Finnegan Shannon
b. 1989, Berkeley, CA; lives and works in New York, NY
Anti Stairs Club Lounge Wallpaper for the Bayly Building, 2025
Stair-free pathway, FabriTac wallpaper
Commission by The Fralin Museum of Art
Where is the accessible entrance? This frequent question signals that accessible entry points are often not obvious or prioritized. In Anti Stairs Club Lounge Wallpaper for the Bayly Building, Finnegan Shannon draws attention to The Fralin’s accessible entrance with a layered collage of archival materials: architectural drawings of the museum’s Bayly Building, images from the 1990 Capitol Crawl—a pivotal Disability Rights Movement protest—and quotes by Vincent Creek, Clarence Day Jr., and Joan Peters reflecting on the love for ramps and resistance to their use. The installation takes the form of wallpaper and is part of Shannon’s ongoing Anti-Stairs Club Lounge project, which creates welcoming spaces for those who cannot or choose not to use stairs. By spotlighting The Fralin’s accessible entrance, the artwork reframes this space not as secondary or hidden, but as a site of history, resistance, and community—it foregrounds access as a shared human right rather than a special accommodation.
Artist Description
A digitally designed wallpaper with a light blue background and dark blue graphics and text, themed around disability rights and accessibility. Prominent phrases include “ANTI-STAIRS CLUB LOUNGE,” “ramps are beautiful,” “WELCOME,” and a quote: “There’s money for ramps, but not much of it - vincent creek.” The collage features historical images from the 1990 Capitol Crawl, showing disabled activists climbing the Capitol steps, and a protestor in a white ADAPT shirt (American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit). Architectural drawings and historic photos of the Bayly Building—home to The Fralin Museum—appear upside down. Symbols rejecting stairs include stairs crossed out with circles and lines, and stairs labeled “accessible” with a strike-through, critiquing their exclusionary design.
-- Description by Molly Joyce
Basic Description
A digitally designed wallpaper with a repeating pattern on a light blue background. The design includes various anti-stairs symbols, such as a stair icon crossed out, alongside monochromatic blue-tinted photos of staircases, ramps, and people. Text phrases are interspersed throughout, including 'ANTI-STAIRS CLUB LOUNGE,' 'ramps are beautiful,' and excerpts discussing accessibility and architecture. The layout is arranged in a grid-like, collage format with a conceptual and activist tone, critiquing traditional architectural norms centered around stairs.