VSA arts of Mississippi
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3310 North State Street, Studio 1 |
V.A. Patterson |
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Tel.: (601) 713-3311 |
Organizational Profile:
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Full-time Staff: 2 |
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VSA arts of Mississippi is a statewide 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes and provides arts opportunities for people with disabilities. VSA arts of Mississippi has been offering arts programs for children, youth, and adults since 1978.
Programming Partners and Other Funders:
Mississippi Legislature through the Mississippi Department of Education; Goodwill Industries; Methodist Rehabilitation Center; Mississippi Arts Commission; Fondren Renaissance Foundation; Artists of the Art of State Studios; Tougaloo College; Mississippi Arts Center; Greater Jackson Arts Council; Mississippi Paralysis Association; Northwest Mississippi Regional Center; Lauren Rogers Museum of Art; Hattiesburg Parks and Recreation Department, USA International Ballet Competition; Belhaven College; Mississippi Library Commission; Parents for Public Schools; Mississippi Alliance for Arts Education; Collage; AT&T; BankPlus; Episcopal Church of the Mediator; Family Framing Place, Inc.
Educational Programs and Artist Residencies
VSA arts of Mississippi School Artist-in-Residence Program
VSA arts of Mississippi artist-in-residence programs in visual arts, dance, music, or drama/literature will be offered to 10–15 classrooms across the state in the 2007–2008 school year. Students with disabilities are included in the classroom hosting the artist-in-residence. VSA arts of Mississippi will focus on schools in rural areas that have limited access to arts experiences and schools on the Mississippi Gulf Coast where recovery from Hurricane Katrina continues to strain resources for arts education.
Community Artist-in-Residence Program
The Community Arts Group offers visual arts experiences in the VSA arts of Mississippi studio for adults with disabilities and their families. Free weekly three-hour lessons include instruction in watercolor, acrylic and oil paints, clay, drawing, collage, and printmaking. Participants will be offered opportunities to exhibit and sell their work in public exhibitions.
Professional Development and Technical Assistance
Professional Development for Educators
VSA arts of Mississippi offers training opportunities for teachers and other education professionals to learn how to use the arts to increase childhood literacy and problem solving. With help from the VSA arts educational resource Start with the Arts©, educators will be taught practices to promote inclusion in the classroom.
Professional Development for Artists
VSA arts of Mississippi is offering training in best practices for working with people with disabilities to artists participating in artist-in-residence programs, teacher training programs, and school education. This training will be made available to artists listed in the Mississippi Arts Commission’s Artist Roster, civic groups interested in the arts, and nonprofit organizations working with disability or cultural communities. This program will assist artists with disabilities in attending workshops to develop skills for careers as teaching artists.
Cultural Access and Inclusive Arts Services
VSA arts of Mississippi Museum Docent and Volunteer Training
VSA arts of Mississippi is creating a disability awareness handbook—Training Handbook for Museum Docents and Volunteers. Using the handbook, VSA arts of Mississippi will offer training workshops for docents and volunteers at sites across the state. VSA arts of Mississippi will also serve as a resource and referral source for museums seeking to increase their access to patrons with disabilities.
Public Awareness and Outreach
VSA arts of Mississippi Exhibition Program
Exhibitions across the state will showcase work by VSA arts of Mississippi artists. The Goodwill Art Show, now in its 20th year, showcases the work of Mississippi’s professional, non-professional, and student artists with disabilities. Winners’ works are exhibited at the Methodist Rehabilitation Center. Works by participants in the Community Artist-in-Residence Program are exhibited in the VSA arts of Mississippi Gallery on a regular basis and at area venues such as the Municipal Art Gallery, Mississippi Library Commission, Methodist Rehabilitation Center, and others, with official openings and receptions. Artists are assisted and encouraged to exhibit their work in local arts organization competitions and at annual art fairs and special events.
VSA arts of Mississippi Dance Program
The VSA art of Mississippi dance company, composed of professional and student dancers and dancers with disabilities, will offer one major public performance and smaller lecture/demonstrations in schools in the central Mississippi area. In addition to performing, the dancers will discuss ballet, paralysis, and disability awareness in a lecture-demonstration format. This program provides dancers with disabilities the opportunity to perform in a public setting while also providing children with and without disabilities the opportunity to watch and participate in dance and movement experiences.
(F) 202-429-0868