ScholarWorks > HHS > OT > OJOT > Vol. 13 > Iss. 3 (2025)
Credentials Display
Lisa Mahaffey PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA; Kristin Chissos, OTD, OTR/L; Kate Wettergren, OTD, OTR/L
Abstract
Background: Disabled performance artists use their occupation of performance art to challenge the attitudes of their audience toward disability, leading to a greater sense of empowerment and a strong identity as disabled people.
Method: This project used a narrative approach to qualitative inquiry to explore how engagement in performance art influences occupational identity and empowers disabled artists. Personal connections and snowball sampling resulted in six self-identified disabled performance artists participating in 60- to 90-min interviews. A thematic analysis resulted in three overarching themes.
Results: (a) Belonging to a community of disability activists promotes feelings of empowerment for disabled performance artists, (b) the invisible is made visible through their craft; performance art is a means to express the inside out, and (c) understanding and manipulating the physical and social space is integral to the sense of belonging and transformative process in disabled performance art.
Conclusion: Disabled performers engage in a performative discourse with the audience. The act of becoming a visible, active change agent creates a transformative process for the artist and audience. The role of performer and societal change agent becomes an important aspect of their occupational identity.
Recommended Citation
Mahaffey, L., Chrissos, K., & Wettergren, K. (2025). A Qualitative Study of Disabled Performance Art in Occupational Identity Formation and Empowerment. The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 13(3), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.15453/2168-6408.2319
Comments
The authors declare that they have no competing financial, professional, or personal interest that might have influenced the performance or presentation of the work described in this manuscript.