VSA Tennessee
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1210 Lake Rise Place |
Lori Kissinger |
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Tel.: (615) 210-8819 |
Website: |
Organizational Profile:
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Full-time Staff: 1 |
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VSA Tennessee provides opportunities for people with disabilities to participate in and express themselves through the arts and arts education. Activities are designed to create and support avenues of creative expression for people with disabilities; to promote disability awareness of creative endeavors; to help eliminate barriers for people with disabilities through the arts; and to support the efforts of professional artists with disabilities.
Programming Partners and Other Funders:
Volunteer State Community College; Belmont University; Middle Tennessee State University; Blair School of Music; Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Tennessee Arts Commission; ARC of Tennessee; Tennessee Department of Education; Country Music Hall of Fame; Orange Grove; Frist Center for the Visual Arts; Blue Bird Café; Tennessee Performing Arts Center; Allied Arts of Chattanooga; Full Circle Art; Tennessee School for the Blind; Tennessee State Government (for the use of Legislative Plaza); Harman Automotive; First Tennessee Bank; Publix Super Market Charities; Lions Club; Rotary; Wal-Mart; Middle Tennessee Community Foundation; Department of Developmental Disabilities; Grand Old Dulcimer Club; Cumberland Pharmaceuticals, State Auto Insurance, East Tennessee Foundation; B & W Y-12; CVS Pharmacies.
Education Programs and Artist Residencies
Artist Residencies
VSA Tennessee coordinates a statewide artist residency program that involves five intensive, yearlong artist residencies in the east, middle, and west portions of Tennessee. These residencies are done in cooperation with the Tennessee Department of Education. From these residencies, three research articles about the arts and disabilities have been selected for publication. In the annual review, this program received one of the highest assessment ratings from the Tennessee Department of Education.
Workshops/Classes
Workshops and classes are offered for children with disabilities. Additional classes are in the planning stages.
Art Institute
Each summer, VSA Tennessee hosts a one-week art institute at Volunteer State Community College. Children with and without disabilities learn about a selected culture through dance, drama, literature, music and the visual arts. The week culminates in a public performance and exhibition that showcases what the children have learned.
Professional Development and Technical Assistance
Start with the Arts™ Workshops
VSA Tennessee provides workshops for elementary and middle school special education teachers using the VSA Start with the Arts™ resource, as well as research and other educational materials.
Artist Training
This program component offers professional development training for artists with disabilities in areas such as portfolio development, marketing, and communications.
Service Learning
Groups of students at Middle Tennessee State University connect projects that link art, disabilities, and communication.
Value Plus Schools
The Tennessee Arts Commission asked VSA Tennessee to be a partner in its Value Plus Schools program, a one-week intensive summer training for rural schools in various arts issues. VSA Tennessee handles the training regarding adaptation and arts for children with disabilities.
Cultural Access and Inclusive Arts Services
Accessibility
VSA Tennessee and the Tennessee Arts Commission will continue work on an accessibility network.
Public Awareness and Outreach
Tennessee Dulcimer Choir
Eight students from a VSA Tennessee special education classroom residency program were selected to form a Dulcimer Choir. These individuals were inducted into the choir at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, were presented with their own instrument and now receive free continued instruction at the Blair School of Music.
Quarterly Newsletter
VSA Tennessee provides a weekly online e-mail newsletter on its programs, services, and opportunities for artists with disabilities.
Performing Arts Showcase
At least once a year, VSA Tennessee presents a showcase of professional musicians and dancers with disabilities. The showcase has taken place at the Blue Bird Café, Ryman Auditorium, the Wildhorse, Country Music Hall of Fame, and Dollywood.
Exhibitions
At least three exhibitions of art by individuals with disabilities are showcased each year. VSA Tennessee works with the Tennessee Performing Arts Center to have an annual showcase in the summer of children’s art. The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center works with VSA Tennessee to host an annual exhibition of art by individuals with Autism. VSA Tennessee hosts at least one other exhibition at various sites. VSA Tennessee is working to cultivate additional exhibitions online.
CVS All Kids Can Program
VSA Tennessee participates in the VSA and CVS Caremark All Kids Can…Create! programs. For these programs, VSA Tennessee works with the Tennessee School for the Blind and offers a variety of residency programs in which the children create visual and performance art. The program culminates in a public performance and exhibition.
ArtLink
VSA Tennessee formed a partnership with the Madison School to participate in the national VSA ArtLink program for international art exchange. In this program, children at the Madison School create art and then share that art with a partner school in another country.
Young Soloists
VSA Tennessee’s statewide Young Soloists Award program for performing artists, ages 25 and under, recognizes outstanding young musicians with disabilities who have exhibited exceptional talent as vocalists or instrumentalists. The top two statewide winners receive cash prizes, a performance opportunity, and a recording session.
Playwright Discovery
This statewide Playwright Discovery Program asks middle and high school students of all abilities to take a closer look at the world around them, examine how disability affects their lives and the lives of others, and express their views through the art of writing a one-act play. In March, the young playwrights submit entries to VSA Tennessee for adjudication.
Online Auction
The online auction is a fundraiser for VSA Tennessee. It is also serves as a promotional effort for artists with disabilities and arts organizations. Artists with disabilities can sell their work on the auction and VSA Tennessee receives a portion of those proceeds.
Community Art Projects
VSA Tennessee typically offers two to three additional one-time projects each year. These have involved scouts, schools, and other community groups. Last year, one such program involved the creation of a large canvas painting of a historical Little Tunnel by a special education class. The painting was presented in the State’s Senate Chambers.
(F) 202-429-0868