One in four people identifies as having a disability in the United States, according to the CDC. This past year at the museum, 12% of visitors reported having someone with a disability in their group.

CAM wants to welcome these visitors and provide an equitable experience for all who come through our doors. Not only because it is the right thing to do, but also because access to community spaces, like ours, is a human right. Although we are not perfect, we are on a journey to provide a welcoming environment for all.  We can’t take this journey without the voices of community members who we hope to welcome.

The museum has an interdepartmental staff Accessibility Committee which meets monthly. At these meetings, we work through projects and challenges that affect our greater disability community. But more representation is needed when we are working through issues that affect the disability community. After all, a common saying in the disability community is “Nothing about us, without us.”

We work directly with the disability community through the Accessibility Community Advisory Council. This group is made up of individuals with lived experiences in the community, service providers, and caregivers for people with disabilities. We have representation from longtime partners like Clovernook Center for the Blind, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Kelly O’Leary Center, and YWCA Project CARE. We also have people with disabilities who attend our programming, as well as caregivers who bring their loved ones with disabilities to the museum.

We seek to address the needs of people with various types of disabilities by seeking advice, feedback, and training from our council members. Each year, the Accessibility Community Advisory Council and the staff Accessibility Committee meet for a day-long “Accessibility Retreat” to talk about past and future accessibility initiatives. This year, we met in the newly renovated ground-level meeting space of the museum. We worked together to audit CAM’s spaces, print materials, and web content. We will be making updates this coming year based on our Council’s recommendations.

The museum’s accessibility statement reads:

The Cincinnati Art Museum strives for inclusivity by increasing accessibility to its collection, programming, and resources. The museum seeks to eliminate barriers by accommodating the individual needs of all visitors.