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 dedicated to the development, promotion, coordination, and implementation of quality accessible arts programs in dance, music, drama, creative writing, and visual and media arts for people of all ages and disabilities.
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; Greater Jackson Arts Council; Mississippi Paralysis Association; Northwest Mississippi Regional Center; Lauren Rogers Museum of Art; Hattiesburg Parks and Recreation Department, BellSouth Communications Inc.; USA International Ballet Competition; Belhaven College.
State Programs
Educational Programs and Artist Residencies
VSA arts of Mississippi 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 2007. 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 participating in the Mississippi Arts Commission Whole Schools Initiative program.
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, mosaic design, collage, and paper making. Participants will be offered opportunities to exhibit and sell their work.
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 publications Express Diversity! and 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 working in artists-in-residence programs, teacher-training programs, and education. This training will be made available to artists on the Mississippi Arts Commission’s Artist Roster; civic groups interested in the arts; and nonprofit organizations working with disability or cultural communities.
Cultural Access
VSA arts of Mississippi Museum Docent and Volunteer Training
VSA arts of Mississippi is creating a disability awareness 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 Exhibit Program
Exhibits across the state will showcase work by VSA arts of Mississippi artists. Amy’s Awesome Artists, sponsored by the Mississippi Lt. Governor, showcases artwork from the VSA arts of Mississippi Artist-in-Residence program. The Goodwill Art Show, now in its 18th year, showcases artwork of Mississippi’s professional, non-professional and student artists. Winners’ works are exhibited at the Walter Anderson Museum of Art. Works by participants in the Community Artist in Residence Program are exhibited in the VSA arts of Mississippi Gallery on a regular basis with monthly openings and receptions. Artists are given opportunities to exhibit their work weekly, March through December, at the Belhaven Market, and during annual area 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 who use wheelchairs, will perform 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