Atlanta Music Festival Fights For Accessibility, Goes Nonprofit

“There’s one time I came to a show and I didn’t know the ramp was going to be there, and I was like ‘oh, what’s up!’” he said.

Apart from the actual utility of the ramp, the ramp also serves as a symbol of Jortsfest’s mission. “Just the fact that it’s there sending the message is really more important.”

That issue of accessibility to music venues is one that founder and co-organizer Maria Sotnikova is particularly close to. Sotnikova is a power wheelchair user and has a form of muscular dystrophy.

She recalls trying to get into a show at a small basement venue in Manhattan and having to wind her way through alleys, narrow hallways, and finally, as she puts it, “a really shady elevator.”

“The entire time, I’m thinking ‘oh my God, I’m in an episode of Law & Order SVU,’” she laughs, “This is how it ends!”

Luckily, things did not end there for Sotnikova, but the Jortsfest ramp may help others avoid their own “SVU” moments. As the ramp makes its way to more shows around town, she said the reactions she’s gotten come mostly from people with family members who are disabled.

“I was advertising this to some folks on Facebook,” Sotnikova said, “And there was one person who had commented that her husband would have loved to have that when he was in the music scene here in Atlanta.”

In addition to the free festival and the ramp, Jortsfest is also working on becoming a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, a decision spurred by the festival’s participation in last year’s Elevate public art program.

“We realized that we’d really like to do more stuff like that,” Sotnikova said.

She said becoming a nonprofit would aid them in doing more of that collaboration with other arts groups and with city and state governments. It would also allow them to apply for grants.

“I don’t know about Carter, but I hate fundraising,” Sotnikova cracks, and both organizers laugh.  

“It’s not that we can’t do it not as a nonprofit,” Sutherland said. “But we want to be engaging with people with institutional power. We want to make it easier for them to come to us.”

But before they begin to try to court any major entities to their cause, there is this month’s Jortsfest to attend to.

Acts this year include Athens band Nana Grizol, Atlanta party punk rockers Baby Baby, soul singer Chelsea Shag and many more.

In addition, a number of organizations will have tables and information there, including Georgia Artists for Progress, Southern Fried Queer Pride and the Peach Coven. Even with all these causes represented, most folks go to see bands to dance and have a good time.

So why should accessibility be an issue that indie rockers pay attention to? Both Sutherland and Sotnikova have earnest answers.

“The music space is now and has always been a place for talking about societal change,” Carter said. “It’s a place where things are more possible. And if all people can’t be included in this conversation, then what’s even the point? The able-bodied idea of what a good show is, that’s always been such a dominant thing in art, and I feel like if we can’t change it in art, how are we gonna change this in other areas of society?”

Sotnikova points out that when the disabled are excluded from spaces, that’s not just a loss to them, but a loss to the community as a whole.

“That doesn’t tell the whole story,” she said. “That doesn’t tell everyone’s story, and everyone’s story deserves to be told at some point, so why not make it easier to tell?”

As Jortsfest strives toward its goal of becoming a nonprofit, Sotnikova and Sutherland have more of their own story to tell.

This year’s Jortsfest takes place at the Mammal Gallery in South Downtown on Saturday, Aug. 26.