Vanessa Salvia of The Register-Guard writes about the latest touring exhibit featured at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art on the University of Oregon campus.
“Brilliant and Resilient” features 16 portraits of disabled women activists, and tells their personal stories in photos and vignettes about their activism. Headed up by Pulitzer Prize-winner Brian Lanker, who died in 2011, his work lives on through this passion project.
Before Lanker’s death, he partnered with Susan Sygall, founder of Mobility International, an organization empowering men and women with disabilities. In a wheelchair since the age of 18, Sygall was inspired by Lanker’s previous projects. Their partnership led to a book of 50 portraits of female disabled activists.
“It was previewed at the World Bank, it’s been in Indonesia, at the United States Agency for International Development, and now it’s at the Schnitzer Museum, so dreams do come true,” said Sygall.