This is a guest post by Julia Logue, our summer intern who assisted in the office and also worked closely with performers in The Poet’s Shadow. Julia is a student at Oregon State University, and she’s a practicing musician. You can hear her music on Soundcloud. In case you missed it, check out the video of performer interviews that Julia made for The Poet’s Shadow.

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Before interning with PHAME this summer, I had never thought of art as being a human right. Not that I thought art should not be accessible to all, I just hadn’t ever deeply considered what life would be like without access to the arts. I’m a musician, and music and art have helped me navigate the world around me, but I have always had easy access to both. As an able bodied, white, cisgendered woman from a middle class family of musicians, I have had a multitude of opportunities to perform and be involved with music both onstage and off just on the basis of my identity.

Interning with PHAME this summer and working with performers in The Poet's Shadow up close, I've come to understand how important it is for everyone to have the same access to the arts. PHAME is giving its students the chance to shine through their programs and in return, audiences and individuals get the opportunity to see some amazing art. I saw how PHAME gives people with disabilities the visibility they deserve on stage and in other showcases. I also realized how important it is for everyone to be able to pursue their own creativity.

As student Jeremiah S. put it, performances like The Poet’s Shadow are important because “it’s a good way to show off that people that have a disability doesn’t mean they can’t do things that other people could be real great at.” This quote exemplifies one of the most important things about PHAME. PHAME gives audiences with and without disabilities the opportunity to see that people with disabilities can do amazing things on and off the stage.

Understanding and internalizing the idea that art is a human right made my internship at PHAME extremely meaningful and educational. The teachers, students and staff at PHAME are incredibly intelligent, thoughtful and passionate about PHAME’s mission. I will carry the idea of equality and access to art into whatever career pathway I end up in whether that is music, working at a nonprofit and in daily life.

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Thanks for supporting PHAME, Julia! Good luck on your next semester at OSU!

Thoughts on Art as a Human Right: A Guest Post by Intern Julia Logue