Finnegan Shannon

Ode to the Sisters Against Disablement (SAD) Code, 2025

Ode to the Sisters Against Disablement (SAD) Code

A grid of twelve framed drawings with green borders frames on a white gallery wall. Each contains handwritten text with notes on accessibility, such as “smoking allowed but strictly forbidden on the dance floor” and “seating: Hard and soft. Flexible”

  • About:
    When I was in London in June 2025, I had the pleasure of visiting Bishopsgate Institute Special Collections and Archives. I saw a lot of amazing materials but was particularly taken by the access info on lesbian events flyers in the 90s. Their way of sharing access info follows the lead of Sisters Against Disablement (SAD) who made an accessibility code in the mid-80s. I’m so in love with this descriptive language for things like seating, lighting, floor surfaces, lifts, food, activity structures, and more.

    These drawings were created as part of I wish gays hung out at places where we could sit down at Gallery 400, University of Illinois, Chicago, curated by Lauren Leving.

  • Year: 2025

  • Materials: Pen on paper 

  • Size: twelve drawings, each 13 x 16 in framed

  • Photo by: Jonas Mikowsch Müller-Ahlheim

  • More about the SAD Code