Images: (Left) The Lord’s Prayer by Martha Ann Honeywell, 1845. New-York Historical Society. (Right) Hollow-cut silhouette on paper by Raphaelle Peale or Moses Williams, Circa 1803. Library Company of Philadelphia.
Enabling Artistries: Displays of 19th-Century Creativity, Disability, and Freedom showcases the extraordinary works of nineteenth-century visual and performance artists working primarily with silhouettes and navigating boundaries of creativity and achievement as persons with unique status and ability in U.S. culture. Focusing on artwork by Martha Ann Honeywell, Sarah Rogers, Saunders Ken Grems Nellis, and Moses Williams, Enabling Artistries highlights how artistic practice and expression serve as gateways to personal autonomy and freedom.
Honeywell, Rogers, and Nellis created vibrant careers as papercutting artists with significant physical disabilities, traveling across North and South America, the Caribbean, and Europe, to the surprise and delight of curious audiences. Positioning themselves as curiosities allowed them to leverage popular prejudices around disability for fame and profit. They engaged with Charles Wilson Peale’s Philadelphia Museum where their work was in contrast with that of Moses Williams, who was enslaved by Peale and earned his freedom through his prodigious labor with cutting silhouettes using the newest machine technology. Also regarded by audiences as a spectacle, Williams nonetheless carved out an artistic path of note and inspiration.
In a show that connects visual art, performance, disability, innovative technology, and personal freedom, Enabling Artistries invites audiences today to reflect on nineteenth-century expressive culture and the marvelous diversity of human bodies in creative motion.
Enabling Artistries is based on Mouth & Toes: The World of 19th Century Silhouette Artists with Disabilities, a collection of moving panoramas, printed scrolls, and handheld flip books as well as an eBook and virtual exhibition, created by Tisch School of the Arts Professor Marianne R. Petit and Laurel Daen, Assistant Professor of American Studies at the University of Notre Dame. In addition to the nineteenth-century reproductions, Petit's artworks, and Daen and Petit's book, the show features items from the private collection of NYU Associate Vice President for Global Programs William R. Pruitt III and tactile interpretations by artist Stefanie Koseff. The show has been co-curated by Petit, Daen, Roxane Pickens, Community Engagement Librarian, and Elizabeth Verrelli, Associate Director of Engagement at NYU Libraries.
Overview Video
Art and Disability Video
Select bibliography of articles related to the exhibition.