Opening Notes
Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities
Welcome to the 2026 arts issue of Breaking Ground magazine! We are honored to share the creativity of Tennesseans with disabilities with our subscribers across our state and the country.
Art can serve so many purposes, both for us as individuals and for society. It allows us to express thoughts, emotions, and ideas in a creative way. It can also reflect and preserve the beliefs and traditions of a culture. It can help express powerful emotions – both with the artist and the observer. And it can be a form of mindfulness, self-care, growth, and healing. It can also be FUN! This quote from the artist Georgia O’Keeffe says it all: “I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way; things I had no words for.
In these pages, you will find many forms of artistic expression - prose, poetry, song lyrics, mixed media, paintings, drawings, photography, and digital creations.
You’ll also find articles about access to visual content for people who are blind, a fun article about the Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree, and a feature about the
cover artist.
We are grateful to our co-sponsors for this special edition: Borderless Arts Tennessee, and The Tennessee Arts Commission. Both partners are committed to increasing opportunities for Tennesseans with disabilities to participate in the arts. We encourage you to connect with the Arts Commission (tnartscommission.org) and Borderless Arts (borderlessartstn.org) to learn more about what they do.
A special thank you to all of the talented artists who submitted your work. Every piece shines. We wish we could have included each and every one of them.
Keep creating!
— Lynette Porter, Deputy Director, TN Council on Developmental Disabilities
Borderless Arts Tennessee
Borderless Arts TN is so excited to be part of this year’s arts issue of Breaking Ground, as it is our 25th anniversary year! When Borderless Arts formed 25 years ago, there were not a lot of programs or opportunities in the arts for people with disabilities in Tennessee. While working with partners such as the Tennessee Arts Commission, we offered resources and training for numerous cultural organizations to encourage them to make their programs and services more inclusive. The services that are now offered by most of the large cultural institutions are quite remarkable. We would like to think we were a small part of that transformation.
In addition, we have always offered our own arts programs for people with disabilities free of charge. Some of these programs have been to assist those with a high level of talent in the arts to be able to use their talents in a professional manner. Other programs that we have offered connect the arts to the community. We like to connect to segments of the community that are not typically connected to the arts or to disabilities. By doing this, our participants have learned about many exciting and unique elements in the world around them. At the same time, this work has helped inform those communities of the abilities of people with disabilities and the power of the arts. In addition, these experiences allow our participants to use their artistic talents to give back. Typically, the participants will create art that is given to our community partners as a gift and a reminder of our work together. Our organization believes that our participants are given some wonderful opportunities and that a response to what they have been given needs to be a demonstration of giving back to others. The arts are not all about giving or taking, they are about sharing, communicating, and connecting.
The arts edition of Breaking Ground provides an avenue to share, communicate, and connect while also promoting the abilities of people with disabilities and demonstrating the value of the arts. This edition is the epitome of everything we have been trying to do for 25 years. So, it is with great pleasure and honor that we were invited to be a partner in their work. Thank you to Breaking Ground for their hard work, to the artists for sharing their talents, and to every one of you who are reading this issue right now.
— Lori Kissinger, Executive Director, Borderless Arts Tennessee
TN Arts Commission
The Tennessee Arts Commission remains dedicated to providing arts for those who face barriers to participating in the arts, including people with disabilities, by expanding its support through various grants and projects. A prominent example is the new “Arts for All” grant category. Beginning in fiscal year 2027, the program will allow nonprofit organizations to apply for funding to reach residents facing barriers to arts participation. Over the past several years, the commission has seen an increase in applications from organizations serving people with disabilities, so that individuals and their families can participate in many different art forms including dance, theater, visual arts, and many more creative outlets.
The commission will also continue its series of virtual webinars through 2026. These webinars are designed to increase awareness and understanding of working with people with disabilities among funded organizations and the broader community. Launched in 2023, these webinars provide a resource for practical tips/strategies of how to connect and engage people with disabilities to provide accessible arts programming available to everyone.
Finally, the commission continues its collaboration with the Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities, Borderless Arts Tennessee, and Tennessee Disability Pathfinder. The insightful guidance of these partnerships remains essential in delivering the benefits of the arts to all Tennesseans.
—Kim Johnson, Director of Arts Access, Tennessee Arts Commission