oin us for a two-part afternoon program exploring how Deaf creatives use American Sign Language (ASL) to design musical and cultural experiences—reframing music as visual, spatial, and embodied. Presented in conjunction with the Art of Noise exhibition, this program features a moderated conversation and a live performance that highlights Deaf perspectives. The program celebrates Deaf-led innovation in music media and invites visitors to experience music as a designed cultural experience, shaped by visual language, gesture, and the body. First, a moderated panel of Deaf artists and designers will discuss how ASL functions not only as a language, but as a creative design tool that shapes rhythm, emotion, and narrative. Perspectives from Deaf Broadway, ASL Slam, Deaf DJ events, and multi-media Directors of Artistic Sign Language will explore how listening itself is a designed experience, shaped by media, language, and culture. Following the conversation, audiences are invited to experience a live performance by Deafinitely Dope that showcases ASL as a dynamic medium for musical design. Using signed language, movement, and visual composition, the performance transforms music into a multisensory experience that emphasizes rhythm, expression, and connection—rather than sound alone. SPEAKERS Headshot of Zaiver SabioZavier Sabio, Moderator Zavier Sabio is a Deaf educator, access advocate, and teaching artist based in New York City. His work centers accessibility, cultural representation, and community, with a focus on creating spaces where Deaf people are not just included, but fully seen and centered. He is the host of ASL Slam NYC and serves as an Access Teaching Artist with institutions such as the Brooklyn Museum and the Studio Museum in Harlem. Sabio is also a Deaf Interpreter and Director of Artistic Sign Language, where he brings together language, performance, and storytelling in ways that are both creative and culturally grounded. As Community Coordinator at P.S. 347, he works to strengthen connections between Deaf and hearing communities. Beyond education and access work, Sabio is deeply engaged in art, fashion, and visual culture. He draws inspiration from contemporary design, exhibitions, and streetwear, moving fluidly across creative spaces throughout the city. His work continues to push for accessibility while remaining rooted in culture, style, and lived experience. Headshot of Alexandria WailesAlexandria Wailes, Panelist Alexandria Wailes [she/her] is an award winning multi-hyphenated theatre maker. Highlights include: Directing: VOCA/DAT’s A Strange Loop (2026 Helen Hayes nominated), VOCA’s A Not So Quiet Nocturne, Deaf Broadway’s Once on This Island, Deaf Spotlight’s 2023 Short Play Festival. Acting: Broadway: for colored girls, Spring Awakening, Big River. Off-Broadway/Regional: for colored girls, FDR’s Very Happy Hour, I Was Most Alive with You, Oedipus, Our Town. TV: CW’s ‘The Flash,’ ‘Little America’, ‘High Maintenance’. DASL: Broadway: King Lear, Children of a Lesser God. Regional: Private Jones. She is VOCA’s associate artistic director as well as a museum educator for TJM and the Whitney. Headshot of DJ Hear No EvilDJ Hear No Evil, Panelist Anton Abraham, known as DJ Hear No Evil, is a Deaf DJ and creative based in New York. As a 2x DJ champion, he is recognized for his ability to translate sound into a visual and physical experience, using rhythm, vibration, and movement to connect with audiences. His work explores how music can be felt beyond hearing, bridging Deaf and hearing communities through performance and storytelling. Through live events, speaking engagements, and curated experiences,  Abraham continues to redefine how music is experienced, using American Sign Language and energy to shape atmosphere, emotion, and connection. Headshot of Garret Zuercher Garrett Zuercher, Panelist Garrett Zuercher (he/him) is the first profoundly Deaf theatre artist to earn an MFA in playwriting (Hunter College). His plays are created both in English and ASL, often simultaneously. Strongly rooted in claiming ownership of authentic Deaf narratives, his pieces reframe and elevate voices from deep within his own community. In his writing, he also prioritizes the visual form over auditory elements, teaching audiences how to listen with their eyes instead of their ears, even if they don’t know sign language. A two-time recipient of the Jean Kennedy Smith playwriting award, his narrative piece about a collection of diverse Deaf theater artists, INSIDE/LOOK, was commissioned by The Shed. Currently, he is a member of BMI’s bookwriting for musical theater cohort, with whom he is currently turning his original play, HARD PLACES, into a musical. On the side, he serves as the founding artistic director of Deaf Broadway for which he produces stagings of all-Deaf, all-ASL musicals in collaboration with Lincoln Center, including this year’s JEANINE TESORI’S VIOLET in Alice Tully Hall. Previously, he directed a smash staging of Deaf Broadway’s RENT as part of Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series. Dedicated to bringing authentic Deaf voices to the mainstream, he is a staunch advocate for awareness and representation within the entertainment industry. Also an actor, director, dramaturg, filmmaker, ASL director, and Deaf Culture consultant, he is a proud member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA, and the Dramatists Guild. PERFORMER DEAFinitely Dope Matthew Maxey hails from Decatur, Georgia and currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia. Born with a severely profound hearing loss, and outfitted with hearing aids at 2 years old, it became apparent at an early age that life would be anything but ordinary. Fast forward and Maxey attended the prestigious Gallaudet University in Washington, DC where he began to learn sign language in an attempt to balance the struggle of developing his identity as a double minority in terms of ability and race. In 2014, DEAFinitely Dope was founded as an idea based on providing support to those that felt marginalized and ignored by mainstream America. DEAFinitely Dope started as a brand, and slowly blossomed into a movement, attracting the likes of educational institutions nationwide, CNN, ESPN The Undefeated, GQ, Cole Haan, ABC news, Chance The Rapper, MTV Video Music Awards, and countless more! With both hearing and deaf partnerships in play, Matt strives to continue to break barriers and defy the norms with a fresh perspective on interaction, inclusion, accessibility and equality, as awareness continues to grow! ACCESSIBILITY AND WHAT TO EXPECT Format: The program will begin with a brief welcome, then the panel will give a conversational presentation for 45 minutes followed by a short Q&A. There will be a 15-minute break before the performance. This program will be entirely in ASL, with ASL interpretation. About this space: This program will take place in Cooper Hewitt’s Lecture Room on the ground floor of the museum. It is fully wheelchair accessible. There will be seating for both the panel and performance. There is an accessible restroom on the ground floor. Read more about accessibility at Cooper Hewitt. Sensory materials will be available. Read more about accessibility at Cooper Hewitt. Accommodations:  ASL and CART will be provided. We welcome questions and accommodation requests that support your participation. Email us at CHAccess@si.edu. Call 212.849.8384. Please make your request as far in advance as possible—preferably at least one week before the program date.