Beth Ann (BA) Short MA, LCAT, ATR-BC, ATCS. BA grew up around the Great Lakes region, living in both Michigan and Ontario. Short is Wolastiqiyik/Maliseet from their father's family who were diasporic from Maliseet First Nation in Woodstock, New Brunswick, Canada. BA experiences multiple invisible disabilities. BA also identifies as a mixed race, gender queer/non-binary person. They are an adjunct instructor for Lewis & Clark College teaching graduate level art therapy courses. BA has published two books on using the Creative Mindfulness Technique. In all areas of their work BA draws inspiration from a postmodernist approach incorporating intersectionality, social constructionism, feminism, queer theory, liberation psychology, and antiracism. “I believe human beings will always be growing and the therapeutic relationship relies on empathy, language, storytelling, and art. Sometimes this may mean there are multiple truths and realities to explore, understand, and witness. I also believe in the importance of acknowledging, questioning, and creatively dismantling historical systemic power structures that have been in place and have unfairly disadvantaged individuals.”
http://www.crowandmoon.net/index.html- We Are the Most Beautiful People | Adults with Disabilities
We live in a world that's centered on the rights and needs of non-disabled persons. Our documentary challenges the notion of beauty and centers on the lived experience of adults who live with disabilities. It will contribute to the disability justice movement, raise awareness and deconstruct norms embedded in cultures worldwide. This film includes stories and information to educate and shed light on the experience of individuals with disabilities while also deconstructing the definition of beauty. We have conducted over 25 interviews from Ghana, India, Taiwan, Chile, Canada, UK and the U.S. This will be the first film to uniting a minority group that spans the globe. Adults with disabilities are the world’s largest minority, and the least represented. We want to share our stories unapologetically and authentically with the world. We believe these stories deserve worldwide attention. Adults with disabilities are capable. We want to be included and our stories matter. This film can help shift the paradigm of how the world sees adults with disabilities. The film has five major sections. Each section includes interviews, statistics, data, and art. Voice over narration will be done by Zian and the director, BA Short. Who are both art therapists in Portland, Oregon. Voice overs and imagery of process art created by individuals with disabilities bridge the five sections together.