VSA Texas
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3710 Cedar Street, #7 |
Celia Hughes |
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Tel.: (512) 454-9912 |
Website: |
Organizational Profile:
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Full-time Staff: 4 |
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VSA Texas works to create a world where people with disabilities learn through, participate in, and enjoy the arts by providing inclusive arts education programs and services. This organization is dedicated to the mission of reducing barriers to the arts by promoting the creative power in people with disabilities. VSA Texas works to ensure that all individuals with disabilities who aspire to careers in the arts be given the opportunity to develop appropriate skills; enjoy complete access to cultural facilities and activities; receive instructional practices that are inclusive; and most importantly, that all programs and services enhance public awareness of the valuable contributions people with disabilities make to the fabric of our society. VSA Texas uses a collaborative model to deliver programs in four core areas, and since 2001, the organization and its partners have created successful programs in every major region of the state. Most VSA Texas programs are conducted on-site at schools and facilities provided by community partners.
Programming Partners and Other Funders:
National Endowment for the Arts; Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities; Texas Commission on the Arts; City of Austin Cultural Affairs Division; The Meadows Foundation; Austin Community Foundation; Applied Materials; Topfer Family Foundation; 3M; Down Syndrome Association of Central Texas; Austin Independent School District; San Antonio Arts in Education Task Force; Knowbility, Inc.; Austin Mayors Committee for People with Disabilities; Benbrook City Council; Fort Worth Independent School District; Austin Visual Arts Association; Center for Educator Development in Fine Arts (CEDFA); San Antonio Independent School District; Dreams Fulfilled Through Music; Southwest School of Art and Craft; Austin Children’s Museum; Art League of Houston; Museum of Fine Art Houston; Texas State Independent Living Council; Texas Advocates Peer to Peer; Education Service Centers; The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum; Austin State Supported Living Center; San Antonio State Supported Living center; M.E.C.A, Houston
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 for early childhood educators. Teaching artists from five artistic disciplines (visual, drama, dance/movement, music, and literature) are placed in classrooms for a minimum of five hours per session. Classrooms include preschool dual language and special education, as well as middle school special education. Through grants and fee-for-service contracts, Arts Alive! activities are currently underway in five schools in Austin Independent School District (ISD), two schools in Fort Worth ISD (Benbrook) and four schools in San Antonio ISD.
Accessible Arts in the Schools
Expressive arts therapists work with teachers in special education classrooms in the Austin Independent School District 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. VSA Texas is certified as a provider of internships for the Accessible Arts program by The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work.
Professional Development and Technical Assistance
Artworks: Creative Industries
Professional opportunities for emerging artists with disabilities include regional skill-building workshops, as well as individualized support such as opportunities to access classes and professional exhibitions. Artworks Network assists emerging artists in six regions (Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Harlingen/McAllen/Corpus Christi, Austin, and El Paso) to organize community support groups that build upon information gained at the regional workshops. Creative Industries is exploring opportunities to assist emerging artists in self-employment and other microenterprise activities through mentorships and gallery experience. Dream Big, one component of the Artworks program, is aimed at transitioning youth and adults with disabilities interested in the arts for creative expression and focuses on classes and workshops that build creativity and social skills.
Start with the Arts™
Professional Development workshops for general education and fine arts teachers are conducted regionally and on demand. Workshops feature an introduction to inclusive teaching strategies, a review of early childhood education, and hands-on activities from the Start with the Arts™ teacher’s resource. Led by experienced arts educators and teaching artists, participants are encouraged to rediscover their own creativity and learn practical tools for sharing the joy of art with all children. Start with the Arts is fully aligned to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills in all subject areas, pre-kindergarten through third grade. VSA Texas is a provider of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits in early childhood education, fine arts, and special education.
Cultural Access and Inclusive Arts Services
Cultural Access Initiative
Access professionals provide workshops and individual consultations on disability awareness, staff and volunteer training, and program assessments to help increase accessibility to the arts. Technical assistance includes captioning, Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART), American Sign Language interpretation, Universal Design in the Performing Arts, and inclusive program models. Audio description is offered on a regular basis at Austin-area theaters, and museums. VSA Texas partners with arts and disability organizations to produce access tracks at statewide conferences designed to meet the needs of the specific arts discipline or organizational focus.
The Art of Audio Description
This is a five-video training series with workbooks that explain the principles and techniques of audio description—the delivery of visual information in theater, dance, movies, art exhibitions, and other art events to people who are blind or have low vision. Produced with funding from VSA Texas, Texas Commission for the Blind, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, these videos are available for use by any arts organization interested in expanding their patron base.
Public Awareness and Outreach
Access Gallery
Access Gallery, in Austin, opened in January 2009 as a space to show visual art by Texans with disabilities. It is also a location for classes, workshops, open mic nights, writing classes and events in all artistic disciplines.
Performances and 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.
Actual Lives Austin
The original company founded by deaf artist Terry Galloway, Actual Lives Austin, establishes a theatrical presence for people with disabilities by exploring the experiences of disability through personal narratives. These narratives are then interwoven into a performance, giving a voice to individuals whose stories frequently go unheard. Actual Lives Austin offers ongoing writing and performance workshops to adults with disabilities, who then perform for college groups, summer camps, corporate trainings, and other community events. Several public theatrical performances are scheduled every year and the company has performed in Austin, Dallas, and Washington, D.C. Visit www.actualives.org for more information.
Festivals
Art in the Park is an inclusive arts celebration that takes place every April in Austin. Follow the Dream, an annual event in November, is a community-based showcase of visual artwork by children and adults with disabilities in Tarrant County. All Kids Can is an inclusive mural-making event that happens in partnership with the State supported Living Center’s Fiesta in San Antonio.
National Program Initiatives
The International Young Soloist Program supports the professional careers of young musicians ages 25 and under. All Kids Can…Create! is a statewide call for children’s art with two pieces entered into national exhibition. The Call for Writing provides students with the opportunity to be published in an online journal.
Web site and E-news
The Web sites (www.vsatx.org and www.actualives.org) serve as a resource to artists and cultural arts organizations looking for ways to reach out to a diverse audience.
(F) 202-429-0868