Tess Dally

Accessibility Advisor and Teaching Artist

Tess Dally, 60, is a resident of North Point Breeze. Tess is a physically integrated dancer who dances with and without her wheelchair. She moved to Pittsburgh from Homer, Alaska three years ago.

In Homer, she served on the ADA Compliance Committee of the Homer City Council. The committee worked with city government to ensure compliance in city public buildings and parks.

Tess was also a board member of the Homer Council of the Arts. Working with the council, Tess was able to introduce dance for those with Parkinson’s, coordinate the first exhibit for artists with disabilities, and choreograph and perform Homer’s first physically integrated dance presentation.

Since moving to Pittsburgh from Alaska three years ago, Tess has joined with Attack Theatre on several community projects including oral history and dance with Lawrenceville seniors; video production with Signtastic visual media; game nights with the Lawrence community; and the summer dance intensive. In the near future, Tess hopes to work with the Greater Pittsburgh Council Arts Council on the intersection of disability and the arts.

Tess is interested in the provision of genuine and equitable access to city facilities and programs such as public events, parks, and buildings. She is excited to work with the City-County Task Force on Disabilities and other advocates to achieve disability justice.

Tess has a Bachelor of Arts in film and anthropology from The Evergreen State University in Washington and a Masters in Social Work from Indiana University. As a social worker, she developed school-based mental health programs in Alaska and Mississippi. For the majority of her career in Alaska, she worked as a Psychiatric Crisis Clinician in hospital emergency departments.