Chronically ill Artists Network
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chronicallyillart.bsky.social
Chronically ill Artists Network
@chronicallyillart.bsky.social
91 followers 400 following 31 posts
Providing support, opportunities, information and advocacy for chronically ill artists and arts professional. Find out more and sign up to our newsletter at https://www.chronicallyillartistsnetwork.com/
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chronicallyillart.bsky.social
All this week we’ve been posting the experiences and voices of chronically ill artists, shared with us by our members. Here’s what you can do now (especially non-disabled and non-chronically ill allies) 👇 🧵(1/3)
A pink graphic line drawing on a white background, showing a figure with a stick and a backpack climbing a hill, beyond this hill the landscape has flattened out, with a pink gem-shaped logo for the Chronically ill Artists Network in the corner, and #ClimbingTinyMountains at the bottom. Black text reads “You’ve heard the stories. You’ve read the words. Now what?”
June 27, 2025 at 8:12 AM
chronicallyillart.bsky.social
#ClimbingTinyMountains (🧵3/3)
Image description: A pink graphic line drawing on a white background, showing a figure with a stick and a backpack climbing a hill, beyond this hill the landscape has flattened out, with a pink gem-shaped logo for the Chronically ill Artists Network in the corner, and #ClimbingTinyMountains at the bottom. Black text in speech marks reads: “Access is a collaboration. Just like other creative collaborations - it shouldn’t all fall on our shoulders”. Image description: A pink graphic line drawing on a white background, showing a figure with a stick and a backpack climbing a hill, beyond this hill the landscape has flattened out, with a pink gem-shaped logo for the Chronically ill Artists Network in the corner, and #ClimbingTinyMountains at the bottom. Black text in speech marks reads: “Access benefits everyone. You make the arts richer when you make them accessible”.
June 27, 2025 at 7:13 AM
chronicallyillart.bsky.social
#ClimbingTinyMountains (🧵2/3)
Image description: A pink graphic line drawing on a white background, showing a figure with a stick and a backpack climbing a hill, beyond this hill the landscape has flattened out, with a pink gem-shaped logo for the Chronically ill Artists Network in the corner, and #ClimbingTinyMountains at the bottom. Black text in speech marks reads: “Productivity ≠ Value. Chronically ill artists may work slower. That doesn’t mean the work is lesser”. Image description: A pink graphic line drawing on a white background, showing a figure with a stick and a backpack climbing a hill, beyond this hill the landscape has flattened out, with a pink gem-shaped logo for the Chronically ill Artists Network in the corner, and #ClimbingTinyMountains at the bottom. Black text in speech marks reads: “Online access isn’t optional. Hybrid events should be standard”.
June 27, 2025 at 7:13 AM
chronicallyillart.bsky.social
Access isn’t optional. It’s not a ‘nice to have’. It’s a right. If your event, residency or opportunity isn’t accessible to chronically ill artists, then it’s not for all artists. 🧵(1/3)

#ClimbingTinyMountains #ChronicallyillArtistsNetwork #CIAN #DisabilityJustice
Image description: A pink pink graphic line drawing on a white background, showing a figure with a stick and a backpack climbing a hill, beyond this hill the landscape has flattened out, with a pink gem-shaped logo for the Chronically ill Artists Network in the corner, and #ClimbingTinyMountains at the bottom. Black text in speech marks reads: “Chronically ill artists are not a “risk”. We are an opportunity for deep, flexible, radical creativity”. Image description: A pink graphic line drawing on a white background, showing a figure with a stick and a backpack climbing a hill, beyond this hill the landscape has flattened out, with a pink gem-shaped logo for the Chronically ill Artists Network in the corner, and #ClimbingTinyMountains at the bottom. Black text in speech marks reads: “Fluctuation is not unreliability. It’s a reality of our lives. Planning with care makes it manageable”.
June 27, 2025 at 7:13 AM
chronicallyillart.bsky.social
What if rehearsal periods were 8 weeks instead of 4?

What if deadlines flexed around access needs?

What if residencies happened from bed, not just a barn in the countryside? 🧵(1/2)

#ClimbingTinyMountains
Image description: A pink graphic line drawing on a white background, showing a figure with a stick and a backpack climbing a hill, beyond this hill the landscape has flattened out. Black text reads “Let’s reimagine the landscape”. There is a pink gem-shaped logo for the Chronically ill Artists Network in the corner, and #ClimbingTinyMountains at the bottom.
June 26, 2025 at 7:38 AM
chronicallyillart.bsky.social
#ClimbingTinyMountains 🧵(4/4)
Image Description: a pink graphic line drawing on a white background, with a figure climbing one of a series of 3 hills, with a pink gem-shaped logo for the Chronically ill Artists Network in the corner, and #ClimbingTinyMountains at the bottom. The following quote is in black text and speech marks “Chronically ill artists bring different timelines, different rhythms, different truths. That’s not a weakness, that’s innovation”
June 26, 2025 at 7:11 AM
chronicallyillart.bsky.social
#ClimbingTinyMountains 🧵(3/4)
Image Description: a pink graphic line drawing on a white background, with a figure climbing one of a series of 3 hills, with a pink gem-shaped logo for the Chronically ill Artists Network in the corner, and #ClimbingTinyMountains at the bottom. The following quote is in black text and speech marks “We're not making a poor man's version of a show, we're making different and exciting work. There's creativity in limitation”
June 26, 2025 at 7:11 AM
chronicallyillart.bsky.social
#ClimbingTinyMountains 🧵(2/4)
Image Description: a pink graphic line drawing on a white background, with a figure climbing one of a series of 3 hills, with a pink gem-shaped logo for the Chronically ill Artists Network in the corner, and #ClimbingTinyMountains at the bottom. The following quote is in black text and speech marks “How do we convince people that we are worth taking a risk on?”
June 26, 2025 at 7:11 AM
chronicallyillart.bsky.social
Hiring a chronically ill artist isn’t a risk. It’s an opportunity to make your work more thoughtful, inclusive, and radically creative.
#ClimbingTinyMountains 🧵(1/4)
Image Description: a pink graphic line drawing on a white background, with a figure climbing one of a series of 3 hills, with a pink gem-shaped logo for the Chronically ill Artists Network in the corner, and #ClimbingTinyMountains at the bottom. The following quote is in black text and speech marks “I lost a job I was actually really good at because of illness”
June 26, 2025 at 7:11 AM
chronicallyillart.bsky.social
Meet Zaya (she/they). Zaya has been making theatre and painting for 15 years. But no-one knew they were chronically ill - not even their collaborators. 🧵(1/4)

#ClimbingTinyMountains
Image description: a pink graphic line drawing on a white background, showing a figure with a stick and backpack, climbing one of a series of 3 hills to the left. The black text on the right reads “Meet a Mountain Climber. Name: Zaya, Profession: Freelance theatre-maker and visual artist, Based on real experiences from CIAN focus groups”. The pink graphic gem logo for the Chronically ill Artists Network is in the top right and pink text along the bottom reads #ClimbingTinyMountains
June 25, 2025 at 8:32 AM
chronicallyillart.bsky.social
Share your thoughts and experiences on the isolation and exclusion faced by chronically ill artists, using #ClimbingTinyMountains 🧵(4/4)

#ClimbingTinyMountains #ChronicallyillArtistsNetwork #CIAN #DisabilityJustice
Image description: a pink graphic line drawing on a white background, with a figure climbing one of a series of 3 hills, with a pink gem-shaped logo for the Chronically ill Artists Network in the corner, and #ClimbingTinyMountains at the bottom. The black text in speech marks reads “That fear isolates us, but together we’re louder”
June 24, 2025 at 8:07 AM
chronicallyillart.bsky.social
What we need is to be seen, supported, and included. 🧵(3/4)

#ClimbingTinyMountains
Image description: a pink graphic line drawing on a white background, with a figure climbing one of a series of 3 hills, with a pink gem-shaped logo for the Chronically ill Artists Network in the corner, and #ClimbingTinyMountains at the bottom. The black text in speech marks reads “So many of us have hidden our illness out of fear. Fear of being labelled, overlooked, or seen as less”
June 24, 2025 at 8:07 AM
chronicallyillart.bsky.social
We’re here.

We’re working.

We’re building whole worlds - in between symptoms, flare-ups, hospital visits, and rest. 🧵(2/4)

#ClimbingTinyMountains
Image description: a pink graphic line drawing on a white background, with a figure climbing one of a series of 3 hills, with a pink gem-shaped logo for the Chronically ill Artists Network in the corner, and #ClimbingTinyMountains at the bottom. The black text in speech marks reads “Chronically ill artists are chronically unheard”
June 24, 2025 at 8:07 AM
chronicallyillart.bsky.social
Fighting for your right to be here shouldn’t be part of the job description when working in the arts. Being chronically ill is already a full-time job. 🧵(1/4)

#ClimbingTinyMountains
Image description: a pink graphic line drawing on a white background, with a figure climbing one of a series of 3 hills, with a pink gem-shaped logo for the Chronically ill Artists Network in the corner, and #ClimbingTinyMountains at the bottom. The black text in speech marks reads “It’s scary to fight your corner all the time when it’s already super hard to have a chronic illness”
June 24, 2025 at 8:07 AM
chronicallyillart.bsky.social
Have you faced barriers in the arts because of chronic illness? Use #ClimbingTinyMountains to share your story.

#ClimbingTinyMountains #ChronicallyillArtistsNetwork #CIAN #DisabilityJustice #RestIsResistance
A pink graphic line drawing on a white background, showing a figure with a stick and a backpack climbing one of a series of 3 hills, with a pink gem-shaped logo for the Chronically ill Artists Network in the corner, and #ClimbingTinyMountains at the bottom. A quote in black text and speech marks reads: “We are not lazy. We are navigating inaccessible systems, one tiny mountain at a time”
June 23, 2025 at 9:49 AM
chronicallyillart.bsky.social
We don’t want one-off access panels or performative allyship.

We want embedded change - access, support, and space to create without risking our health. 🧵(4/5)
A pink graphic line drawing on a white background, showing a figure with a stick and a backpack climbing one of a series of 3 hills, with a pink gem-shaped logo for the Chronically ill Artists Network in the corner, and #ClimbingTinyMountains at the bottom. A quote in black text and speech marks reads: “When I’m really exhausted, working creatively becomes harder and harder”
June 23, 2025 at 9:49 AM
chronicallyillart.bsky.social
That pressure? It’s crushing.

The arts sector doesn’t need more “resilience”.

We need rest. Support. Access. Equity. 🧵(3/5)
A pink graphic line drawing on a white background, showing a figure with a stick and a backpack climbing one of a series of 3 hills, with a pink gem-shaped logo for the Chronically ill Artists Network in the corner, and #ClimbingTinyMountains at the bottom. A quote in black text and speech marks reads: “Dealing with healthcare, benefits… getting the support you need - it’s rare for most of us”
June 23, 2025 at 9:49 AM
chronicallyillart.bsky.social
Many chronically ill artists live with the constant tension of trying to appear “sick enough” to access support, while also trying to prove they’re “capable enough” to be taken seriously in the arts. 🧵(2/5)
A pink graphic line drawing on a white background, showing a figure with a stick and a backpack climbing one of a series of 3 hills, with a pink gem-shaped logo for the Chronically ill Artists Network in the corner, and #ClimbingTinyMountains at the bottom. A quote in black text and speech marks reads: “It’s not just one barrier, it’s hundreds of small ones, every day”
June 23, 2025 at 9:49 AM
chronicallyillart.bsky.social
Being a chronically ill artist means waking up each day with no idea what your body will give you.

It means exhaustion. Isolation. Starting over again and again. 🧵(1/5)
A pink graphic line drawing on a white background, showing a figure with a stick and a backpack climbing one of a series of 3 hills, with a pink gem-shaped logo for the Chronically ill Artists Network in the corner, and #ClimbingTinyMountains at the bottom. A quote in black text and speech marks reads: “It’s almost like climbing the tiny mountain, and then climbing the same mountain again and again”
June 23, 2025 at 9:49 AM
chronicallyillart.bsky.social
Climbing Tiny Mountains - a campaign by & for chronically ill artists. All this week we will be posting about the experiences of chronically ill artists, generously and courageously shared with us by our members. 🧵(1/4)
#ClimbingTinyMountains #ChronicallyillArtistsNetwork #CIAN
Image description: A pink graphic line drawing on a white background, showing a figure climbing one of a series of 3 hills.The text reads ‘Climbing Tiny Mountains’.
June 23, 2025 at 9:20 AM
chronicallyillart.bsky.social
ICYMI visual notes from our networking events this past year, all done by the wonderful Amber Anderson!

We'll be sure to have more events in the new year, so follow us and keep an eye out for those announcements :)
A pink and purple page of illustrations on the theme of Navigating & Progressing in the Arts when Chronically Ill, including sections on change in the arts sector, discussions, systems being ableist, finding connection and community, learning to communicate your needs, and believing in the social model An orange page of visual notes and illustrations on the theme of Saving up tiny joys and Finding openings for joy in a chronic creative life, including sections on Joy as resistance and a creative force, creative play, joy as a way of pushing through, nurturing your disabled joy, having generosity in access, and reframing what counts
December 11, 2024 at 7:51 PM