VSA arts of Nevada
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250 Court Street |
Mary Ellen Horan |
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Tel.: (775) 826-6100 |
Website: |
Organizational Profile:
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Full-time Staff: 2 |
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Since 1986, VSA arts of Nevada has provided quality arts programs for all, focusing on children and adults who have disabilities or are otherwise at risk, disadvantaged, or underserved by the arts.
Programming Partners and Other Funders:
Five different nursing homes and assisted living facilities throughout the state; Host homes for adults with developmental delays in Carson City, Las Vegas, Reno, and Sparks; 21st Century After School Learning Center sites; Alliance of Washoe Medical Society; Artown in Reno; Camp Lotsafun; City of Reno Arts and Culture Commission, City of Reno Neighborhood Advisory Boards; City of Sparks Parks and Recreation; Historic Reno Preservation Society; Gap Foundation, Renown Behavioral Health Services and Renown Medical Center’s Pediatrics Unit; Nevada Arts Council; Reno Housing Authority; University of Nevada, Las Vegas Cooperative Extension; Nevada Association for the Education of Young Children; Northern Nevada Mental Health Institute; Nevada Humanities Committee; Terry Lee Wells Foundation; Union Pacific Foundation; Connections art group in Reno; Sierra Pacific Resources; Sierra Regional Center, Lake Tahoe Shakespeare, school districts of Carson City, Lyon, Pershing, Storey, White Pine, and Washoe counties
Educational Programs and Artist Residencies
Arts in Education for Students, Preschool–12th Grade
VSA arts of Nevada will provide close to 1,000 annual workshops in visual art, creative movement/music and acting in Carson City, Washoe, and Clark counties for students in prekindergarten through 12th grades. Selected artwork from this program will be exhibited during Youth Art Month in March at the Lake Mansion in Reno and in Las Vegas at the City of the World Art Gallery/Art School. All participating students have disabilities, including emotional, hearing, learning, traumatic brain injuries, cerebral palsy, autism, Down syndrome, cognitive and/or behavioral disabilities, and substance abuse issues, among others. The arts workshops give all students the opportunity to explore the arts and discover their hidden talents, helping them develop a higher sense of creativity and self-awareness.
Arts in the Community
VSA arts of Nevada will conduct more than 850 workshops throughout the state, partnering with assisted living facilities, Renown Behavioral Services and Renown Medical Center’s Pediatrics Unit in Reno, and the City of Sparks’ Leisure without Limits Program for adults with developmental disabilities. The workshops provide needed creative outlets for participants with disabilities to experience the arts through hands-on activities.
Approximately 100 arts workshops will be conducted in residential senior and nursing facilities in Carson City, Washoe, and Clark counties. Most of the seniors have a disability.
Approximately 300 weekly 60- to 90-minute visual arts workshops will occur annually for adults with developmental delays who reside in private/host homes or residential facilities in Carson City, Las Vegas, Sparks, and Reno.
Approximately 150 visual art workshops will be conducted in Washoe County in an out patient program for adults with anxiety, depression and substance abuse issues.
Approximately 600 public arts workshops and camps in Reno and Sparks will be offered to children and adults in a mainstream environment of which approximately 12% have a disability. Full scholarships are provided as needed.
After-school and Summer Programs for Students, Preschool–12th grade, and Adults
In 2009, VSA arts of Nevada will conduct more than 350 workshops in conjunction with Reno Housing Authority, the 21st-Century Learning Center program, Camp Lotsafun, Koinonia Day Treatment Center, and after-school programs at Hall, Huffaker, Van Gorder, and Winnemucca Elementary Schools in Washoe County. For many participants, these programs are their only opportunity to explore the arts on a regular basis.
Professional Development and Technical Assistance
Teacher Training
VSA arts of Nevada will train early childhood education teachers using VSA arts’ Start with the ArtsTM educational resource, an early childhood educational program that uses arts-based learning to support literacy. Approximately six to eight trainings will be presented in Las Vegas by Cooperative Extension Early Care in Education specialists from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and one will be presented by VSA arts artists at the annual conference for the Nevada Association for the Education of Young Children in Reno. All of the workshops are two to three hours long and approved by the Nevada Registry for child care training hours.
Scholarships
VSA arts of Nevada will provide scholarships to attend workshops, purchase art supplies, or support other art-related activities for adults and children who have disabilities or face economic hardship.
Cultural Access and Inclusive Arts Services
Sign Language Interpretation
VSA arts of Nevada will provide interpreters for arts and culture performances in the Reno and Lake Tahoe area.
Arts and Cultural Access
VSA arts of Nevada, in conjunction with Nevada Arts Council, works to make Nevada’s cultural facilities physically and programmatically accessible to all, providing technical assistance to arts and cultural organizations and facilities throughout the state.
Public Awareness and Outreach
Festivals
VSA arts of Nevada will conduct hands-on children’s arts festivals in Lovelock. The festival is a three-day event with three visual artists at the Lovelock Elementary School. VSA arts of Nevada will conduct a free public children’s art festival with approximately 10 artists at the Lake Mansion to celebrate Youth Art Month.
Annual Events
VSA arts of Nevada will conduct workshops in conjunction with several annual events, including the Discover the Arts program of the Artown Festival, Reno Firefighters’ holiday party for children in transition, Reno/Sparks Down Syndrome Buddy Walk, Turn Off the TV event, and Arts in Bloom in Sparks. The workshops add a creative component to these events while giving VSA arts of Nevada additional exposure.
As an annual event, for two consecutive weekends in November, VSA arts of Nevada will conduct the Lake Mansion Jingles program for the holidays, with eight free children’s art workshops, photos with Santa, a book signing of The Lake Mansion: Home to Reno’s Founding Families, and tours. Descendants of families who once lived in the mansion are also invited.
VSA arts of Nevada Education Publication
VSA arts of Nevada will produce Art Smart publications that promote their open-to-the-public art workshops and additional events/happenings. Every month, VSA arts of Nevada contributes an arts learning lesson plan for a local family publication in conjunction with the more than 40 lesson plans listed on the organization’s Web site.
Lake Mansion and Art Access Gallery
VSA arts of Nevada’s administrative offices are located in the historic Lake Mansion, once owned by the founder of Reno, Myron Lake. The mansion was built in 1877 and is listed on both the State and National Registers of Historic Places. It was moved three miles in 2004 from the Reno-Sparks Convention Center to the downtown Reno arts district on the corner of Court Street and Arlington Avenue. In 2005, VSA arts of Nevada returned to the mansion with tours, exhibitions, and workshops. Several times a year the mansion hosts special exhibitions. The VSA arts Access Gallery opened in October 2006, featuring two rooms of fine art created by artists who have disabilities, providing a much-needed venue for the more than 20 artists to show and sell their work.
The public is able to rent the Lake Mansion for special events, meetings, and parties. In 2008, VSA arts of Nevada completed an 800-square-foot enclosed garden pavilion adjacent to the mansion. This building serves as a space for VSA arts of Nevada programs and open-to-the-public events. Proceeds from the rental program assist VSA arts of Nevada, which owns and operates the mansion, to maintain the structure.
Web Sites
The VSA arts of Nevada Web site, www.vsanevada.org, features lesson plans for artists, teachers, and parents; the VSA arts of Nevada exhibition schedule; open-to-the-public workshop listings; program descriptions; artists’ profiles; and current news. The Lake Mansion Web site, www.lakemansion.com, is linked to the VSA arts of Nevada Web site and highlights information on the history of the mansion, how to donate to the organization, and other details.
License Plates
VSA arts of Nevada, in collaboration with the Nevada Arts Council, produced a Nevada “Rich in Art” license plate with artwork created by a student from Las Vegas. Nevada drivers can purchase the plates. Sale proceeds are used to expand arts education initiatives for Nevada’s children.
(F) 202-429-0868