Lisa Myers

Chair

Lisa Myers is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change and holds a York University Research Chair in Indigenous Art and Curatorial Practice. As a curator and artist with a keen interest in interdisciplinary collaboration, her research focuses on Contemporary Indigenous art considering the varied values and functions of elements such as medicine plants and language, sound, and knowledge. Through many media and materials including socially engaged art approaches, her art practice examines place, underrepresented histories/present/futures, and collective forms of knowledge exchange. Part of her curatorial practice includes advocacy for artists needs, in doing so she is passionate at navigating institutional barriers and limitations. Myers is a member of Beausoleil First Nation and is based in both Toronto and Port Severn, ON.

Rachel Butler
Secretary

Rachel is a former labour activist now arts organizer, with some additional precarious jobs in between. Now Rachel is a Project Manager and Studio Manager at Akin Collective. Rachel has helped orchestrate many of Akin’s community engagement and professional development events. She held the primary role in planning Akin Studio Program at MOCA Year Two 2019-2020 residency within the Museum of Contemporary Art here in Toronto, Akin St. Clair Don’t Meats Mural Project 2018, Akin’s community workshop residency at the Gardiner Museum called Place/Setting in 2016, and the Urban Workers Skillshare 2017. Rachel recently exhibited at Black Cat Showroom as part of Studio Mates group show.

Sean Lee
Director

Sean Lee is an artist and curator exploring the notion of disability art and accessibility as the last avant-garde. His methodology reframes embodied difference as a means to resist traditional aesthetic idealities. Orienting towards a “crip horizon”, Sean’s practice gestures towards the transformative possibilities of a world that desires the way disability can disrupt.

Sean holds a B.A. in Arts Management and Studio from the University of Toronto, Scarborough and is currently the Director of Programming at Tangled Art + Disability. Previous to this role, he was Tangled’s inaugural Curator in Residence (2016) as well as Tangled’s Gallery Manager (2017). Sean has been integral to countless exhibitions and public engagements throughout his tenure at Tangled Art + Disability. 

In addition to his position at Tangled Art + Disability, Sean is an independent lecturer, speaker, and moderator adding his insights and perspectives to conversations surrounding Disability Arts across Canada, the United States and internationally. Sean currently sits on the board of CARFAC Ontario, Creative Users Projects, and is a member of the Ontario Art Council’s Deaf and Disability Advisory Group and Toronto Art Council’s Visual Arts / Media Arts Committee. 

Nicole Crawford

Treasurer

Nicole holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts with High Distinction from the Arts Management program at the University of Toronto. She currently works at Tangled Art + Disability and serves as board treasurer for CARFAC Ontario. Nicole is passionate about the Disability Arts in Canada, and is committed to advancing access and equity in cultural organizations through research. Through her work at the Diversity Institute she has contributed to key reports such as Access to Funding: 2SLGBTQI+ Communities in Canada, Civic Action Report: Diversity and Inclusion in Non-Profit Leadership in Ontario, and Enablers, Challenges and Barriers to Success in the Music industry.

In her role at Tangled Art + Disability she has led several projects such as the creation of the Tangled Digital Archive, the planning, and organization of Tangled’s community booth at the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair, and has made significant improvements to Tangled’s annual call for submissions. Nicole noticed a need for more accessible services when it came to Tangled’s open call for submissions process. In response, she helped develop, and lead a series of access focused interviews that aimed to help Deaf, Neurodiverse, and intellectually disabled artists create proposals.

Amirah Arif 

Director

Amirah is an artist and attorney. She attended McGill University before graduating magna cum laude with a J.D. from the University of Ottawa. She is admitted to practice in California. Her art law practice includes advising artists in litigation including copyright infringement matters.

Sheila Sampath

Director

Sheila Sampath is an artist, activist designer, facilitator and educator. She is the principal and creative director at The Public, a social justice design studio specializing in co-creation for community self-determination, the editorial and art director of Shameless magazine, a feminist voice for teens of marginalized genders, and a professor in the Bachelor of Digital Communications Program at Humber. 

Sheila has chaired the board at the Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multi-Cultural Women against rape, and is a former member of the SAVAC board of directors. She is on the program advisory committee for the Assaulted Women and Children’s Counselling and Advocacy program at George Brown College, a Sketch NextUp! Mentor, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Artists. She has lectured internationally on community-centred creative praxis, alternative media, and anti-oppressive work. 

In 2020, she was named a YWCA Toronto Woman of Distinction for her work transforming the lives of women and girls through the arts.