Ann Silver

Biography

• Born Deaf from hearing family in Seattle, Washington in 1949
• ASL was forbidden where she grew up
• Attended public schools but was not mainstreamed
• Support services or ASL interpreting were not available at the time

De'VIA Report

Education and Work

Greatest Impact

• K-12 education was "90% guesswork and 10% art"
• Received her BA in Commercial Art from Gallaudet University
• An MA in Deafness Rehabilitation from New York University in 1977
• Worked as a designer/art director for major book publishing companies in Manhattan
• Was a sign language artist and a Deaf Studies researcher/writer
• A museum guide at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

• One of the founding artist to find Deaf Artist Movement (DAM) of the 1960s and 1970s that preceded the De'VIA movement
• Her motivational art portray the Deaf perspective on the discrimination of Deaf children and adults in a variety of areas
• Well known deaf graphic designer and advocate for deaf culture art
• Her work combines Pop Art, product advertising, roadsigns, ASL/Deaf culture, and her own experiences with audism
• Silver has been a driving force for over three decades for recognition and inclusion of Deaf Art in the world of art, architecture, public art, and academia

Accomplishments

• Along with Betty G. Miller and Harry R. Williams, she has the distinction of being one of the founding members of the Washington DC-based Deaf Art Movement (DAM) in the 1960s-1970s
• In 1979, she and the Museum of Modern Art established a 125-museum consortium program for Deaf visitors, which earned her a NY Governor's Art Award
• Living in Japan as a 1986 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Fellow, she trailblazed cross-cultural research, which led to Japanese Deaf Studies
• Wrote her bio and artwork in a book called "One Way, Deaf Way"

Ann Silver

"Deaf Art is my soul, my heart, my conscience." - Ann Silver

Inspiration/Motivation

De'VIA Art Pieces

• At the age of 13, Ann was inspired by Morris Broderson’s watercolor painting
• His fingerspelled creations made her pursue a goal years later, which was to legitimize Deaf Art
• At Gallaudet, Ann detested the art department, including the professors
• Professors wouldn't let Ann do what she was meant to do: create Deaf art
• Sought to accredit Deaf art as an art genre and collegiate subject

Ann Silver use different media to show the oppression of Deaf people and sign language. People sometimes call her, "the reincarnation of Andy Warhol." She used everyday objects, such as Kellogg's cornflake boxes, Crayola boxes, and license plates to mimic and critique the hearing world's negative stereotypes of Deaf people.

Why it's De'VIA: Ann charts the evolution of labels applied to the Deaf since 1900. These license place illustrates another community’s experience with evolving labels. The dates are almost a century apart. The names symbolize the stereotypes of Deaf people as "Deaf & Dumb" to the correct label, which is, "Deaf."

"I refuse to be labeled as a 'handicapped/disabled' artist, an artist who happens to be hearing-impaired,' or 'an artist who cannot hear or speak.' I am a Deaf artist, and that's how I want to be identified." - Ann Silver

Why it's De'VIA: It serves as a visual testimony of injustices that Deaf people have faced. It is pencil drawn. The gray suggests a dark time and the oppression of Deaf people. The freedom to speak out is ironic because the hands are tied together. This takes away their right to do so. The stamps are authentic postage stamps.

"I turned to art as an escape from the oppressive world of speech, lipreading, and auditory training." - Ann Silver

Why it's De'VIA: For these signs, Ann wanted to send the message that hearing people do not understand ASL/Deaf culture like two completely different worlds. The street signs to grab the attention of anybody to come across her work. Ideally, if Deaf artists are recognized, people would see their disability and their limitations as "unchallenged" rather than their accomplishments and art.

In My Opinion...

"I use typical street and parking signs to shape cultural consciousness and popular opinion in ways that statistical reports, legal action and the educational system cannot." - Ann Silver

• With all of Ann Silver's art, it shows the hardships of Deaf people
• The parody art she creates represent the negative stereotypes forced upon the Deaf
• The Deaf are penalized or made fun of for using their hands to communicate
• Deafness is looked at as disability instead of a culture or a community
• Realistically, there's a separation between the Deaf and hearing world.