Heather Minton, Interim Director (March 2020-present), served on DACP staff from Summer 2019 before stepping into the Interim Director role. Heather earned an MA from Multnomah University and has used her experience of lifelong physical disability to inform her writing practice and her advocacy work with DACP and other organizations. Her career and interests have spanned education, mentorship, abuse prevention and stand-up comedy, among other fields. She lives in east Multnomah County with her partner, Ben.
Kathy Coleman, Artistic Director (2007-2020), passed away in February 2020. She was a DanceAbility instructor and had prior dance experience with the New Dance Company of Stockton, California, which included studying modern dance and expressive movement arts. She conceived of the Disability Art and Culture Project not only as a way to support movement arts, but also to foster affirmative disability identity in individuals and the community. Kathy earned Masters in Social Work with a concentration in Disability Studies. The core of her artistic work is centered on themes of disability from a social relations perspective. She used text and movement to portray lived experiences of cross disability realities and dreams. She did not shy away from difficult or dark truths which, in her view, hold their own beauty. She incorporated bodies and ways of moving to stretch the audience’s view of dance and the possibilities of an inclusive society.