Bespoke Bodies
The Design & Craft of Prosthetics
Learn more about Ebewelleda
Ebewelleda Lundy was named the official ambassador of Healing Hands for Haiti in 2014. Today, Lundy is a social media influencer who goes by Miss Courageuse and continues to advocate for other amputees. Lundy’s “mitten hand,” pictured here, was a design by Jeff Erenstone and Arthur Hobson and became the genesis of the LimbForge design.
Bespoke Bodies: The Design & Craft of Prosthetics is a major traveling exhibition exploring the past, present, and future of prosthetic design. Through tactile objects, interactive models, and stories of designers, prosthetists, and users, Bespoke Bodies advocates for innovations that center people who use prosthetics in the design process.
The exhibition considers traditional artificial limbs and a wide range of physical, aesthetic, and cognitive innovations. It features advancements in medicine, robotics, sensors, and 3D printing that have transformed what is possible for the future of mobility.
Bespoke Bodies features examples of prosthetic design from around the world—spanning a prosthetic arm with a lego attachment to mind-controlled bionic limbs—with stories of professional athletes, veterans, and children who became part of their own design process. Visitors are invited to explore the evolution of prosthetic devices through visual stories, historical timelines, and videos. These stories demonstrate that when more perspectives of people who use prostheses are part of the creation process, the better the design. This special exhibition also features objects from The National World War I Museum and Memorial’s collection—one of the largest Great War collections in the world.
Developed with a committee of advisors made up of people who use and create prostheses, Bespoke Bodies aims to broaden conversations around disability and design. Bespoke Bodies celebrates the design of adaptive devices while also recognizing that wearing or using a prosthetic device is one of many methods and options around ambulation, physical activity, and appearance for disabled people.
The exhibition uses both person-first (“person with a disability”) and identity-first language (“disabled person”) when discussing disability, defaulting to person-first language unless otherwise instructed by featured users and designers.
Supported By
OUR PROCESS
To develop this exhibition, our team first formed a committee of advisors in the field made up of people who use and create prostheses; including amputees, limb difference advocates, clinicians, designers, educators, and more. This group of advisors helped us form partnerships and invite individuals, designers, organizations, and more to get involved to share their stories about the impact of prosthetic design.
One of the things we sought out the most were stories about the collaborative process of design; people with limb loss, congenital limb difference, maxillofacial disability, and mobility impairment, who become part of their own design process. Paralympic athletes working with designers to find innovative techniques and solutions in design. Kids collaborating with industrial designers to create their own expressive devices, sometimes even featuring legos! Organizations like D-rev who focus on developing affordable prosthetic solutions for those without access to advanced prosthetic devices. These stories show that the more voices, collaborators, and people who use prostheses that are part of the creation process, the better the design.
Bespoke Bodies is a free, public exhibition that aims to contribute to broadening larger conversations and shared resources around disability. The show recognizes that wearing or using a prosthetic device is one of the many methods and options around ambulation, physical activity, and appearance for disabled people.
Special Thanks to our Founding Advisors
- Tara Anderson, Product Manager, HP
- Kate Aquillano, Social Media Manager, USO
- Adam Arabian, Assoc. Professor of Engineering, Seattle Pacific University
- Andreas Bastian, Principal Research Scientist, Autodesk & Board Chair, LimbForge
- Maggie Baumer, Clinic Manager, Hanger Clinic
- Kaylee Dougherty, Assoc. Ocularist & Anaplastologist, Boston Ocular Prosthetics
- Betsy Goodrich, Vice President of Design & Co-founder, MANTA
- Braden Leonard, Founder, Hand Made Prosthetics
- Shalom Ormsby, Founder, The Luke Hand
- Micah Reyes, Design Engineer, Outradius Design
- Rodrigo Salazar, MSc. Rehabilitación Bucomaxilofacial, lUNIP & Mais Identidade
- Lauren Scruggs, Founder, Lauren Scruggs Kennedy Foundation
- Wilson Smith, Design Director, Nike & Professor of Adaptive Design, University of Oregon
- Paul Sohi, Product Designer, Autodesk
- Kevin Young, Senior Vice President Product Experience, Continuum
Wafa Lavelle, and her prosthetist Jayne Drummey, CPO. “Jayne made me a leg that helped to fully restore my mobility, strength, well-being, and most importantly, my confidence in navigating life every day.”
Steve Woolfenden and his prosthetist at Hanger Clinic, Brian Heckathorn, gave our team a look into their strong bond and open communication while discussing Steve’s socket fit and comfort in his residual limb. Photo taken at Hanger Clinic, South Easton MA
Kaylee Dougherty from Boston Ocular Prosthetics and her patient, Elby, explain Elby’s process for wearing, cleaning, and removing his ocular prosthesis to our curators.
Partners, Consultants, and Resources
Our curators attended lectures, conferences, clinical visits, and amputee advocacy events throughout our exhibition development process. Through collaborating with individuals with limb difference and disabilities, they learned straight from people who use and benefit from prosthetic design to tell their stories through this exhibit.
Along with directly collaborating with and crafting content for the exhibition with the people behind the stories, the team met with clinicians, prosthetists, users, and other allies in the community to gain new perspectives, resources, and knowledge in the field.
Organizations and Resources
- Hanger Clinic
- AMPOWER
- Boston Ocular Prosthetics
- The Gillian Reny Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation
- Rogerson Orthotics Orthotics & Prosthetics
- American Orthotics & Prosthetics Association
- Open Prosthetics
- Amputee Coalition
- Spaulding Rehabilitation
- Dare2Tri
- New England Adaptive Sports
- MARC – a growing mobility network under development by Marc Fucarile
- Bionic5k
- Community Rowing Inc
Contact us for more information about Bespoke Bodies and related programming: info@codesigncollaborative.org.
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