition in the Jordan Gallery was Si Se Puede featured Daniel Katz-Hernandez and other Hispanic/Latina/o/x Deaf Artists, curated by Leticia Arellano. It was on view from September 15 to October 28, 2022. The Si Se Puede exhibition went very successfully. [15]
There are a few current exhibitions in the Dyer Arts Center at RIT/NTID that features Deaf artwork; Shaped by the American Dream: Deaf History through Deaf Art in Williams Gallery from July 1, 2022, to April 21, 2023, Harry Williams: A Retrospective in Ohringer Gallery from August 1, 2022, to March 17, 2023, Justin LeBlanc’s Signwaves: Reimagined in Glass Room from August 1, 2022, to April 21, 2023. [16]
Also, there is an exhibition in Silesian Museum (Muzeum Śląskie) at Katowice, Poland featuring American Deaf artists such as the late Chuck Baird, David Call, Susan Dupor, and Nancy Rourke. Głusza Deaf Land exhibition is a year-long temporary exhibition, on view from June 24, 2022, to June 2023. Its exhibition is devoted to communication, culture, and art of the Deaf, curated by both Deaf and hearing curators. [17]
Berlin-based American Deaf artist Christine Sun Kim has a few current exhibitions around the world; How Do You Hold Your Debt exhibition at JTT in New York City from October 28 to December 17, 2022, and Oh Me Oh My exhibition at Remai Modern in Saskatoon, Canada and the Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver, Canada. Oh Me Oh My is her first full-scale solo museum exhibition in North America, it will be presented at The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore, Saratoga Springs, New York, and the Gund Gallery at Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio. Her other exhibition, A String of Echo Traps, in La Casa Encedida in Madrid, Spain is on view from November 11, 2022, to February 26, 2023. Prince Albert II of Monaco and Princess Caroline of Monaco visited her for the opening of the A String of Echo Traps exhibition. [18]
All works (sold and unsold) in the 10X10 Invitational exhibition are available to view in their online gallery, here is the link below.