Think Outside the Vox

09/11/2026

VOX was vibing out this summer with Tactus Music! We had fun with Tactus and Founder Jeremy Chow at our Salsa ASL By the Shell event Silent Rhythms, Inc. and Charles River Esplanade in May 2026, Boston Landmarks Orchestra concerts at the Hatch Memorial Shell, and reconnecting at Access/VSA International Network's LEAD 2026 in Philadelphia. Tactus’ patented technology is developed with and for the Deaf community. We’ve found that Blind, Low-Vision, neurodivergent and disabled folks have also benefitted from connecting with music and sound through the vibrating vests. Watch Deaf community members give their testimonials at TactusMusic.com/community .

Image Description: a group photo of Voxers with Tactus Founder Jeremy Chow at the Tactus table which is dressed with orange cloth and its logo and tagline, “Vibe with Me,” with paper promotional materials and tshirts at the LEAD Conference in Philadelphia. From left to right: Matthew Shifrin, a white 5’7” blind guy stands and wears black sunglasses, a purple VOX shirt, green pants and gray sneakers, holding his cane and smiling. Sam Gould, an Ashkenazi Jewish woman with salt and pepper hair wears purple glasses on her head, a purple VOX t-shirt, VOX lanyard decked out with pins, purple f***y pack, black pants and purple Birkenstocks. She has one knee perched on the table and poses with pride wearing a black Tactus vest, which vibrates with the music when connected to a transmitter. Olivia Reinebach, a Hard of Hearing mixed Dominican with dark brown curly hair tied up wears sunglasses on her head, gold hoop earrings, a purple VOX shirt, black pants, a purple f***y pack, and a Tactus vest, holding double peace signs and smiling. Miller Outlaw, a thin, white, nonbinary person with short light brown hair and glasses who has tattoos on their right forearm wears thin framed silver glasses, a black facemask, purple VOX shirt, a soft wrist brace, and light colored pants with stripes. Both Outlaw and Via stand on two chairs behind the table, looking taller and further away. Back in front of the table on the right, Kwaku Darko, a 5’8 West African man with short, black hair and a short beard that frames his face and chin wears black sunglasses, a purple Vox shirt, African continent pendant, black pants, a Tactus vest, and New Balance sneakers, standing and holding his cane in front of him while giving a side hug to Jeremy. Jeremy Chow, a 30-year-old Asian man with slightly long hair wears a blue button down, Tactus vest, gray pants and neutral colored sneakers, smiling and giving a side hug to Kwaku. Over Outlaw’s left shoulder is a step-up banner that shows the technology behind demonstrated with a title, “Accessible Music Through Wearable Technology.”

09/11/2026

Join us for a free dance lesson today (September 11th) in Cambridge Common from 6-9pm! Reserve your spot at metamovements.com/events. 💃
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[Image Description: Graphic with a white background, black text, and red accents advertising a free dance lesson 9/11 in Cambridge Common from 6-9pm. Silent Rhythms and MetaMovements logos in the lower right corner.
Text reads: Free dance lesson today! Salsa in the park. Join MetaMovements and Silent Rhythms for a free salsa lesson! September 11 @ 6-9pm. Cambridge Common Waterhouse St & Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138. More info at metamovements.com/events. ]

09/09/2026

We’re hosting our CARE Fair with these two core questions: What do you have? What do you need?

If your organization is ready to “speed date” with other arts and culture peers, then join us on October 19th! Roxbury International Film Festival and Think Outside the Vox are proud to partner for their second Collective Action Resource Exchange (CARE) Fair on October 19th from 10am-2pm. We invite all MA-based arts administrators, nonprofit staff and board members to join our network - fill out the survey to RSVP: bit.ly/4mT21Nv .

This fall’s CARE Fair is funded by Community Foundation for MetroWest. CARE Fair was born from the work in Barr Foundation Catalyzing Vitality cohort and funded by Barr and hosted by The Huntington for the convening on May 4th.

Image Description: a purple infographic with a large red heart and white text inside that reads “Collective Action Resource Exchange. What do you have? What do you need? October 19th, 10am-2pm.” On the sides of the heart’s tail are VOX’s and RoxFilm’s logos. Below is a link to the CARE Fair Application form: bit.ly/4mT21Nv . and three more logos for Community Foundation for MetroWest, Barr Foundation, and Sanctuary Cultural Arts Center. The RnB music over this graphic features smooth drum clicks, funky bass and synth organ, a clip from My Everything by Otis McDonald who sings “it’s for you my dear, I’ll make it clear, you’re my everything.”

09/09/2026

$5.85M in funding available for public projects such as field trips, library events, lectures, festivals, exhibits, and dance performances

09/08/2026

Spotlighting DASL Kaitlyn Mielke and the upcoming virtual performance of Identity Soup! Kaitlyn is cohort member of VOX's Director of Artistic Sign Language Training and featured in VOX's DeafBlind modules.

IDENTITY SOUP - A dance performance by Jo Troll.
ASL promo video: https://youtu.be/FTJeajy4yj8
When: Saturday, September 12th at 6:00 PM EST.
Where: FREE on Zoom! Tickets: https://jotroll.wordpress.com/identity-soup/ .
Accessibility: This performance will be ASL interpreted, Captioned, and Audio Described.

Descriptive Transcript: a 1-minute, 59-second video with no audio of Kaitlyn Mielke, a DeafBlind white woman with long straight dark brown hair wears all black standing in front of a black backdrop, signing in American Sign Language. There are English captions in white text that appear at the bottom. Kaitlyn signs:

Hello! I’m thrilled to share with you about an upcoming dance performance titled “Identity Soup." The performance, “Identity Soup” is Irish dancer Jo Troll's attempt to navigate the growing pressure for artists to explicitly center their marginalized identities in their work in a way that is easily understandable to audiences. Sometimes, instead of art, it feels like a soup of all the different identities and labels. And not the nourishing kind of soup either, more like the kind of soup where all the good bits have been stripped away and you’re stuck with some broth and sad vegetables.

The performance explores several themes including:
How do we create meaningful virtual performance?
What does it mean to perform an identity?
What goes into your identity soup?

Performance when? Saturday, Sept 12.
Time? 6:00 PM Eastern time.
Where? Virtual - the performance will take place on Zoom!
To get tickets, visit the website here (points downwards to link shown in text) to reserve your tickets. Tickets are FREE, but RSVP required.
ASL interpretation, Captioning, and Audio Description will be provided for the performance. Questions? Email [email protected] . See you there on Zoom!"

(Video transitions to an end slide showing an image of an Irish dancer with pink yarn in her hands.)

Identity Soup tickets: https://jotroll.wordpress.com/identity-soup/ .
Access VOX's DeafBlind modules for free: https://thinkoutsidethevox.org/deafblind-modules/ .
About VOX's upcoming DASL Training (October 2026): https://thinkoutsidethevox.org/education/ .

Identity Soup will be performed on Saturday, Sept 12, at 6 PM EST o...

09/03/2026

Think Outside the Vox is excited to work with Open Door Arts on Deaf representation and ASL Interpretation for their Arts & Culture Accessibility Hub modules. We caught up with Dani and Nicole at Access/VSA International Network LEAD Conference in Philly before going back into the recording studio in Boston for round two. Waving hands to the Deaf interpreters and consultants Catie Eller and Rachel Berman-Kobylarz, with VOX co-founder and renowned ASL interpreter Christopher Robinson and CODA/ASL Interpreter Ingrid O'Dell on organizing, facilitating, and supporting the production process.

Image Description: group photo of ODA and VOX teams at the LEAD Conference in Philly standing in front of a beige wall and behind ODA’s table which is dressed with multicolored printed materials and a small laptop screen displaying the video modules, which shows Dani speaking and Cate signing in ASL. All smile at the camera and gesture towards the screen. From left to right: Nicole Agois, a light-skinned Latina with shoulder length brown hair wears dangly earrings and a long white shirt, smiling and pointing. Dani Rose, a white, q***r, AFAB brunette with dimples and a big smile wears a blue and white thin striped collared dress and gestures a palm. Sam Gould, an Ashkenazi Jewish woman with salt and pepper hair wears purple glasses on her head, a purple VOX t-shirt, VOX lanyard decked out with pins and purple f***y pack, gesturing a palm. Outlaw, a thin, white, nonbinary person with short light brown hair and glasses who has tattoos on their right forearm wears thin framed silver glasses, a black facemask, purple button down and beige pants gestures two palms. Olivia, a Hard of Hearing mixed Latinx with olive skin and dark brown curly hair tied up high a purple VOX shirt, nametag, and black pants, showing the ASL sign for “finish”, an open 5-handshape.

09/01/2026

VOX is proud to announce its second DASL Training starting October 2026! This is a free multi-part workshop for experienced AND emerging Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing creatives who want to explore and expand their ASL dramaturgy and leadership in the performing arts. The program includes four virtual classes (all Wednesdays in October) and multiple opportunities for observing DASL rehearsals and ASL-interpreted performances. Trainers Kristin Johnson and Rachel Berman-Kobylarz share more about the training in ASL (Descriptive Transcript in the comments.)

We have 10 spots open for our Fall 2026 DASL Cohort - APPLY TODAY! https://forms.gle/a4JgU9VyEomfsLym8 This year’s DASL Training for Fall 2026 is made possible with funding by the National Endowment for the Arts.

08/28/2026

Are you activating accessibility from the beginning? How are you promoting accessibility to ALL of your patrons?

As we enter the 2026-2027 performing arts season, Director of Artistic Sign Language Kristin Johnson kindly reminds us: Let’s proactively shift away from access as a charity and embrace access as infrastructure.

Connect with us at ThinkOutsideTheVox.org and explore how you can engage Kristin and more of our Deaf, Blind, and disabled creatives and consultants in your upcoming performances, exhibits, and events.

Descriptive Transcript pinned in the comments.

08/26/2026

We're excited to provide American Sign Language interpretation at Calmer Con! Interpreters will be at the event to assist with workshops, presentations, and more.

Just let us know at registration: when you sign up for Calmer Con, on the details page there will be a question asking if you need ASL interpretation services—be sure to check yes!

Calmer Con is an all-ages, sensory-adjusted, neurodiversity-friendly event featuring comic creators, workshops, tabletop and video games, entertainment, and more. It's free for all with registration! Join us on September 12th from 10 am—4 pm.

08/25/2026

Check out our newest project out now! ThinkOutsideTheVox.org/EP-Modules