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.
Programming Partners and Other Funders:
The Freeman Foundation; LZ Francis Foundation; Green Mountain Fund; Vermont Community Foundation; New Visions Foundation; Samuel & Rae Eckman Foundation; Fanny Lienhard Foundation; Brooks Family Foundation; Howard Community Services; Burlington Champlain Vocational Services; Colchester Committee on Temporary Shelter; Alburg Library; Vermont Secretary of State’s Office; Casey Family Services; Vermont Department of Education; Fieldstone Foundation; Frances R. Dewing Foundation; Anne Slade Frey Trust; Vermont Arts Council; various educational and human service providers across the state including: Head Start Programs; Child Care Centers; Parent-Child and Family Development Centers; Home Care Providers; Essential Early Education Programs; Elementary Schools; and High Schools.
State Programs
Educational Programs and Artist Residencies
High School Self-Advocacy Theater Project
This project will use theatre to assist approximately 50 high school students with developmental disabilities per year to develop the self advocacy skills needed to successfully implement the “transition from school to adulthood” goals in their Individual Educational Plans (IEPs). The Theater Project will be instructed and coordinated by Emily Anderson and arts instructors trained through VSA arts of Vermont Professional Development and Technical Assistance Program in the use of this curriculum. Participants in this project will be students in each school’s “Life Skills” class. This year the program will be expanded to serve four new high schools.
Start with the Arts
With 25 sites serving approximately 1,500 children, VSA arts of Vermont’s Start with the Arts program is performed in Grand Isle, Franklin, Lamoille, Washington, and Orleans Counties. Each site receives 30 hour-long workshops that use the arts and children’s literature to help children prepare to learn to read. In addition, this year a network of home-based chilD.C.are providers will be established to further focus Start with The Arts on the most rural children who have the least access to arts-based literacy programs.
Home in the Arts
Home in the Arts is a 30-week after-school arts program for children whose families are homeless or whose families are residents of public housing projects. The Home in the Arts program provides elementary school-aged children in Burlington’s Old North End neighborhood with inclusive arts workshops twice a week to increase the self-esteem of participating children.
Start with the Arts Training Program
The training component of this program will be held in conjunction with Vermont’s ‘America Reads’ efforts and through the Vermont State Department of Education’s Early Education Centers. VSA arts of Vermont will provide intensive trainings in the Start with the Arts curriculum to groups of parents, pre-school edcuators, homecare providers, and daycare and childcare center personnel at each site.
Professional Development and Technical Assistance
High School Self-Advocacy Theater
This year three new theatre arts instructors will be trained in the use of the High School Self-Advocacy Theater curriculum, authored by VSA arts’ theater director, Emily Anderson. Training includes the integration of curriculum elements with Vermont State standards for Individual Education Plans and standards for “successful transition to adult living.” In addition, teachers in special education classes where High School Self-Advocacy Theater is presented, learn the curriculum as the course proceeds.
Start With The Arts
Each site receives a two-hour training session in the Start with the Arts curriculum. Additional training programs are done throughout the year for homecare providers in counties that VSA arts of Vermont’s New Visions Dance Project program doesn’t currently reach. These training programs are geared toward teachers, special education personnel, schools, administrators, and parents.
Cultural Access and Inclusive Arts Services
Vermont Arts Access Initiative
The Vermont Arts Access Initiative is a partnership between VSA Arts of Vermont, the Vermont Arts Council and the Vermont Center for Independent Living. The goal of this partnership is to promote equally rich arts and cultural activities. VSA arts of Vermont’s current focus on accessibility is the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts in Burlington, which will be enhanced by VSA arts membership on the Program Committee of the Flynn Center. Initiatives with the Flemming Museum and the Lyric Theater also focus on accessibility.
Vermont Audio Description Program
VSA Arts of Vermont and collaborating agencies seek to bring audio description to Vermont by recruiting approximately fifteen volunteer audio describers and conducting two three-day audio description training workshops in conjunction with the Royal Tyler Theater and the Weston Playhouse. In addition, VSA arts of Vermont and its partners provide further assistance coordinating audio description services using local audio describers at eight performances throughout Vermont and distributing audio description equipment to local arts and disability organizations.
Public Awareness and Outreach
The Awareness Theater Company
Started as part of a VSA Arts of Vermont theater class, the Awareness Theater Company (ATC) comprised of adults with developmental disabilities, is directed by Emily Anderson. Its mission is to bring to the public the vast array of life experience, viewpoints, and artistic excellence of adults with developmental disabilities. The ATC performs approximately fifteen times a year throughout Vermont. This year, The Awareness Theater Company will present “Bill’s Bill” on the history of special education in Vermont and the success of people with disabilities and their families in participating in the civic process.
Can Do Arts
Can Do Arts is a year-round series of visual, music and performing arts workshops for adults with developmental disabilities conducted in conjunction with two local mental health agencies in Chittenden County. Each eight-week workshop results in a public performance or exhibition and all workshops are integrated with members of the general public. Can Do Arts will expand to one additional county this year.
(F) 202-429-0868