Kate, a white person, smiles at the camera while siting on their walker mobility device. They are wearing glasses and a button down shirt.
Meet Kate
Kate Welsh is a white settler, queer, disabled artist, community activist and educator. Their work focuses on the impacts of ableism and oppression on mental health. Kate is currently a disability affirming mental health counselor and facilitates workshops on a variety of topics. They are passionate about building communities of care and striving to create safer, anti-oppressive spaces.
Living with both visible and invisible episodic disabilities, I navigate my complex experiences through art, activism and community care. My interests include community building, feminism, intersectionality, disabilities, queer identities and knowledge sharing. I was born and raised in the US but later immigrated to Canada, and I have been in T’karonto (a.k.a Toronto) for over 18 years.
Recently, I have been working on an initiative to promote the social inclusion, awareness and policy recommendations for people with episodic disabilities: disabilities that have periods of wellness and periods of illness including many chronic health conditions. I have been exploring ways in which to not just change policy but make lives better now by creating consumable art that tackles hard to talk about topics such as chronic illness.
Education
Masters of Social Justice Education ׀ Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto
Bachelor of Arts with Honours: Sociology and Drama Studies ׀ Glendon College, York University
For more information on my experience, see my CV.
Services
I currently offer individual and couples counseling as well as workshop and training facilitation.
Kate on The Pulse (on AMI-audio) talking about what they do including queering disability and disability affirming counseling.
Projects
Community Resistance Intimacy Project
CRIP (Community. Resistance. Intimacy. Project.) is a collective based out of Toronto using arts and education to facilitate connections within the disabled community.
Resource created by CRIP for Youthline Accessibility and Organizing
Equity Buttons
Riding public transit can be hard especially if you have an episodic disability, chronic illness or invisible disability. This button is a quick DIY way for you to ask for what you need without having to disclose diagnosis. Episodic disabilities are long-term conditions that are characterized by periods of good health interrupted by periods of illness or disability. These periods may vary in severity, length and predictability from one person to another. HIV, fibromyalgia, chronic pain and MS are some examples.
Check out equitybuttons.com.
I have also been on CBC radio speaking about this project.
Crip Care Cards
In 2017 I completed an artist residency on Toronto Island with a group of feminist artists. In this process I created 11 "greeting/get well" cards for folks with disabilities and chronic illnesses. I am working on getting these cards into hospital gift shops. If you have a connection - please contact me!
To purchase a card go to katewelsh.ca/shop
To see the exhibition @ Hart House click here.
Creative Director + Editor
“Casualty of Love’s Apologies” by Cola Bennett.
Published August 2018, Uplyfted Publishing
Creative Director + Editor
"WomanSafeHealth: The Antidote to Status Quo Healthcare" by Elizabeth Shadigian.
Published August 2016, WomanSafeHealth Publishing