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Audio description of Jessica Blinkhorn. opens a new websiteEach year, CEDHARS, along with the National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD) and the UAB SHP Research Collaborative, host an annual art exhibit addressing and exploring the intersection of disability and society.

This year, Atlanta-based interdisciplinary artist and teacher Jessica Elaine Blinkhorn will debut her exhibit, Indelible: Stories of Permanence, on Thursday, January 25, 2024, at the UAB WHARF building on the campus of the Lakeshore Foundation.

Call for Submissions/About the Exhibit

Indelible: Stories of Permanence discusses the personal narratives of tattoos belonging to both the disabled and “for now” non-disabled forms. What does a tattoo mean to the wearer? Does the person wearing the tattoo have a disability? Does the tattoo recall a memory related to disability? Perhaps the non-disabled individual has a tattoo pertaining to disability or a person with a disability who has made an impression on their life? Much like a tattoo or a brief or prolonged interaction with a person – disability is indelible; it is permanent.

Artists and/or interested individuals with or without a disability(s) are invited to submit photographs of themselves with their disability-themed tattoo for Indelible: Stories of Permanence, to be held at the UAB WHARF at 3810 Ridgeway Dr. Birmingham, AL, 35209, in January 2024.

Artist(s) and/or individual(s) interested in participating can submit their image as well as a brief summary explaining how their tattoo and disability correspond via Google entry form.

Entry Form

About the Artist

Jessica Elaine Blinkhorn is an Atlanta-based interdisciplinary artist and teacher. Blinkhorn’s work advocates for the LGBTQ+, disabled and aging communities. Blinkhorn, who uses a powerchair, focuses her work on acceptance through acknowledgement of difference, body positivity, disability education through experience and exposure, human sexuality and storytelling.

About the UAB SHP Research Collaborative

The UAB SHP Research Collaborative addresses health equity for people with disabilities through a scientifically sound, interdisciplinary inclusion science framework aimed at reducing ableism in every form.

The collaborative is headquartered at the UAB Wellness, Health And Research Facility, WHARF, located on the campus of the Lakeshore Foundation. The WHARF includes a mix of full and part-time employees, researchers and students, including undergraduates, graduate students, and pre- and post-docs. It includes centers such as NCHPAD, RecTech and CEDHARS, home of the UAB Adaptive Human Performance Lab. In addition to these centers, professors, partners and other leading disability experts throughout UAB and across the country partner with the Research Collaborative on programs, research, education and other projects.