About VSA Minnesota
Our Mission
VSA Minnesota's mission is to create a community where people with disabilities can learn through, participate in and access the arts.
Our History
VSA Minnesota, founded in 1986, is an affiliate of VSA in Washington D.C. which was founded in 1974 by Jean Kennedy Smith. VSA Minnesota is a non-profit agency that provides programs and services that make the arts available and accessible to Minnesota people with disabilities.
Our Values
VSA Minnesota is dedicated to ensuring that music, theater, dance, creative writing, and visual and media arts play a part in the lives of all people. In addition, VSA Minnesota believes that experiences in the arts enhance personal growth, increase educational achievement and enable career success. Participation in the arts promotes acceptance and inclusion in all aspects of life.
Programs and Services
Artist Services
Artists with disabilities are assisted in forwarding their arts pursuits through several grant programs, workshops, and both a statewide directory of artists with disabilities and a direct link to one of the largest Internet directories of artists with disabilities in the world.
Direct Arts Programs
Arts festivals, performances, artist residencies, exhibits and other types of arts events are produced throughout the year. These activities enable people with disabilities to participate in art forms of all kinds.
Accessibility to the Arts
VSA Minnesota works with arts organizations throughout the state to assist them in making their programs and services accessible to people with disabilities. The Access to Theater program encourages theatre and dance companies to provide accommodations for audience members who are deaf or blind.
Education & Awareness
VSA Minnesota provides direct arts programs in selected school settings, assists in disability culture activities, presents arts access awards on an annual basis and promotes increased awareness of disability concerns through a newsletter, web site and e-mail listserv.
What is it that VSA Minnesota does?
- Visual art exhibits by people with disabilities.
- Training workshops for teachers in special education settings.
- Assistance to theaters in making their performances accessible to people who are deaf or blind.
- Artist-in-residency programs for schools & residential centers.
- Arts festivals for people of all ages with a disability.
- Newsletters, artist directories and information via the Internet that connects Minnesota people with disabilities who are interested in the arts.
- And many other programs and services that assist people with disabilities in becoming more involved in arts activities within their homes & communities.
Board of Directors - Fiscal Year 2010
- President - Susan Warner
- Brooklyn Center
- Marketing/Communications Senior Manager, Courage Center
- Vice President - Gail Burke
- Woodbury
- Human Resources Director, Tubman Family Alliance
- Treasurer - Wade Karli
- Faribault
- Retired Special Education Administrator
- Secretary - Jack P. Roberts
- Saint Paul
- Attorney, The Law Firm of Roberts & Stotzheim, PLLC
- Cathy Carlson
- Wayzata
- Connie Fullmer
- Hopkins
- Artist Business Manager
- Anne Peacock
- Eden Prairie
- Interim COO, CommonBond Communities
- Mark C. Siegel
- Minneapolis
- Policy Consultant, Maintain Independence & Employment, Minnesota Department of Human Services
- Carolmarie Steinegger
- Plymouth
- Systems Finance Manager, General Mills, Golden Valley
- Todd Stump
- Minneapolis
- Frederick "Rick" Vogt
- Lakeville
- Franchise Placement and Business Coach
VSA Minnesota Staff
VSA Minnesota
The Cowles Center
528 Hennepin Avenue, Suite # 305
Minneapolis MN 55403
Voice: 612-332-3888
Fax: 612-305-0132
Email: info@vsamn.org
TTD/TTY: 612-332-3888
Greater MN TTD/TTY: 800-801-3883
Who does the work at VSA Minnesota?
Hi, I am Craig Dunn and I have been the Executive Director here at VSA Minnesota since August of 1992. Prior to that I was a member of the Board of Directors for four years and served as the board’s President from 1989 until July of '92. My background is in both music therapy and music education having worked primarily with students with developmental disabilities in the Elmbrook School District in Wisconsin and the Anoka-Hennepin District in Minnesota for 13 years before taking over here. I have directed the Merry Music Makers, a 70-voice choir of cognitively disabled adults through Anoka-Hennepin's Community Education program since 1985 and I enjoy singing, playing guitar and piano when I can. I am also a member of the Minnesota Citizens for the Arts board. Listen to Craig's Introduction.
Jeg heter Jon Skaalen. I have been ensconced in the royal purple Program Coordinator chair at VSA Minnesota since the dog days of 1999. Between bags of popcorn, bars of chocolate, and cups of strong coffee, I coordinate our Access to Performing Arts program, Arts Access newsletter and website information, ADA Access Improvement Grants for Metro Arts Organizations, and other accessibility technical assistance such as ADA access plans and resources. In a previous life, I edited misplaced apostrophes for the newspaper in Montevideo and for newsletters of PACER Center and the Minnesota Association of Community Theatres. As a volunteer I serve on the boards of the American Association of Community Theatre and the Bridge Theatre in Stillwater, and assist the Minnesota Fringe Festival with its annual access services. I love attending plays, am writing some of my own, and am fattening up a dozen goldfish for a future fish fry at my American Prairie style house in Stillwater. Stop by sometime! Listen to Jon's Introduction.
Hello, my name is Jenea Rewertz-Targui and I am the new Arts in Education Coordinator. I will manage VSA Minnesotaʼs artist residencies, the Artist Ambassador program, professional development opportunities and visual art exhibits. Previously, I worked at the East Side Arts Council for two years as a Program Coordinator. I have been teaching visual arts classes for the Youth and Family Programs for the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Minnesota Center for Book Arts since 2003. I hold a BFA with an emphasis in printmaking and BS in Art Education from Bemidji State University. In my spare time I like creating artwork using a variety of media, reading and spending time outdoors. Listen to Jenea's Introduction.
Hello! I am Laura Ahola-Young and I am the Artist Services Coordinator - a new position at VSA Minnesota. I work with individual artist inquiries as well as our annual Career Advancements Grants, Arts Access Awards and the Artists with Disabilities Alliance. I look forward to traveling across Minnesota to meet with the many talented artists that we serve. Previously, I was an Adjunct Instructor of Art at Saint Cloud State University, worked as an Educational Assistant in Special Education in Watertown, Minnesota, and have volunteered as a Destination Imagination Coach for seven years. I am a practicing artist, primarily a painter. I have an MFA in painting from San Jose State University and a BFA, also in painting, from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. In other time available in my life I love gardening, reading and learning. Listen to Laura's Introduction.
VSA National
VSA Headquarters, Washington D.C.
818 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Suite 600
Washington, D.C. 20006
(202) 628-2800 Voice
(800) 933-8721 Toll Free
(202) 429-0868 Fax
(202) 737-0645 TDD
VSA is an International organization that creates learning opportunities through the arts for people with disabilities.
