Artist and Disability Rights Activist

 "It's not how you walk, it's where you stand." -JJL  (1947-2011)

Diagnosed with a slowly progressing form of multiple sclerosis (MS) in her early thirties, Ms. Lewis' illness would gradually influence the direction of her art. Jessie Jane Lewis graduated from Springside in 1965, The Philadelphia College of Art in 1970, and The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine arts in 1980. She was on the board of Woodmere Art Museum from 1972-76 and was an avid member of Nexus Foundation for Today's Art in the 80s and 90s, where she twice served as President. In 1989, Lewis added acting classes at Wilma Theater to her studies and began incorporating performance and video into her work. She was employed as a Certified Recreation Therapist (CTRS), leading activities for elderly patients, and ran in circles of Philadelphia visual artists and photographers. 

With the progression of her MS, Ms. Lewis turned toward activism to support the rights of people with physical disabilities. In the early-mid 90s, she sued 19 businesses on Main St. in Manayunk for failing to increase their handicap accessibility despite having made other, expensive renovations, and she protested at her local library for making the same error. In the early 2000s, she became involved in voting rights, and was the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against The City of Philadelphia for failing to provide voting machines and polling places that were accessible to everyone regardless of physical ability. Meanwhile, her art focused on her experience and frustration with the realities of her disability, creating a video about her experience using "bee venom therapy" for example, and making paintings with her wheelchair when se began to lose mobility in her hands.  

​This website is sprinkled with art, documents, and quotes from various points in Ms. Lewis' life, along with curriculum resources for teachers who want to connect students with her life and work. 

                          -Anya Rose (daughter)

​"I'm not the one who dealt this hand, but I'll play it the best I can." -JJL, 1996