Ms. Wheelchair Massachusetts Helps Artists Guild Learn About Accessibility
By LAURA M. RECKFORD
September 4, 2007
When Kristen McCosh went to an art opening at the Falmouth Artists Guild last month, she did not expect to have trouble getting into the building.
Ms. McCosh, a quadraplegic, carries her own portable ramp with her. But in the case of the artists guild, which is in a rear unit across from the library lawn on Main Street, even the ramp did not work because of the angle of the building entrance.
Because she could not get into the building Ms. McCosh, whose husband, John McCosh, had two photographs in the juried show, had to settle for seeing photographs of the show that her husband took for her.
But in alerting the artists guild about the accessibility problem, the McCoshes have served to energize the guild to make their new building accessible to everyone.
Artist Guild Executive Director Jill P. Tompkins of Debbie Lane, East Falmouth, and Carolyn P. Partan of Westwood Road, North Falmouth, a guild board member and chairman of the guild’s capital campaign, sat down with Mr. and Ms. McCosh last week to talk about everything from accessible doorways to tables that allow people in wheelchairs to be comfortable.
The artists guild is well into a capital campaign to construct a building next to the Nimrod Restaurant on the corner of Gifford Street and Dillingham Avenue. Its supporters are about $300,000 short of their goal and hope to break ground later this year, Ms. Partan said.
“We were so disappointed she couldn’t come in, and so frustrated,” said Ms. Tompkins, adding that the McCoshes were “very gratious” about the problem.
Ms. McCosh said helping the artists guild with accessibility issues is a perfect fit for her, because since being crowned Ms. Wheelchair Massachusetts 2007, her role is to be an advocate for the needs of the handicapped.
As for the artists guild, Ms. Tompkins said the guild wants to be a place where people of all ages and abilities can come to take arts classes and participate in programs.
“Accessibility is really important,” Ms. Tompkins said. She pointed out that the new location is within walking distance from three schools, Mullen-Hall, Morse Pond, and Lawrence, as well as from the library.
Ms. McCosh, who has worked for nonprofit organizations in grant writing and volunteer coordinating, is working as a peer mentor for people with spinal injuries at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston.
She was injured more than 20 years ago at age 15 in a diving accident in a swimming pool. She missed a year of school because of physical therapy after the accident but returned to her high school, taking classes on the first floor, which she could enter with her wheelchair.
“I’ve always been resourceful,” she said.
As a quadraplegic with a cervical neck injury, she does not have use of her legs or her hands, but can move her arms. Advances in technology since she was first injured allow her to drive herself in a specially outfitted handicapped-accessible van. Advances in laws—the American with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990—have made more and more places accessible to the handicapped.
“It’s not nearly as tough as it was,” Ms. McCosh said.
The McCoshes live in South Boston and built a cottage on Randolph Street in Teaticket in 1990, across the street from Ms. McCosh’s two aunts. Mr. McCosh has family in North Falmouth.
The couple met in college at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Mr. McCosh likes to tell the story of seeing Kristen in the center for disabled students and wanting to meet her. He was taking a short story class at the time and told her he wanted to interview her because a character in one of his stories was in a wheelchair.
“During the ‘interview,’ I got to ask her all the questions I had. The next day, I asked her out,” he said. They were married six years ago at St. Thomas Chapel in Falmouth Heights.
Besides being a photographer whose work can be seen at johnmccoshphotography.com, Mr. McCosh is a writer who has tried his hand at novels and screenplays. He is now working on ghostwriting an autobiography for Ms. Wheelchair Arizona, whose story of being seriously injured at the hands of her husband has been featured on television.
Ms. McCosh, also a writer, said she is writing a series of novels that feature women with disabilities as heroines. She is hoping to try to get a literary agent this fall.
Ms. McCosh said making a building accessible is a benefit to the entire community.
“It sends a strong message that everyone is welcome,” she said, pointing out that some people with handicaps suffer from social isolation, and participating in the arts is a great way to reintegrate them into the community.
Ms. McCosh said she heard about the Ms. Wheelchair contest from friends who encouraged her to enter. At first she laughed it off, but when she looked into it, she found that the pageant, which is in its third year, is not a beauty contest, but an event to promote advocacy for the handicapped, something that interests her.
Unlike other “pageants,” the Ms. Wheelchair contest does not have looks, age, or marital status as criteria. Instead, entrants must use a wheelchair for 100 percent of their daily mobility. Ms. McCosh said that since the primary task of the winner is as an advocate, the contest comprised two public speaking segments, one in front of the three judges and the other in front of a larger group.
Ms. McCosh spoke about physical fitness and ended up being chosen from among the six contestants to be Ms. Wheelchair Massachusetts this past April.
In her speech, she explained how she became involved in “activity-based therapy” at the local YMCA last year at the urging of her husband. The health club, which is only about a 10-minute drive from her house, has advanced machinery in place that helps handicapped people ride a stationary bicycle and walk on a treadmill, for example. Besides making her feel better, the exercise has helped her to lose about 40 pounds, .
In July, she entered the Ms. Wheelchair America pageant in Washington, DC, which is in its 35th year. She was chosen as second runnerup from the 27 contestants.
As Ms. Wheelchair Massachusetts, Ms. McCosh will be traveling across the state speaking to groups, both handicapped and not handicapped.
“Hopefully, I can be the face of awareness throughout the state,” she said.
