Anderson Collection at Stanford University

In honor of the 10th anniversary of the Anderson Collection at Stanford University, the museum recently began rolling out audio and written image descriptions, written and produced by SADC, for every artwork in their collection. The project of describing the whole collection is expected to be complete in 2025.

For those itching to read or listen, already a few dozen artworks have their descriptions available on their individual pages of the Anderson Collection website. These include: The Coat II; Totem Lesson I; Chain Gang; Gansevoort Street; Before, Again IV; Full Time, Number 64; Transfiguration III; Lucifer; Homage to the Square, Diffused; Pendulum; Summer Image (For My Mother); Untitled No. 21 (by Martin); Hans Bricker In The Tropics; Untitled (1969) (by McCraken); The Tale; Living Curve; Untitled (by Irwin); Italian Summer; Sky Garden; Timeless Clock; 1957-J No. 1 (PH-142); black painting; Approach; Plumb Bob; Sinking Brick Plates; and Burn and Glitter. The museum will continue adding the written and audio-recorded descriptions as they become available. We anticipate completing the project in Fall 2025.

Descriptions written by Project Lead Cheryl Green, Oliver Baker, Kensuke Nakamura, and non-member associates Eboni Gaytan, Noah Kemp, Casaundra Freeman, and Sean Collins. Blind QC by Robert Kingett and Nefertiti Matos Olivares. Narration by Oliver, Barbara Faison, Cheryl, Nefertiti, Thomas Reid, and non-member associate Tanja Milojevic. Audio editing by Oliver, Cheryl, Thomas, and Tanja.

#BarbaraFaison #CherylGreen #CherylNarrator #CherylProjectLead #CherylWriter #KensukeNakamura #NefertitiBlindQC #NefertitiMatosOlivares #OliverBaker #OliverNarrator #OliverWriter #RobertKingett #SADC #TanjaMilojevic #ThomasReid

Renegades: Disabled Icons in October on PBS

SADC produced Audio Description for a new digital series of five documentary short films showcasing the lives and cultural contributions of little-known historical figures with disabilities called Renegades. In April, 2025, the series won a Webby Award for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (Series or Channel).

Hosted by award-winning musician and disability rights champion Lachi, Renegades premiered Tuesdays, October 1 – October 29 on the American Masters YouTube channel, PBS.org and the PBS App in honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

Overall accessibility for the series, including ASL interpretation, captioning, and descriptive transcript, was coordinated and created by D-PAN, the Deaf Professional Artist Network.

For the AD production, Cheryl Green was the project lead, as well as writer, along with Oliver Baker. Narration by Thomas Reid and non-collective member Tanja Milojevic. Blind QC by Robert Kingett, Bex León, and Nefertiti Matos Olivares.

The Renegades World Premiere onsite premiere was free at The Kennedy Center on September 29th, 2024, and in Manhattan at the Marlene Meyerson JCC, co-sponsored by ReelAbilities Film Festival on October 1st, 2024. Please note that some onsite screenings are planned to have live audio description, not the SADC-produced AD.

Visit the Renegades page on PBS to learn where to watch online or on the app with audio description, ASL, and captions.

#CherylGreen #CherylGreenWriter #CherylProjectLead #MarLeón #NefertitiBlindQC #NefertitiMatosOlivares #OliverBaker #OliverWriter #RobertKingett #ThomasReid

The Last Jews of Guantánamo

Los Últimos Judíos de Guantánamo (The Last Jews of Guantánamo) provides a glimpse of a tiny community at a unique moment for Jews in Cuba. In the city of Guantánamo, following the liberalization of Cuban policies against religion, two women in their 80s are finally to be bat mitzvah; to ritually proclaim their faith and community with other Jews. Members of their historically Jewish family have come out and traveled from abroad for the occasion.

SADC produced audio description for the film, which premieres July 27, 2024 as part of a program on Jews of color, called “Peripheral Visions”, at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.

Project Lead: Cheryl Green. Writer: Oliver Baker. Blind QC and narrator: Nefertiti Matos Olivares. Audio editor: Kensuke Nakamura. Subtitles read by Oliver Baker, Barbara Faison, and Cheryl Green.

#BarbaraFaison #CherylGreen #CherylProjectLead #KensukeNakamura #NefertitiBlindQC #NefertitiMatosOlivares #NefertitiNarrator #OliverBaker #OliverWriter #SADC

After the Bomb focuses on two women permanently disabled as adults by violence in Northern Ireland in the period known as the Troubles. It tells the story of their ultimately successful campaign along with others to secure substantive government assistance to people injured like themselves. At the same time, the film documents the unique support they have come along the way to provide each other.

Made by Heather Brumley, SADC produced audio description for the film, which premiered on July 14, 2024 and shared the Best Short Documentary Award at the 36th Galway Film Fleadh in Ireland. The film features the facility in Northern Ireland where the women met and their campaign began: WAVE Trauma Centre.

Audio description led by Cheryl Green. Written by Oliver Baker. Blind QC by Robert Kingett. Audio edited by Thomas Reid. Narration by Paula Burns, an AD narrator from Northern Ireland who the SADC specially subcontracted for this project.

https://socialaudiodescription.com/2024/07/13/after-the-bomb/

#CherylGreen #CherylProjectLead #OliverBaker #OliverWriter #RobertKingett #SADC #ThomasReid

Last winter, student curators worked with two disability justice mentors from Melanie Hood-Wilson and Associates and six local disabled accessibility consultants on improving access for their Baltimore-based exhibitions of Elizabeth Talford Scott’s art. Students come from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Morgan State University, Johns Hopkins, and Coppin University.

Members of the group will present about their experiences designing accessible exhibitions at the Maryland Citizens for the Arts Summit, held June 20th and 21st, 2024. At this presentation, they’ll screen the audio described short film, Nothing Without Us: A Baltimore Story, which documents the collaboration.

Written by Project Lead Cheryl Green, Blind QC by Nefertiti Matos Olivares, narrated and audio edited by Thomas Reid.

https://socialaudiodescription.com/2024/06/12/nothing-without-us-a-baltimore-story/

#CherylGreen #CherylGreenWriter #CherylProjectLead #NefertitiBlindQC #NefertitiMatosOlivares #SADC #ThomasReid

SADC produced a collection of audio tours for two exhibitions concurrently showing at San Francisco’s Museum of Craft and Design: Mr. Roboto and Indie Folk. For each, SADC produced an “At-a-Glance” tour as well as more detailed “Immersive” tour. Scroll down to the “Audio Tours” links near the bottom of the exhibition pages online to listen or read the transcripts. All the tours describe the layout and a selection of four exhibits, and they also explain the concept and background of the exhibitions with information from the curators.

Writing by Project Lead Cheryl Green and Oliver Baker. Blind QC by Nefertiti Matos Olivares and Rick Hammond (not an SADC member). Narration and audio editing also by Cheryl Green.

https://socialaudiodescription.com/2024/04/22/museum-of-craft-and-design/

#CherylAudioEditor #CherylGreen #CherylNarrator #CherylProjectLead #CherylWriter #NefertitiBlindQC #NefertitiMatosOlivares #OliverBaker #SADC

SADC recently produced audio description for Samuel and Dan Habib’s documentary, The Ride Ahead. The Ride Ahead is a major expansion of their Emmy Award winning film My Disability Roadmap, which SADC also audio described.

Samuel Habib is a typical 21-year-old, itching to move out, start a career, and find love. But, as he says in the film, “no one tells you how to be an adult, let alone an adult with a disability.” Can a community of disability activists help him follow his dreams?

The Ride Ahead will have its world premiere at the 2024 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival as part of the Special Presentations Lineup. Tickets go on sale April 2nd. The festival runs from April 25th to May 5th, 2024 in Toronto.

Project Lead Cheryl Green wrote the AD. Robert Kingett did blind QC. Nefertiti Matos Olivares narrated. Audio was edited by Thomas Reid.

https://socialaudiodescription.com/2024/03/19/the-ride-ahead/

#CherylGreen #CherylGreenWriter #CherylProjectLead #NefertitiMatosOlivares #NefertitiNarrator #RobertKingett #SADC #ThomasReid

SADC produced AD for Emmy-winning writer and Broadway performer Ellen Gould, whose performance of Seeing Stars is part of a documentary currently in progress. SADC provided AD for a newly available preview of the film.

Seeing Stars is Gould’s most personal project in two decades of writing and solo musical performance, speaking about the influence and impact of vision loss in her life and lives of others with inherited, late childhood-onset macular degeneration—or Stargardt, from which the title, Seeing Stars, takes leap. 

Listen to the introductory or pre-show AD to learn about Ellen, the Seeing Stars show set, and more. You could also read the pre-show transcript.

AD written by Project Lead Cheryl Green. Blind QC and narration by Nefertiti Matos Olivares. Audio editing by Thomas Reid.

https://socialaudiodescription.com/2024/02/09/seeing-stars-a-film-with-vision/

#CherylGreen #CherylProjectLead #CherylWriter #EllenGould #NefertitiBlindQC #NefertitiMatosOlivares #NefertitiNarrator #SADC #ThomasReid

At a public high school in Bangkok, teacher Damkerng Mungthanya is dedicated to helping students experience the joys of learning English. Blind since birth, Damkerng is also the only teacher with a disability in his school. In Thailand, 2.1 million people with disabilities are registered with the government, but only 6 percent of those of working age are employed. Damkerng strives to move ahead in his career and inspire more opportunities for people like him in the workforce.

Extraordinary Teacher Damkerng makes its streaming debut on VOA+ on December 21, 2023.

Audio description is available in English and Thai. To access, click on the settings icon and select either the “English (United States)” or “Thai” audio track. The film has open captions in English.

SADC produced the English audio description. Written by Project Lead Cheryl Green. Blind QC by Nefertiti Matos Olivares. Audio edited and mixed by Thomas Reid.

Thai translation by Nopparat Chaichalearmmongkol and Wasamon Audjarint. Voices by Nopparat Chaichalearmmongkol, Yiamyut Sutthichaya, and Wasamon Audjarint. Recording and mixing by Thomas Leahy.

https://socialaudiodescription.com/2023/12/21/voice-of-americas-extaordinary-teacher-damkerng/

#CherylGreen #CherylProjectLead #CherylWriter #NefertitiBlindQC #NefertitiMatosOlivares #SADC #ThomasReid #VoiceOfAmerica