.jpg "Rebecca Cartwright, MA photo")
Mundelein, Illinois, United States
Rebecca Cartwright is a textile artist and disability activist living near Chicago. A self-proclaimed nerd, she loves diving into topics and inviting others to join her. Since being diagnosed with a degenerative muscle disease in 2010, garment making and quilting have been sources of comfort, self-accommodation, and creative expression.
Her most recent work takes her out of her comfort zone of making “pretty quilts” and into the realm of making a statement with her quilts. Using sheer fabric as a metaphor for ableist culture and combining it with traditional quilting elements, she questions assumptions about what makes a “good” quilt and encourages viewers to reflect on the impact of ableism’s pervasive yet often invisible presence in society.
Believing that education happens in many forms, Rebecca is committed to meeting people where they are. She advocates for inclusion in crafting spaces on social media as The Anti-Ableist Makers Society, facilitates an online study group for artists exploring the intersection of creativity and ableism, and writes for national crafting magazines about her lived experience as a disabled maker.
In her life before chronic illness and disability, Rebecca was an associate professor of political science at Montgomery College in Rockville, MD. She also served as a faculty mentor, focusing on active learning and outcomes assessment. Her favorite challenge was helping colleagues apply what they learned in her workshops to the specific contexts of their courses.
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Keynote: From Accidental Ableism to Intentional Inclusion (1 Class A CE)
Thursday, February 13, 2025
8:15 AM – 9:15 AM MT