VSA arts of Texas
|
3710 Cedar Street, #7 |
Celia Hughes |
|
Tel.: (512) 454-9912 |
Website: |
Organizational Profile:
|
Full-time Staff: 3 |
 |
VSA arts of Texas promotes the creative power in people with disabilities by working with all community members to facilitate full access to the cultural and educational arts.
Programming Partners and Other Funders:
National Endowment for the Arts; Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities; Texas Commission on the Arts; City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division; Texas Women for the Arts; Applied Materials; SAILL Charter School; Topfer Family Foundation; 3M; JP Morgan Chase; Down Syndrome Association of Central Texas; Austin Independent School District; Knowbility, Inc.; Austin Mayors Committee for People with Disabilities; Benbrook City Council; Austin Visual Arts Association; Center for Educator Development in Fine Arts; Dreams Fulfilled Through Music; Austin Children’s Museum; National PASS Network; Education Service Centers—Regions 1, 3, 14, 15, 17, and 19.
Educational Programs and Artist Residencies
Arts Alive!
Arts Alive! connects experienced teaching artists with teachers who have been formally trained in utilizing Start with the Arts©, an arts education resource. Teaching artists from five artistic disciplines (visual art, drama, dance/movement, music, and literature) are placed in classrooms for a minimum of five hours per session. Classrooms include preschool, special education, and inclusive elementary schools. Through grants and fee-for-service contracts, Arts Alive! activities are currently underway in Austin Independent School District and SAILL Charter School.
Accessible Arts
Expressive arts therapists work with teachers in special education classrooms using art, music, or dance modalities specifically designed to address the social, communication, and learning needs of the individual student. Teachers and teachers’ aides attend professional development workshops, and licensed art therapists mentor teachers so that they are able to continue the work after completion of the classroom residencies. Saturday morning music and movement workshops are offered to children and young adults with Down syndrome.
Professional Development and Technical Assistance
Art Works
Professional opportunities for emerging artists with disabilities include the Careers in the Arts Forum for artists and arts administrators; and regional skills-building workshops for artists. Individualized artist support provides opportunities to access art supplies, classes, mentorships, and professional exhibitions. Art Works Network assists emerging artists to build community support groups that build upon information gained at the regional workshops, and Art Works: Creative Industries is exploring opportunities to assist artists maintain social security benefits while pursuing self-employment and other microenterprise activities. Through a partnership with National PASS Network, workshops on social security benefits will be offered and a business council to financially support microenterprise activities will be formed.
Start with the Arts©
Two-day workshops for classroom teachers feature an introduction to inclusive teaching strategies, a review of early childhood education, and hands-on activities from the Start with the Arts (SWTA) teacher’s resource. Led by experienced arts educators, participants are encouraged to rediscover their own creativity and learn practical tools for sharing the joy of art with all children. SWTA workshops provide professional development opportunities for teaching artists and fine arts educators that focus on developmentally appropriate practice in the arts, positive critical response formats, differentiated teaching techniques, and linking the arts to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills in other core areas.
Actual Lives Performance Project
Actual Lives is a community-based writing and performance project that establishes theatrical voice and presence for people with disabilities. Beginning with an individualized workshop format, participants write from their experiences and then learn how to translate personal narratives into performance. Actual Lives also performs for college groups, summer camps, corporate trainings, and other community events. Visit www.actualives.org for more information.
Cultural Access and Inclusive Arts Services
Cultural Access Initiative
Arts professionals provide workshops and individual consultations on disability awareness, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance, long-range planning, and program assessments to help increase accessibility to the arts. Staff provides consultation on captioning, Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART), American Sign Language theatrical interpretation, Universal Design in the performing arts, and inclusive program models. VSA arts of Texas also partners with statewide arts and disability organizations to produce access tracks at statewide conferences designed to meet the needs of the specific arts discipline or organizational focus.
Audio Description
Audio description is offered on a regular basis at Austin-area theaters, museums, and requested events; currently, volunteers are working with ACCESS San Antonio to introduce audio description to Bexar County.
Public Awareness and Outreach
Performances/Exhibitions
Performances by individuals with disabilities are offered in communities across Texas. Past performances have included Bill T. Shannon, David Roche, Dancing Wheels, and the Moscow Nedoslov Theatre Company. In addition, exhibitions by visual artists are juried by professional artists, gallery owners, and art teachers, and displayed at galleries and alternate locations throughout Texas. At least one call for art for children and/or adults is organized and promoted annually. VSA arts of Texas partners with the National Arts Program to showcase artwork created by the employees of the City of Austin and their family members. Art in the Park is an inclusive arts celebration that takes place every April in Austin; the longest running festival in Texas is held every January in Plano.
Star of Texas Outreach
The Web site (www.vsatx.org) serves as a resource to artists and cultural arts organizations looking for ways to reach out to a diverse audience. The newsletter Keeping in Touch is distributed triannually in standard and alternate formats, and provides information on upcoming events and initiatives of VSA arts of Texas, as well as national initiatives and calls for art. The Web site provides a monthly calendar of accessible events in Austin and central Texas. Information from other communities is included when provided.
Follow the Dream
Follow the Dream is a community-based project that showcases the visual artwork of children and adults with disabilities in Tarrant County. Free art classes are offered in community and classroom settings, and teachers submit artwork through the Fort Worth art department. In November (proclaimed Disability Arts Month by the Texas Legislature), the artwork created through these activities is displayed at school administration buildings, City Hall, local libraries, banks, and other locations.
(F) 202-429-0868