DisAbility & Identity: Wendy Maruyama, Artist and Professor

Thu, 02 Jan 2020 13:02:40 -0500
art, artist, cerebral, craft, deaf, disability, faculty, female, furniture, hearing, identity, japanese, maruyama, mfa, palsy, professor, wendy, wood, working

How do we talk about disability as an identity?

"Talking about Deafness and disability has never been easy. I realize as time goes on, my being Deaf was the first identity that I was consciously aware of. And I have cerebral palsy. The days before where I had gone to speech therapy, physical therapy, then of course being Japanese American, we were the only Asian American kids on the block. Then there is the issue of being female in a male-dominated field..." -Wendy Maruyama, Furniture Maker, Artist and Professor

What is the legacy of embracing identity?

"The thing that she instilled in me and generations of students is 'Don't ever settle on the thing that you did as the final product. Keep pushing." - Adam John Manly, Artist

Take a moment to explore Wendy Maruyama's journey from childhood to world-renowned artist and scholar with the video linked here and below: Wendy Maruyama segment on Craft in America: Identity. (8.5 minutes)

The journey toward success for people with disabilities has strong partnerships on campus. UMBC students with disabilities may request accommodation through Student Disability Services (link).

UMBC employees with disabilities may request work-related accommodation through Accessibility & Disability Services (link).

More information on how UMBC provides accommodation for members of the Deaf or Hard of Hearing community is linked here.

Wendy Maruyama's website, featuring more information about her life and work is linked here.

Image illustrating the post: Photo of small paper/wooden block figure standing in the crook of a tree, gazing at the ascending trunk.