By Jim Speirs, Executive Director, Arts South Dakota

In 1990, the nation’s lawmakers recognized that differently-abled members of our population had not previously been guaranteed equal access and that physical barriers were preventing Americans from participating in aspects of daily life—including arts experiences. Those leaders passed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), one of our nation’s most significant civil rights statutes, to protect people with disabilities from discrimination. For the more than 70 million Americans living with a disability, the ADA preserves as law the idea that we all deserve opportunity, inclusion, respect and dignity.

ADA is a major step toward physical and programmatic accessibility for differently abled people in our country. Even though 25% of all Americans live with some form of disability, somehow that community is represented in just 3% of film, television and media. While we’re making our auditoriums accessible to everyone, are we making our planning committees, governing boards and program-building groups open to input from people of all abilities in our communities?

Not only do we need to include people of all abilities, but also welcome everyone. Open doors provide learning and growing for all people, and sharing arts experiences—as well as planning and creating those arts experiences—builds community in exciting new ways.

Most importantly, our approach to inclusion and accessibility must be intentional. That means factoring all-ability programming and participation into our organizational planning from the beginning—and making sure that there is a place in the budget for the unexpected extras that true accessibility requires. Listening to everyone, including the 176,000 South Dakotans who live with some form of disability, should be part of our missions as arts providers and arts advocates.

The arts lift us, transform us, save us—and the best way to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the ADA is to ensure that the power of the arts is available to people of all abilities across South Dakota.

Please visit www.ArtsSouthDakota.org to learn more about access to the arts for all South Dakotans.