Who we are
Listen to Dis’ is a non-profit charitable organization that creates opportunities for disabled people to make and experience art — supporting their health, recreation, and career development in the arts.
As Saskatchewan’s first and only disability-led arts organization, Listen to Dis’ is recognized as a leader in Canada’s disability arts and cultural community.
The organization’s ongoing focus is to create a sustainable, inclusive arts organization and community in Saskatchewan, to host practices, projects, programming and performances.
Mission
To create opportunities for disabled people to develop as artists and arts professionals To deepen community understanding of Disability Culture through art, education, and advocacy.
History
Founded by disability artist Traci Foster, Listen to Dis’ (LTD’) is Saskatchewan’s first disability-led disability arts organization. Since 2006, we’ve created space for disabled artists to share stories, build community, and shift culture through art. Early work, including CP Salon and body- and voice-based workshops, revealed a deep need for connection. In 2009 we launched Listen to Dis’ VOICE, a weekly ensemble fostering creativity and confidence. We became a non-profit in 2014 and a charity in 2019, expanding programming, partnerships, and touring work like The Other Ordinary. Today, LTD’ champions art, access, and agency across Saskatchewan.
Vision
We see a world that belongs to all. Through art, advocacy, and education, we build communities of open access in which disabled people can, at last, claim full agency over their voice and bring their fullest expression into the world as artists, at professionals, and valued community members.
In the beginning we brought community members together to make art. Now we are making art that brings the community together. In the end, it all comes from compassionate creative action.
Values
Access & Accommodation
We consider access and accommodation at the core of all interactions and programming and create it through care, compassion, and shared responsibility. We believe access is a collective responsibility. It’s more than physical accommodations—it’s about creating what we call intimate access: spaces shaped by care, compassion, and creativity. True access means recognizing individual and shared needs, addressing barriers at every level, and understanding that systems—not people—create disability.
Creation as Care
We treat artmaking as a meaningful form of care for ourselves, each other, and our environment. We believe in creation as an integrative way of care. Through the process of making art, we care for ourselves, others, and the environment. Regulating our nervous systems and making space for vulnerability are essential parts of the creative process. We see care as addressing real needs—not mere preferences—and embrace uncertainty, discomfort, and awkwardness as everyday parts of disabled life, not problems to be fixed. Creating in this way supports health, drives positive social change, and helps build a more equitable arts sector.
Relationship Building
Relationships are the foundation of our work, built through trust, transparency, and mutual care. We believe strong relationships are at the core of everything we do, providing a stable foundation for our work within our team and with the wider community. Building trust takes time, transparency, and mutual care. We create safe spaces where connections can grow naturally because a true relationship “moves at the speed of trust.”
Equitable Practices
We commit to equitable pay and creative processes that adapt to everyone’s needs. We are committed to equitable pay for artists and aim to extend equitable compensation to all arts professionals in the future. Equitable practices also mean accommodating the collective, creating art in ways that work for those involved, and staying adaptable in the moment.
Response – Ability
We choose thoughtful responses over reactions, grounding our relationships in reciprocity and care. We choose to respond rather than react, both in circumstances that arise and in dealing with others. We view relationships through a lens of reciprocity—of give and take. “Response-ability is the ability to respond.” (Gabor Maté)
Health & Wellness
We work at a pace that supports long-term wellness and sustainable creativity. We prioritize health and wellness as a foundational principle, both internally and externally. We work at a pace of comfort and ease because it supports our well-being, sustains our productivity, and is sustainable over the long term. Our guiding motto is “Go with the slow.”
Meet the Team
The Listen to Dis’ team is made up of passionate artists, advocates, and community builders who believe in the transformative power of disability-led art. Together, they create spaces where creativity, accessibility, and inclusion thrive.
Board of Directors
President: Dr. Chelsea Temple Jones (she/her)
Dr. Chelsea Temple Jones is an Associate Professor in the Department of Child and Youth Studies. A queer, white settler spoonie, Dr. Jones holds a Ph.D. in Communication and Culture from Ryerson and York Universities and an MA in Critical Disability Studies from York University.
Max Ferguson (he/they)
Max Ferguson is an interdisciplinary artist, curator, and scholar. Currently, he is completing his PhD in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at York University. His research focuses on intersectional and anti-colonial approaches to transness and disability, madness, neoliberalism, and necropolitics.
Carla Harris
Carla Harris is a disabled, mad, queer, nonbinary writer, performer, and interdisciplinary artist from Treaty 4 territory, living in Regina, Saskatchewan. They’ve performed in Verses Festival 2017 and Saskatoon Poetic Arts Festival 2018, and have been published in literary magazines such as the League of Canadian Poets (2022), the Humber Literary Review (2023), and Write Magazine (Spring, 2023). They are currently working on their first collection of poetry and a play, in unconfined #CripTime.
Barry Lasko
Barry Lasko is a founding member of Listen to Dis' Community Arts Organization, provides his insightful knowledge and lived experience as a local disabled person as he develops in his governance role. He serves as the President of Wascana Rehabilitation Centre's Resident Council. He has recently self-published his first science fiction novel and is a relentless advocate of disability rights.
Natasha Urko
Natasha Urkow is a disabled mother, artist, and public speaker. Born and raised in Edmonton, she completed her MFA at the University of Regina after joining Listen To Dis’ Community and Art Organization and becoming an actor. Natasha uses art and her story to enlighten and help others through their struggles. She continues to speak for the Rick Hansen foundation and SADD (Students Against Drunk Driving). She is a lead actor in Push, a CBC Gems new CBC docuseries and has become a model for Lancôme. Natasha is a mover and shaker that strives to make a difference in the world.
"I can proudly say that after becoming a member of Listen To Dis’ nothing can stop me: not my disability, and absolutely not fear. I have found my way to a professional career in the arts, through this organization."
Ammanda Zelinski, LTD’ member