Chuck Baird is a renowned artist who in his tenure (1947-2012) contributed significantly to the deaf community, including the establishment of De’VIA, which is a painting that shows the life of a deaf individual within the hearing universe. He was born with the disability of deafness in 1947 in the Kansas City. In his quest to ascertain education, he joined Kansas School for the Deaf from which he attained entry to Gallaudet University. Being determined with his artwork, Baird later joined Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) to perfect his skills. All throughout his education, Baird communicated in ASL. After attaining a Bachelor of Fine Arts from RTA, Baird joined the job market, whereby he contributed greatly to the deaf community.
Baird worked in various positions in different institutions. Mentioning a few, he served as a set painter in the National Theater of the Deaf (NTD) where he guided the deaf individuals in matters relating to painting. He further joined Spectrum-Focus on Deaf Artists before serving as the visual arts coordinator at Texas. During his tenure, Baird mentored a lot of deaf individuals, especially while working with various media. For instance, he greatly contributed to the production of “Rainbow’s End,” which was deaf media's Emmy Award-winning series. His contribution to the deaf community made him famous internationally.
He performed amazingly in painting exhibitions such as the Deaf Artists’ Exhibit, Gallaudet University in 1975. Baird resided and toured several deaf schools, motivating, teaching, as well as creating durable artworks. Among his artworks that gained a lot of attraction from the society is the 150-foot long mural, which he developed and dedicated to the Learning Center for Deaf Children in Massachusetts in the year 1995 (“Chuck Baird,” 2018). Further, Baird’s Gallaudet mural by the name “The Five Panels: Deaf experiences” is a great inspiration to the deaf community. The mural, which depicts child signs, “Are you Deaf?” and adult ones, “Deaf, like you!” is up to now available for exhibition. It actually motivates the deaf community towards the achievement of their respective goals.
Another Baird's significant contribution to the deaf community is the production of the De'VIA (Deaf View Image Art) manifesto in May 1989 (“Chuck Baird,” 2018). He was among eight deaf artists who produced the manifesto prior to the Deaf Way II, an international deaf culture festival that took place at Gallaudet University. De'VIA was a deaf art concept that could be easily differentiated from other art. The artwork contained critical message regarding the deaf people’s life. The manifesto utilizes formal art elements with the aim of depicting the physical deaf experience alongside the innate culture.
During his tenure, Baird was highly concerned about the welfare of the deaf community. This could be indicted by his artworks that in most cases contained signs that could be easily interpreted by the deaf. Further, he established the Chuck Baird Foundation that was meant to support talent among the emerging deaf artists. Through the foundation, many deaf artists were able to achieve their dreams. Moreover, Baird’s works, especially images are of great importance to the communication of the deaf community, considering the fact that some were incorporated into the ASL signs.
Overall, Chuck Baird is a highly celebrated deaf artist all over the world. During his tenure, Baird contributed greatly to the deaf community as evidenced by his teachings, philanthropy, and unique artworks. He serves as an inspiration to the deaf community, especially those with the intent of joining artwork.
References
Chuck Baird. (2018). Retrieved from http://www.deafart.org/Biographies/Chuck_Baird/chuck_baird.html
