VSA arts of Florida
| 3500 East Fletcher Avenue Suite 234 Tampa, FL 33613 |
Marian Winters |
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Tel.: (813) 558-5095 |
mwinters@tempest.coedu.usf.edu Website: |
Organizational Profile:
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Full-time Staff: 2 |
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The mission of VSA arts of Florida is to create a society where people with disabilities have the opportunity to learn through, participate in, and enjoy the arts. VSA arts of Florida meets its mission through a statewide network of program partners that provide services to children, youth, and adults with disabilities, and programs including professional development opportunities, rotating exhibitions, performances, and artists’ residencies.
Programming Partners and Other Funders:
Florida Department of Education, Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services; Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs; Department of Juvenile Justice; National Endowment for the Arts; University of South Florida; State of Florida Department of Vocational Rehabilitation; Florida Inclusion Network; Florida Diagnostics Learning Resource Services; Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation, Easter Seals of Volusia County; Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens; The Miami-Dade School District, Miami–Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs; Arsht Center for the Performing Arts; Centers for Independent Living, ARC Centers; school boards of the 67 Florida counties; museums and performing arts centers including Tampa Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg; Florida Craftsmen, St. Petersburg; Fine Arts Center, St. Petersburg; Dunedin Fine Arts Center; Miami Museum of Art; Vizcaya Museum, Miami; Wolfsonian Museum, Miami; Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland; Playground Theater, Miami; Great Explorations Children’s Museum; Glazer Children’s Museum, Tampa; Explorations 5 Children’s Museum, Lakeland; Historical Museum of Southern Florida; Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center; Broward Center for the Performing Arts; and Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater
Educational Programs and Artist Residencies
Statewide Program Partners
VSA arts of Florida works throughout the state with 27 program partners to assess community needs for arts and education programs for students and adults with disabilities and to provide the following activities: festivals, artist residency programs, Start with the Arts™ and Express Diversity!© trainings, Arts for All programs, school-based regional professional development on inclusion in the arts, community art classes, exhibitions, performances, and mini-grants.
Exemplary Participant Program
The Exemplary Participant Program is a statewide initiative to nominate students with disabilities who have excelled in the arts and/or have developed leadership skills through the arts. The winning students and their teachers each receive a savings bond and are recognized in their local school district.
Artists in Residence
VSA arts of Florida provides an artist in residence to at least 80 different program sites statewide that serve inclusive early childhood classrooms, students with disabilities in inclusive classes, youth at risk, and adults with disabilities. Residencies run from eight to ten weeks and include an evaluation of skills learned.
In addition to the regular residency experience, in 2009 two new residencies are being piloted. These residencies are available for any population. The first is “Hand ‘n Hand.” This residency provides a teaching artist for seven weeks, after which time an artist with a disability joins the class to produce a collaborative piece during the eighth and final week. The entire body of work from the residency is then exhibited at a local venue. The second new residency is “Creativity Expressed,” through which an artist with a disability is trained as a teaching artist and then coteaches an eight-week residency with an experienced VSA arts of Florida teaching artist.
Professional Development and Technical Assistance
Start with the Arts™ Workshops
Start with the ArtsTM trainings are held regionally and on request. Sessions include hands-on activities that relate to the lessons in the Start with the Arts© book for each art form; adaptations for students with disabilities; links to benchmarks; and writing sample lesson plans. VSA arts of Florida partners with the Early Childhood Coalitions, the Office of Pre-Kindergarten Education, and University of South Florida early childhood initiatives.
Inclusion Workshops
VSA arts of Florida will provide at least 25 different inclusion training sessions specific to teaching artist and to art, music, movement, and drama specialists. The full- or half-day sessions include breakout workshops on disability awareness and behavioral issues led by arts specialists with expertise in adaptations and inclusion in the classroom. Ongoing professional development is offered to members of the VSA arts of Florida Artists Registry on how to build and sustain a successful career in the arts.
Careers in the Arts Workshops
VSA arts of Florida will provide 10 separate workshops on careers in the arts, which will raise awareness of the growing field of the creative industry and give participants insight into pursuing a career in the arts. The workshops are offered to school-based transition specialists and job counselors, and placement specialists at agencies that serve adults with disabilities. Each workshop includes a survey of different careers in the arts and a personal story from a successful artist with a disability. A middle school course of study on careers in the arts, developed in partnership with the Florida Department of Education and Florida Alliance for Arts Education, is available on the Web at www.exploringartscareers.net.
Access for Cultural Organizations
In 2009, VSA arts of Florida will provide seven full- or half-day workshops for staff and volunteers of arts venues on disability awareness and how to increase participation of individuals with disabilities in programs, audiences, and as volunteers.
Cultural Access and Inclusive Arts Services
Artists Registry
VSA arts of Florida has an online Artists Registry database for Florida artists with disabilities. Membership is free and entitles artists with disabilities to access resources, receive technical assistance, and learn about exhibition opportunities. Artwork created by registry members is shown on the Web site.
Calls for Art
In 2009, VSA arts of Florida will disseminate 30 different calls for art for local, regional, or national exhibitions to students and adults with disabilities.
Exhibitions
In 2008–2009, VSA arts of Florida will tour Feel the Art, an exhibition that reproduces well-known pieces of art in tactile, touch-friendly form for audiences with visual impairments, and Art on the Move, which showcases best practices in accessible exhibitions. Yearlong exhibitions will be held at the State Department of Education and the University of South Florida, College of Education. Quarterly exhibitions are installed at the Florida Mental Health Institute on the campus of the University of South Florida. This exhibition is coordinated by VSA arts of Florida and includes artwork from six Tampa organizations that service adults with disabilities. Exhibition sites include libraries, public galleries, and service agencies. VSA arts of Florida operates two sites for its Open Door Gallery. The primary gallery site is at the West Tampa Center for the Arts and hosts six major exhibitions yearly of new works created by adult artists from the registry. The second gallery is located at the state office and rotates quarterly exhibitions of children’s art submitted from our program partner sites and calls for art. .
Cultural Access
VSA arts of Florida provides information, technical assistance, and workshops about access for performing arts centers and museums. A statewide access committee facilitated by VSA arts of Florida regularly meets to address statewide issues. In partnership with the State of Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, VSA arts of Florida administers the state’s award program for access and the online self-assessment Access Survey. In 2009, VSA arts of Florida will work with five regional access coordinators to continue the development of access initiatives.
Public Awareness and Outreach
Statewide Communications
VSA arts of Florida distributes their annual report in print and alternative formats. The report is accessible through the organization Web site. VSA arts of Florida also distributes Arts Access, a quarterly e-newsletter that highlights local VSA arts of Florida events.
Web Site
VSA arts of Florida’s Web site (www.vsafl.org) is regularly updated to provide information on all program aspects. It is accessible to people with a wide range of abilities.
Young Soloist
For the second year in a row, VSA arts of Florida conducted a statewide adjudication of performers with a disability to select Florida’s two nominations for the VSA arts International Young Soloist Program. This year, in partnership with the Florida Orchestra, a free community performance showcased these talented finalists.
(F) 202-429-0868