Deaf Way II

Most recently Quest coordinated Gallaudet University's Deaf Way II International Arts Festival. Deaf Way II brought together 400 of the world’s top deaf, hard of hearing and hearing performing, visual and literary artists and presented them to enthusiastic audiences in the Washington, DC area. Quest produced over 125 Deaf Way II performances with program partners The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The Smithsonian Institution, The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at Maryland among others and on the campus of Gallaudet University. Deaf Way II held art exhibitions at the Millennium Arts Center, The Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian, the Mexican Cultural Center, the Swedish Embassy, and the National Arboretum.

The summer of 2002 marked a major international academic, sociological, and cultural arts event. Almost 10,000 registered participants and over 400 deaf and hard of hearing performing, visual, and literary artists from around the world gathered on the campus of Gallaudet University in Washington, DC for the Deaf Way II Conference and International Arts Festival. Thousands more attended the festival’s performances, exhibits, and workshops which featured exemplary deaf and hard of hearing artists throughout the Washington Metropolitan Area.

Academic Conference
Held at the Washington, DC Convention Center, the week-long conference explored the interconnectedness of deaf life in the new century through presentations and discussions on such issues as: art, education, language, culture, technology, and human rights.

International Arts Festival
Deaf Way II celebrated the visual, performing, and literary arts of deaf and hard of hearing people. The festival fostered greater understanding and appreciation by the general public for the abilities of deaf and hard of hearing artists. By the end of September, approximately 400,000 people will have attended Deaf Way II performances, exhibits, workshops, classes, and workshops. Many more read about the festival in the New York Times, Washington Post (5 articles), and other publications around the world. Millions more heard interviews on National Public Radio, saw stories on television news programs, or visited the Deaf Way II web site.

Beyond Deaf Way II
Quest is committed making a lasting impact on the general public’s exposure to professional deaf and hard of hearing artists. After Deaf Way II, Quest will continue to work with featured performing and visual artists to present their work to the widest possible audiences.

The long-term effects of Deaf Way II are already being felt by some of the artists and companies featured at the festival. The Kennedy Center is considering the International Visual Theatre for a French Festival at the Center in 2004. The Smithsonian Institution is considering an exhibit of Ixchel Solis Garcia's work. Damien Robinson has been invited to exhibit her work at a major gallery in the UK. Quest put Toys Theatre in contact with the American Association of Performing Arts Presenters and now the company is touring the United States. All of these were featured artists at Deaf Way II. We are only a couple of months away from the festival proper and already these artists are getting more work. In addition, the Gallaudet Visual Arts Department is planning ARTSummer, a series of classes in the summer of 2002 taught by Deaf Way II featured visual artists. The university's English Department is including the Deaf Way II Literary Anthology in its curriculum and featured writers are returning to lecture or participate in classroom discussions. The Deaf Way II featured writers have created an online discussion group to provide feedback on their writing.

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