Breaking Ground 125: Annual Arts Issue
"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way, things I had no words for."" painter Georgia O'Keeffe once said. That idea sits at the heart of our 2026 Annual Arts Issue.
Issue 125 brings together the work of dozens of Tennesseans with disabilities;
- painters,
- photographers,
- sculptors,
- songwriters,
- poets,
- and digital artists
along with the stories behind it.
You'll meet cover artist Alyssa Ray, whose photograph Tree Canopy began with a single tree that simply looked different from everything around it.
You'll travel to the Smithville Fiddlers' Jamboree, where inclusive competition categories share the same stage, the same weekend, and the same judges as everyone else.
You'll learn how Tennessee is helping artists turn their craft into careers, and why something as small as a line of alt text can decide whether a piece of art is experienced or missed entirely.
This issue also marks another collaboration with Borderless Arts Tennessee, now celebrating 25 years of opening the arts to people with disabilities, and the Tennessee Arts Commission, whose work continues to break down barriers to participation across the state.
Whether you make art, champion it, or simply love being moved by it, we hope you'll spend some time here.
- Opening Notes
- Meet Alyssa: The Eye Behind the Cover
- Fine Art 1
- Fifty-Five Years of Fiddles and Front Porch Music
- Fine Art 2
- Expanding Creative Horizons: How Tennessee Empowers Self-Employed Artists with Disabilities
- Fine Art 3
- More Than Meets the Eye: How Alt Text Opens the Door to Art for Blind and Low-Vision Audiences
- Fine Art 4
Learn more about the Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities. 615.532.6615 | www.tn.gov/cdd | Facebook | Tnddc@tn.gov
Subscriptions to Breaking Ground are free and available through the Council website. Visit tn.gov/cdd to subscribe or contact us by phone or email with subscription updates or requests, and please include name and mailing or email address. This project was supported in part by grant number 2101TNSCDD, from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects with government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL policy.