VSA arts of Vermont
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20 West Canal Street |
Judith Chalmer |
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Tel.: (802) 655-7772 |
Website: |
Organizational Profile:
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Full-time Staff: 2 |
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VSA arts of Vermont is dedicated to making the world of the arts accessible to Vermonters of all abilities. VSA arts of Vermont offers programs in every county of Vermont.
Programming Partners and Other Funders:
Barre City Middle School, Brenner Foundation, Burlington City Arts; Burlington College, CCTV; Champlain Community Services; Champlain Adaptive Mounted Program, Children’s Trust Fund; Committee on Temporary Shelter; Colchester High School; Community Economic Development Office; Concept 2; Fairpoint Communications, Flynn Center for the Performing Arts; Anne Slade Frey Charitable Trust; A.D.; H.O. Wheeler school, Henderson Foundation; Health Care and Rehabilitative Services; Green Mountain Self-Advocates; High Horses; HowardCenter; Imani Health Center; LLH/LHM Foundation Lincoln St., Inc; New Visions Foundation; Northern Lights Career Development Center; Ronald McDonald House Charities; Sara Holbrook Center, Seventh Generation, Shelburne Museum, Springfield Adult Day Service; St. Michael’s College, Turrell Fund, UVM Center for Disability and Community Inclusion; Vermont Agency of Human Services; Vermont Arts Council; Vermont Association of Childcare Resource and Referral Agencies; VCAM; Vermont Center for Independent Living; Vermont Coalition for Disability Rights; Vermont Community Foundation; Vermont Council of the Blind; Vermont Family Network, Vermont Parallel Justice Program; Vermont Protection and Advocacy; Vermont State Department of Education; Vermont Developmental Disabilities Council; Vermont Folklife Center; Visiting Nurses Association; plus 48 home child care providers each year
Educational Programs and Artist Residencies
High School Self Advocacy Theater Project
High School Self-Advocacy Theater uses theater games and the shared challenge of creating an original performance to give students confidence in describing their goals, solving problems, and working as a team. This program, linked to Vermont Learning Standards, will serve approximately 45 students in three high schools in Vermont.
Start with the Arts™
VSA arts of Vermont presents Start with the Arts™ at 48 home-based child care sites per year serving the most needy, most rural children in registered home childcare sites throughout the state, for 12 weeks each, with activities linked to Vermont’s Early Learning Standards.
Home in the Arts
Home in the Arts is an after-school program for children with housing challenges. This year Home in the Arts will be presented at the COTS homeless shelter in Burlington, at H.O. Wheeler School for a class of newly arrived New American children, at Barre City Middle School with a poetry residency, and at the Family Room of the Visiting Nurses Association in Burlington’s Old North End. This year Home in the Arts will also include VSA Arts of Vermont’s newest program, bringing arts activities to children receiving therapeutic horseback riding lessons at four barns across Vermont.
High School Self-Advocacy Theater Project
High School Self-Advocacy Theater uses theater games and the shared challenge of creating an original performance to give students confidence in describing their goals, solving problems, and working as a team. This program, linked to Vermont Learning Standards, assists students in preparing for independent living after high school and will serve approximately 15 students at Colchester High School.
Can Do Arts
Can Do Arts is a year-round series of visual, musical, and performing arts workshops for adults with developmental disabilities. Each eight-week workshop culminates in a public performance or exhibition designed to increase community inclusion and create public awareness about the talents of adults with developmental disabilities. Can Do Arts is also offered to seniors in adult day centers such as Springfield Adult Day Services.
Professional Development and Technical Assistance
Start with the Arts™ Training Program
VSA arts of Vermont conducts experiential training for 48 child care providers each year. In addition to on-site mentoring weekly for 12 weeks, each participating registered home childcare provider receives six hours of instruction linked to Vermont’s required Core Competencies for Early Childhood Educators, a copy of the manual Start with the Arts at Home, books, art supplies, and a toolkit with local resources.
Workshops for Teaching Artists
VSA Arts of Vermont conducts daylong training sessions for teaching artists three times a year. Workshops are designed to increase the ability of teaching artists to include all learners and all expressive and perceptive abilities.
Cultural Access and Inclusive Arts Services
Ticket Distribution
VSA Arts of Vermont distributes tickets to venues statewide including the Flynn Center, Weston Playhouse, Dartmouth’s Hopkins Center, and at museums such as the Shelburne Museum.
Access Development
VSA Arts of Vermont will develop multiple venues for performers with developmental disabilities through performances of the Awareness Theater Company. Venues include theaters, community centers, and, increasingly, television and video as Awareness Theater Company develops its media-producing capacity. This year Bill’s Bill, a movie about the history of special education and advocacy, will be screened at 50 locations through the state.
Public Awareness and Outreach
New Web Site Launch
VSA Arts of Vermont will launch a new Web site with complete accessibility, the capacity to accept donations online, and an electronic newsletter service.
Bill’s Bill: Advocacy from the Past into the Future
The movie Bill’s Bill is the culmination of a two-year project by VSA arts of Vermont to honor the great courage and hard work it took to make special education a reality in Vermont and to motivate future generations of advocates. This story of real people who are students, parents, legislators, and educators was first presented by VSA arts of Vermont as a stage play with theater class participants from Champlain Community Services. The movie contains a new version of the play, plus auxiliary chapters in which individuals depicted in the play reflect on their lives today and inspire a new generation.
Festival Workshops
Festival workshops are activities led by VSA arts of Vermont volunteers at various community festivals, usually in Chittenden County, including the Imani Health Center, Sara Holbrook Community Center, and others. This year VSA arts of Vermont will partner with the Vermont Arts Council, Vermont Center for Independent Living, and the Vermont Folklife Council to present artists at a one-day conference designed to increase public awareness about the lives of people with disabilities.
Exhibitions
Artwork produced in Can Do Arts classes is displayed and sold at various venues, with proceeds going to the artists.
(F) 202-429-0868