Exhibition - Accessible Expressions Ohio

The Massillon Museum’s Fred F. Silk Community Room Gallery will be the venue for the traveling exhibition, Accessible Expressions Ohio, from June 22 through August 18, 2024. A free, public reception for the artists will be held on Saturday, August 17, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.

Presented by Art Possible Ohio, the state organization on arts and disabilities, Accessible Expressions Ohio is a juried, statewide exhibition and tour of visual art created by artists with disabilities. Each year, artists respond to the call for entries, entering in the categories of youth, emerging, or professional artists. Accessible Expressions has included more than 1,500 artists since it began in 1996. If the artwork is sold, artists receive the full value they have set on their artwork.

The diverse multimedia exhibit travels to accessible sites throughout Ohio from April through December to raise awareness and change viewers’ perspectives of disability while inspiring their own creativity and acts of inclusion. 

Exhibits in the Fred F. Silk Community Room Gallery reflect collaborations between the Massillon Museum and regional community partners. Accessible Expressions Ohio meshes with the Massillon Museum’s accessibility initiatives, which include braille labels and audio components in major exhibitions, full accessibility in the building and on the grounds, a Sensory Room, sensory kits, and a wheelchair for use during Museum visits.

Art Possible Ohio makes arts and education more accessible and inclusive for people with disability and their support networks. A nonprofit, statewide organization founded in 1986, it works to change perceptions about ability and disability by connecting people to accessible, creative opportunities and celebrating life through the arts. For more information, call 614-241-5325, email info@artpossibleohio.org, or visit artpossibleohio.org. 

Visitors will also be able to see Gilding Northeast Ohio: Fashion and Fortune 1870–1900. Additional exhibitions can be seen—Jerry Kalback Deadball Era Series: An Illustrator’s Process (through August 4); Massillon’s Baseball Pros: An Inning in History (through August 4); Precious Legacies: Exposures of a Fleeting Landscape (through July); Ethiopian Expedition of 1903; Innovators of Massillon; the Immel Circus; and the local history and fine and decorative arts galleries. 

The Massillon Museum receives operating support from the Ohio Arts Council, ArtsinStark, and the citizens of Massillon. This exhibition is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Museum is located at 121 Lincoln Way East (Ohio Route 172) in downtown Massillon. A visit to the Massillon Museum is always free. For more information, call the Museum at 330-833-4061 or visit massillonmuseum.org.