Charlottesville | New City Arts to mark completion of accessibility project

New City Arts in Charlottesville will mark the completion of a month-long accessibilty project on Friday before the unveiling of the 2025 New City Arts Fellowship Exhibition “through this, to that.”

Building Goodness Foundation led the project, which will make the bathroom in the Welcome Gallery at New City Arts accessible to visitors in wheelchairs.

The Welcome Gallery reopening will be celebrated at 4:30 p.m. on Friday during Charlottesville’s First Friday Art Walk.

The renovation of the Welcome Gallery bathroom is the first physical modification to a cultural space made possible by the Accessible Arts Initiative, a strategic plan developed by New City Arts staff assistant Jess Walters in 2023 that works with Charlottesville nonprofit arts organizations to improve awareness around adopting a Disability Justice framework.

After receiving seed funding for the bathroom accessibility project through the Virginia Health Equity & Justice Fellowship, New City Arts was accepted into the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau’s inaugural Tourism for All Cohort and BGF’s C’ville Builds program.

C’ville Builds is a coalition of local builders, community members, minority-serving organizations, donors, and volunteers who complete building and repair projects in Charlottesville and the surrounding area.

C’ville Builds supported the project with funding and brought on a pro bono architect, BRW Architects, who designed the ADA accessible changes to the bathroom.

Architectural Hardware Co. donated doors, frames, and hardware; DMA Floors donated a slip-resistant epoxy flooring; and Johnston & Co. did all electrical work at no cost.

Dunbar Structural, the landlord for New City Arts Initiative, financially supported remaining costs for the project.

Due to physical, organizational, and social barriers, many people with disabilities are excluded from engaging in arts and culture spaces, participating in events or having opportunities to exhibit their own work.

According to Americans for the Arts, though adults with disabilities compose nearly 12 percent of the U.S. adult population, they make up just under 7 percent of all adults attending performing arts events or visiting art museums or galleries.