What's New

Aria Stiles, a 16-year-old violinist from Apple Valley, has been chosen as one of four recipients of the 2010 VSA International Young Soloists Award. She will receive a $5,000 cash award and the opportunity to perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. on June 8, 2010, at 6:00 p.m. during the 2010 International VSA Festival (www.vsarts.org/x5992.xml). The concert will be broadcast live online at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (www.kennedy-center.org).

Stiles was chosen as one of two winners in VSA arts of Minnesota’s 2010 Young Soloists Award. In addition, Alec Sweazy, 24-year-old pianist and accordianist from Minnetonka, was chosen as the senior division Minnesota winner for his entry on piano. Both Stiles and Sweazy were awarded $100 gift cards from Schmitt Music for their selection as junior and senior state winners in January.

Stiles entered her violin performance of a portion of a Mendelssohn concerto, Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole and Monti’s Czardas. As the overall state winner, her entry was forwarded to Washington, D.C., where a committee of distinguished music professionals selected her as one of the national award recipients. The VSA International Young Soloists Award annually recognizes outstanding young musicians with disabilities and supports and encourages them in their pursuit of a career. All types of music are accepted, including country, classical, jazz, rap, rock, bluegrass, and world.

Stiles has already established herself as a formidable talent in Minnesota. The violin prodigy has been a fixture in numerous county fair talent shows and fiddle contests since she was eight years old, winning many awards and accolades. Stiles is a member of the Minnesota Young Symphonies, and she has appeared as a soloist with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra and the MacPhail Orchestra. The high school sophomore has been awarded two Gold Cups in violin and one in piano through the National Federation of Music Clubs. Stiles, who has ligamentous laxity, also enjoys taking care of animals, singing in school musicals and choirs, and playing the violin at school and church events.

To learn more about the VSA International Young Soloists Competition, including the other three international winners, go to VSA arts - Arts In Action: Young Soloists Award (www.vsarts.org/x22.xml).

Class Description

Writing Mental Illness, a class for those with mental illness who are interested in writing literature about their experiences, will take place in April and May at the Mental Health Consumer/Survivor Network of Minnesota’s Metro East, located within the Ramsey County Mental Health Clinic (Saint Paul).

"Because of Susanna Kaysen’s Girl, Interrupted, Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 'The Yellow Wallpaper,' I know that one can convey in literature the experience of having a mental illness," says Alison Bergblom Johnson, instructor of Writing Mental Illness. "In the class we will study successful works of literature with mental illness at or near their center, and each student will write a piece of literature regarding experiences with mental illness." The class will meet for two hours a week for eight weeks, culminating in a student-bound anthology and a class reading.

Dates

Monday(s), April 5 – May 24 (eight sessions).

Time & Location

5:30 PM - 7:30 PM.
1919 University Avenue W., Suite 120, Saint Paul, MN.

Costs

The cost for eight sessions is $30 per person and includes:

• 16 hours of direct instruction with this teaching artist.
• Create your own piece of literature regarding experiences with mental illness.
• A chance to bind a book including work by all participants, producing three copies for each person to take home.
• An opportunity to share written work in a class reading.

What to Submit

Please download and complete a registration form and mail along with payment of $30 by check payable to "VSA arts of Minnesota" to:
VSA arts of Minnesota
528 Hennepin Avenue S., Suite 305
Minneapolis, MN 55403

Your registration will become official only after your registration form and payment have been received.

Registration Deadline

March 29, 2010

Questions or Special Accommodations

Please call Jenea Rewertz-Targui, Arts in Education Coordinator, at 612-332-3888 ext. 3, or send an email to: jenea@vsaartsmn.org.

This class is sponsored by VSA arts of Minnesota with space made available by Milestones to Recovery, Mental Health Consumer/Survivor Network of Minnesota (www.mhcsn.org).

VSA arts of Minnesota & Augsburg College present "The Magic of Music" the 9th annual Metro Arts Festival 2010!

Program Description

Over 100 middle school students identified as having developmental cognitive disabilities and peers will be treated to a magic show, featuring the extraordinary magician, Jeffrey Smith as the Amazing Jeffo (www.amazingjeffo.com). Participants will be engaged in hands-on sessions exploring visual art, music and movement guided with Augsburg Music Therapy students.  Amazing Jeffo will lead a session demonstrating three magic tricks that participants can use to amaze their friends and family!

The Metro Arts Festival has been made possible through collaboration between VSA arts of Minnesota and Augsburg Music Therapy Department.  This is a free festival offered to enhance exposure to the arts for students with disabilities within the metro area. View photos from last year’s "Moving and Grooving" Metro Arts Festival 2009. For more information regarding Augsburg Music Therapy Department, visit: Augsburg College - Music Therapy (www.augsburg.edu/musictherapy).

Time & Location

Friday April 16, 2010, 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM.
Augsburg Music Department, 2211 Riverside Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota

About Amazing Jeffo

Jeffrey Smith is a magician who happens to be blind. He uses magic, mixed with a healthy dose of comedy, to educate his audiences about abilities and promotes a respect and appreciation of all of our differences. For more information visit: Amazing Jeffo (www.amazingjeffo.com).

Eligibility

Any metro area middle school is eligible to attend this festival. Activities are designed for students identified as having developmental cognitive disabilities. Please limit student registration to 25 or less per school. Registration is first come, first serve.

Deadline

Wednesday, March 31, 2010 or until registration is filled.

Costs

This is a free event open to metro area middle schools.

What to Submit

Schools interested in attending this festival are asked to complete the Metro Arts Festival Registration Form and send to VSA arts of Minnesota via mail, fax or email.

Seven Minnesota artists have been awarded grants of $1,250 each through the VSA arts of Minnesota Career Advancement Grant Program. The 14th annual competitive grant, funded by the Jerome Foundation, recognizes excellence by Minnesota artists with disabilities. Selected from 53 applicants, the grantees are:

Bridget Riversmith, Duluth, Visual Art - painting and animation
Mark Davison, Minneapolis, Visual Art - ceramics, sculpture
Naomi Cohn, Saint Paul, Writing - poetry
Alec Sweazy, Minnetonka, Performance - accordion
Loretta Bebeau, Minneapolis, Visual Art - painting, multi-media
Amy Salloway, Minneapolis, Performance
Christine Sikorski, Minneapolis, Writing - poetry

The grants were awarded following a jurying process conducted by individuals with extensive backgrounds in the written, visual and performing arts. They looked at samples of the artists’ work, proposed projects, resumes and artist statements. Members of the panels included:

Howard Quednau, Minneapolis, painter, Associate Professor, Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
Adu Gindy, Minneapolis and Duluth, Painter, Professor Emeritus of Art, University of Minnesota, Duluth.
Roald Molberg, Duluth, Ceramicist, 2008 VSA arts MN Grant Recipient.
Mary Sullivan-Rickey, Saint Paul, Painter, Arts Advocate.
Emily Newman, Sartell, Assistant Professor of Art, Art History, Saint Cloud State University.
Kim Hines, Minneapolis, Actress, Playwright, Director, Arts Mentor and Coach.
Dr. Peter Kizilos-Clift, Excelsior, Freelance Writer, American History.
Rebecca Dosch- Brown, Poet, Flash Fiction Writer, Book Maker, Disability Advocate.
Tamara Ober, Minneapolis, Dance, Theater, Performer, Zenon Dance.
Ted Sherarts, Saint Cloud, Professor Emeritus of Art, Saint Cloud State University.

Bios of Recipients of 2009 VSA arts of Minnesota Career Advancement $1,250 Grants

Mark Davison

"Adversity gave me a strength and insight that I don’t think I would have gotten without this disease so I guess it is true that every cloud has a silver lining" - Mark Davison

Exhibiting as ceramicist since 2003, Mark Davison’s collection of work captures his desire to reflect his thoughts and feelings of illness, religion and death. Mark has been HIV positive for 23 years and was also diagnosed with muscle myopothy as a result of medications. Small, intricate and precious, his work uses found and discarded objects for molds. What was has lost its usefulness has been given a second chance, an "after-life" in surprising and invented ways in small, earthen objects at the hands of this remarkable ceramicist. Mark will use his grant money to continue his study of burial urns, reliquaries, shrines and burial masks from many cultures. He will be able to purchase more materials to create new bodies of work and pursue new exhibition opportunities.

Mark has exhibited at the Northern Clay Center, Saint Paul, the Northrup King Building, Minneapolis, Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis and the Loring Playhouse, Minneapolis. He won First Place at the Minnesota State Fair in 2009 in the ceramics category.

Amy Salloway

"I love writing and performing autobiographical stories about human vulnerability, about mistakes and embarrassments, about the ways in which I’ve been an outsider and a misfit and a maker of terrible choices, and to look at those experiences through the lens of humor" - Amy Salloway

Through personal storytelling, clever writing and funny, warm performances, Amy is an artist who reaches your heart immediately. She allows you to enter with her into that place between unstoppable laughter and heartache in her brave, gritty and inspiring solo performances. Past performances have included: "Does this Monologue Make Me Look Fat?", "Circumference" and "So Kiss me already, Herschel Gertz!" She won Best Comedy and Best Original Script at the Columbus (Ohio) National GLBT Theatre Festival (2006) and Critic’s pick of the Fringe at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival (2005). She is a contributing writer/performer for Minnesota Public Radio’s "In the Loop."

Amy is ready to give up her title as her own booking agent and plans to use grant funds to find her replacement while attending "entertainment trade" conferences to promote and increase her stage performances.

Bridget Riversmith

"Artistic expression is the part of me that has not been deconstructed, deprogrammed, or disabled" - Bridget Riversmith

Over 27 years of treatment for mental illness, Bridget Riversmith says she has lost a lot. However, a conference on the Art of Employment five years ago inspired her and put her to work "writing goals and making a commitment to strengthening and employing this core self."

Her artistic focus gravitates to dreams and stories - "grasping at fleeting impressions and the residual greasy fingerprints left on my internal lens from straining to catch even more elusive things perched on my periphery." She uses techniques such as "unintentional sleep-deprivation, mistakeology, post-traumatic stress, wit, and mostly water-based media, wood and metal as tools of divination to extract imagery from the collective unconscious."

Bridget is in the process of realizing a lifelong dream of becoming an animator. She will be using the grant funds to dedicate herself to a new animated film which she will submit to film festivals worldwide.

Bridget’s exhibitions in the last few years have been extensive – from the MacRostie Art Center in Grand Rapids and Duluth Art Institute to the North Dakota Museum of Art and Keki Gallery in Budapest, Hungary, and many galleries in the Twin Cities, including Intermedia Arts, Outsiders and Others, Minneapolis Foundation, Rogue Buddha Gallery, etc. She has earned awards for her visual art from Artability at Apollo, Sister Kenny, Pathways to Employment poster contest and the Convergence Convention Art Show in Bloomington. She is one of the founders of the Arrowhead Alliance of Artists with Disabilities.

Loretta Bebeau

"My role as an artist is to stir things up, make new connections, and present them to the community. My art is a defiant act, even when it’s pretty" - Loretta Bebeau

Painter and Adjunct Instructor of drawing at Minneapolis Community College, Loretta Bebeau is an artist driven to create challenges for herself, willing to explore new mediums for her work as well as new venues to exhibit.

Loretta uses sheetrock as her canvas onto which she paints and stencils letters. Her new work will project video onto these already engaging, gridded surfaces. The invented play between "vowels and consonants" will allow "the hearing community to see hearing irregularities in order to understand how better to communicate with the hearing impaired." Loretta has researched Asian healing philosophies and "realized the nine-square grid is important. The grid overlaps with the game (used on all continents) Tic-Tac-Toe." For Loretta, Tic-Tac-Toe represents the game of life and is a stunningly accurate way of representing confusion, memory and miscommunication. Her work is contemporary, pushing the viewer to make connections between the aesthetic and real possibilities of entering someone else’s reality.

Her exhibition record is impressive, including many solo shows in University galleries such as Hamline and the University of Minnesota. Recently she was a mentor for WARM. She will be in the 2010 Smithsonian Institution, Revealing Culture; VSA International Juried show in Washington D.C. Loretta also holds an MA from Hamline University.

Christine Sikorski

"I want people to find what they need from my work… it’s hard to do if they can’t find the work itself" - Christine Sikorski

This is "the year of the chapbook" for poet Christine Sikorski. Christine will publish her collections of poems titled "How the Earth Once Felt" with funds from this year’s VSA Career Advancement Grant. Having an extensive publishing career in collections, including Artworld Quarterly, Avocet and the Great River Review, it is clear that she is ready for her own chapbook, with an audience ready and anxious to read her collection.

Beautiful and moving, Christine’s poetry draws you in. She has been recognized with a 2000 Minnesota State Arts Board Grant, an award from the Academy of American Poets in 1995 and a Loft Mentor Series Award in 1992. Also a prose writer, and mother, Christine suffers from Psoriatic Arthritis, the management "of which entails considerable time, energy, and money". She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Minnesota.

Alec Sweazy

"Music is my passion! I have worked hard to become an accomplished musician on piano, accordion and voice. I have enjoyed performing for all kinds of audiences and have won many awards. Even though there will always be many challenges in my life, I know that my amazing musical ability will take me far" - Alec Sweazy

The youngest of the grant recipients, Alec is a talented and dedicated musician. Alec was a recipient of a VSA arts of Minnesota’s 2009 Young Soloist Award, the February 2005 "Artist of the Month" for KFAI (Minneapolis/Saint Paul) Disabled and Proud program and has appeared on 60 Minutes, Nightline and 60 Minutes II.

Born with Williams syndrome, Alec plans to use the grant funds to upgrade to a professional-grade accordion and to work with a mentor to improve his performance/stage presence. An upgraded accordion will offer Alec "limitless combinations of orchestral and accordion sounds." The upgrade will also be lightweight and portable, allowing Alec to prevent future joint and fatigue problems. He will also experiment with his own arrangements on the new accordion. He is a 2004 graduate of Musictech College (now McNally Smith College of Music) in Saint Paul.

Naomi Cohn

"I write to explore the truths of the world as I experience it in all its cruelty, gorgeousness and dark humor. My subject matter varies; I began writing poetry in exploration of the personal - my own progressive vision loss and watching a beloved parent diminished through dementia. I also return again and again to the larger natural world around us. In these poems I often take an interest in how creatures other than our human selves might experience that world; I also use the personae of other creatures to reflect on our human society" - Naomi Cohn

Poet Naomi Cohn claims to be a "word nerd." Even so, Naomi’s gift for words is
strong and apparent in her poetry. She is currently working on publishing her collection of poetry. In past poems, she has explores the subject of memory and vision. She plans to use the grant funds for a writing retreat at Edenfred in Madison, Wisconsin. There, she will explore traditional forms of poetry, read contemporary poetry and "craft 10-15 new poems that will form the core of a new manuscript."

Naomi has been published in the Star Tribune, Fourth River and Main Channel Voices. She was a recipient of a 2006 Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant in Poetry and was a SASE/Jerome finalist in 2007. Her recent work includes The Mermaid’s Corpse, a collection of 50 poems and Nectar and Eternity, a chapbook of 15 poems about insects. Naomi has a BA from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

The Metropolitan Regional Arts Council has designated $220,000 for VSA arts of Minnesota to award to Twin Cities arts groups to make arts programming and activities more accessible to people with disabilities.
 
This funding, made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, will help nonprofit arts groups in the seven-county metropolitan area with budgets under $4,460,000 make building and program enhancements to improve accessibility.  "Arts organizations have demonstrated great awareness of the need to be accessible, but some of the specialized equipment available today is often too expensive for a smaller arts group," explained MRAC Executive Director Jeff Prauer.

VSA arts of Minnesota and MRAC have a long history of working together to make arts activities accessible. In the mid-1990s the two organizations created ArtTown, a guide to Twin Cities arts organizations that included specific accessibility information for people with disabilities.

MRAC has been a key provider of funding for smaller Twin Cities arts organizations, and one of its six criteria for grant proposals is Accessibility. MRAC created an Arts Accessibility Planning Guide (PDF), which is available on its website. MRAC also operates an Emergency Accessibility grant program for unforeseen project costs related to access for persons with disabilities.

VSA arts of Minnesota has provided Access to Performing Arts assistance of funding, resources and publicity to help organizations offer events with ASL interpreting, audio description or captioning. It also offers annual awards highlighting arts accessibility achievements, career advancement grants for artists with disabilities, artists-in-residence for schools, and other programs to help make the arts more a part of the lives of people with disabilities. "The people at VSA arts of Minnesota are widely regarded as the experts in this field," said Prauer. "They know and understand the barriers that exist to full participation in the arts for people with disabilities and are therefore the perfect partners for this program."

VSA Executive Director Craig Dunn says, "We have valued MRAC's innovation and thoughtfulness in distributing state arts funding.  We look forward to this opportunity to provide accessible arts experiences for an even greater number of people with disabilities by opening even more doors to arts facilities and programs."

The priority of these grants is to support activities that have the potential for significant or long-term impact in involving more people with disabilities as participants or patrons in arts programs. The grants are not intended for one-time activities such as a sign language interpreter or a Braille program for one play, but to make a difference over a longer period of time. Grantees must report measurable outcomes of projects.

Minnesota nonprofit arts organizations in Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott and Washington counties are eligible.

Download the grant guidelines and application here. For a mailed or emailed copy, or other information about the new grant program, contact VSA arts of Minnesota at 612-332-3888 voice/tty ext. 2 or access@vsaartsmn.org.

ADA Access Improvement Grant Information Meeting Locations

Dakota

Saturday, February 27, 11:00 AM at Wentworth Public Library, 199 East Wentworth Avenue, West Saint Paul (just east of Robert Street, on the north side of Wentworth Avenue), phone: 651-554-6800; Website: Wentworth Library, West Saint Paul.

Tuesday, March 2, 7:00 PM at Lakeville Heritage Library, 20085 Heritage Drive, Lakeville (same building as Dakota County License Center, adjacent to Lakeville City Hall), phone: 952-891-0360; Website: Heritage Library, Lakeville.

Scott

Saturday, February 27, 1:30 PM at New Prague Library, 400 Main Street E., New Prague (at intersection with Lincoln Avenue), phone: 952-758-2391; Website: New Prague Library.

Washington

Monday, March 1, 1:30 PM at ArtReach Alliance, 224 N. 4th Street, Stillwater (accessible entrance on Mulberry Street), phone: 651-439-1465, Website: ArtReach Alliance.

Hennepin

Monday, March 1, 4:00 PM at Hennepin Center for the Arts, 528 Hennepin #502, Minneapolis; phone: 612-332-3888; Website: Artspace USA at Hennepin Center for the Arts.

Ramsey

Wednesday, March 3, 10:30 AM at Rondo Public Library, 461 N. Dale Street, Saint Paul (library and parking ramp open at 10:00), phone: 651-266-7400; Website: Rondo Community Outreach Library, Saint Paul.

Anoka

Wednesday, March 3, 5:00 PM at Crooked Lake Branch Library, 11440 Crooked Lake Boulevard, Coon Rapids (north of the Family Center Mall, near Anoka-Ramsey Community College), phone: 763-576-5972; Website: Crooked Lake Branch Library.

Wednesday, March 3, 6:30 PM at Columbia Heights Public Library, 820 40th Avenue NE, Columbia Heights (2 blocks west of Central, 3 blocks from the Heights Theatre), phone: 763-706-3690; Website: Columbia Heights Public Library.

The next Artists with Disabilities Alliance Meetings

Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM - Classroom to be announced.
Our facilitator will be Alison Bergblom Johnson.

Location:

Minneapolis College of Art & Design, 2501 Stevens Avenue S. The main MCAD building is next to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts & the Children's Theatre. There is a free parking ramp off 3rd Avenue S., and accessible parking off Stevens & 25th. Come early and view art exhibits at MIA or MCAD!

Description:

• Who we are: Artists with disabilities are invited to these informal networking meetings. Writers, visual artists, performers and other artists are welcome to share your interests and talents, support one another's work, and advocate for increased opportunities for all.
• AWDA Mission: A diverse community dedicated to the support, mentorship and promotion of artists with disabilities. Creating a presence through artistic expression.
• Introductions: Meetings typically start by having each participant share briefly what is going well in your art life, what is difficult, and what support you would like from the group.
• Business: TBA.
• Art-Sharing Time: bring a sample of your art – visual art, writing, music, etc.!
• AWDA info: 612-332-3888, email: laura@vsaartsmn.org; or Artists with Disabilities Alliance (AWDA) (www.Angelfire.com/mn3/awda).
• Fragrance-Free: Please do not wear fragrances, so all can participate.

2010 Open Flow Forum - First Wednesdays

Visual Artists, Performers, Musicians and Poets

The Artists With Disabilities Alliance (AWDA), an organization of artists with physical and mental disabilities, calls upon artists of all media to participate in the 2010 Open Flow Forum series.

Artists with and without disabilities, emerging or established, working in any media are encouraged to bring samples of their artwork to share and discuss at the Open Flow Forum the first Wednesday of each month (February-April) at 7:00 PM at the Carleton Artist Lofts Community Room, 2285 University Avenue, Saint Paul. The forums are fragrance-free, and accommodations (like ASL interpreters) can be provided if requested at least a week in advance.

Where to go: The main entrance to Carleton Artist Lofts is off Charles Street, one block north of University Avenue between Carleton and Hampden Streets. Please park on Charles Street, not in the residents' lot. The entry is well-lit. If no one is around to open the security door, dial 110 in the entryway. The Community Room is straight ahead.

Schedule Details:

Open Flow Forum, Wednesday, March 3, 2010, 7:00 PM:
Share Your Art: At this Open Flow Forum all emerging artists with and without disabilities are invited to share artwork, poetry, a song - whatever you have created recently! We’ll see, listen, discuss, support.

Open Flow Forum, Wednesday, April 7, 2010, 7:00 PM:
Featured artist: Alison Bergblom Johnson will perform her writing related to the subject of mental illness and art. About herself as an artist, Johnson says: "I perform my work and teach creative writing… However, I don’t write stand-up comedy, songs, or anything about rocket science…"

Interested in the Arts?

VSA arts of Minnesota invites participation of arts-interested young people ages 15-22 in Rochester, the Twin Cities, central and northeast Minnesota in the Arts Mentoring Project, aimed to increase career opportunities in the arts for Minnesota youth with disabilities.  It is funded by Pathways to Employment, a division of the Minnesota Department on Employment and Economic Development (DEED). All disciplines may be considered (visual, performing, literary or design arts).

What is Arts Mentoring?

A partnership through which a professional working artist – a mentor – shares knowledge, skills and information to foster the personal and professional growth of interested youth – mentees. Explore more than the high visibility arts careers – rock musician, actor, gallery artist, dancer – and broaden your palette to include careers such as graphic design layout artist, music critic, arts administrator, advertising copywriter, lighting designer, etc. For a more complete list of arts occupations, view a free VSA arts publication online, Putting Creativity to Work: Careers in the Arts for People with Disabilities (www.vsaarts.org/x630.xml).

How it Works…

• Each young person interested in having a mentor for support and leadership will have an initial interview with VSA arts of Minnesota, which will then find an appropriate link to a professional artist/mentor in the mentee’s desired field of study.
• Mentors/mentees will commit to spend time – a minimum of one hour each week – corresponding via phone, e-mail or online. 
• VSA arts of Minnesota will guide and monitor the process, lending expertise when needed.
• Occasionally during the six-month period, mentors/mentees may meet face-to-face at mentor’s studio, mentee’s home, at school, or a library. 
• Student mentees will document their interactions with mentors through photographs, journal entries or web blogs and survey upon completion.

Why should I be involved?

For mentees

• Connect with a positive role model in the 'art world' of work who understands your needs.
• Improve skills and confidence in desired field of study and career readiness.
• Integrate mentoring with your transition/IEP goals.
• Expand opportunities and develop plans for your future career.
• Establish a community "reference" for your first résumé.

For mentors

• Develop a better understanding of the skills and abilities of youth with disabilities.
• Improve employee morale.
• Develop creative solutions to educational and workforce problems.
• Improve business, community, and school relations.
• Create a positive link between you and a young person in the community.

How do I Apply?

Download a Mentee Application. Applications can be e-mailed, mailed, faxed or delivered to:
VSA arts of Minnesota
Arts Mentoring Project
528 Hennepin Avenue, Suite 305
Minneapolis, MN  55403
Email: jenea@vsaartsmn.org  
Fax: 612-305-0132

Application deadline has extended! Applications are due by Friday, January 15, 2010. They are reviewed and each applicant will be contacted to verify their interest in the project. Individual mentor/mentee work sessions will begin by February 2010

Questions?

Please contact Jenea Rewertz-Targui, Arts in Education Coordinator: jenea@vsaartsmn.org, 612-332-3888 or 1-800-801-3883 (both Voice or TTY).

The mission of Pathways to Employment is to increase competitive employment of people with disabilities and meet Minnesota’s workforce needs by bringing together people with disabilities, employers, businesses, government and providers.

Program Purpose

The Arts Ambassador Program is designed to bring professional artists with disabilities into classrooms to engage people of all ages and abilities in a presentation that discusses the Ambassador’s art form, disability and work as a professional artist.

Through this program, students and staff are able to gain experience, knowledge and understanding about:

• various art forms including visual arts, music, theater and dance/movement
• the disability culture
• the importance of and need for inclusion of people with disabilities in the arts
• the similarities that connect the human spirit of us all

Program Description

Arts Ambassadors presentations will offer new options to students who have had limited exposure to particular art forms.  Participants will be reminded of the capabilities of people with disabilities.

Each presentation will include the Artist Ambassador speaking about or demonstrating their particular art form with time allowed for student questions. A representative from VSA arts of Minnesota will share information about artists with disabilities and will draw on materials available through organizational resources. The length of each presentation will be generally between 45-60 minutes. VSA arts of Minnesota’s arts in education coordinator will work with a designated teacher/administrator to determine what (if any) presentation accommodations will need to be made based on age, disability and/or classroom setting.

Each student attending the presentation will complete a brief post-survey to assess their awareness of disability in general, of the activity of people with disabilities in the arts and of their feelings about people with disabilities. In addition to the student surveys, teachers will be asked to complete a questionnaire following the presentation.  Some of the questions will be similar to those asked of the students but others will address issues of curricular relevance, age and ability appropriateness and suggestions for improvements.

Eligibility

Any interested party in Minnesota is eligible to request a visit from an Arts Ambassador of their choice.

Costs

Schools will be charged a fee to offset a portion of the project expenses, $125.00 for metro area schools, $150.00 for greater Minnesota.

What to Submit

Arts Ambassador Request (Portable Document Format - PDF).
Arts Ambassador Request (Microsoft Word Format).
Arts Ambassador Request (Rich Text Format - RTF).

Teachers/school administrators can make arrangements for school visits by completing the Arts Ambassador Request (see above) and sending it to:
Jenea Rewertz-Targui, Arts in Education Coordinator.
VSA arts of Minnesota.
528 Hennepin Avenue, Suite 305.
Minneapolis, MN 55403.
E-mail:  jenea@vsaartsmn.org.

The Ambassadors

For information or questions regarding this program, please contact Jenea Rewertz-Targui, Arts in Education Coordinator, phone: 612-332-3888 or email: jenea@vsaartsmn.org.

Description

This roster is an approved listing of Minnesota artists (from all artistic disciplines) who have completed a thorough application, review, and interview with VSA arts of Minnesota.

• The primary purpose of this roster is to identify and promote high quality professional artists with disabilities. The roster is intended as a resource for schools/educational settings as well as any community groups seeking artists to present to special needs population and their peers.
• The roster has a secondary purpose to increase participants’ awareness of the importance of and need for inclusion of people with disabilities in the arts.

For information about rostered ambassadors, please contact Jenea Rewertz-Targui, 612-332-3888 or jenea@vsaartsmn.org.

Arts Ambassador Roster Application

Eligibility:

Arts Ambassador Roster applicants must be:

• 18 years of age or older;
• a resident of Minnesota with a disability;
• a professional artist with expertise in one or more arts disciplines;
• have skills in working with children/ youth/teachers in educational settings.

What to Submit:

Applications are accepted on an on-going basis in the disciplines of Dance, Literary Arts, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts. Artists may apply in more than one discipline. Please review the Arts Ambassador Roster Guidelines before beginning an application.

Program Purpose: To enhance creative expression and personal development through arts experiences for students with disabilities and their peers.

Program Description: VSA arts of Minnesota’s Artists-in-Residence Grant Program provides administrative and funding support to schools and educational settings throughout the state of Minnesota who are interested in having a teaching artist work with students and staff. Residency programs are designed by coordinating teachers and teaching artists with support from VSA arts of Minnesota’s Arts in Education Coordinator. These programs vary in length and time, dependent upon the needs of the school.

Teaching artists who work with VSA arts of Minnesota are professional artists with expertise in one or more arts disciplines and have skills in working with children, youth, and teachers in school settings. In addition, these artists are familiar with various disabilities and effective methods for adapting techniques and differentiating instruction to reach all learners.

Read more about the VSA arts of Minnesota Teaching Artist Roster…

Eligibility: Any public or private school in Minnesota with students with an IEP or 504 plan can submit an Artists-in-Residence Request Form. The request may be initiated by a teacher or administrator. This person serves as the primary contact for VSA arts of Minnesota and the identified teaching artist. A minimum of 15 students with disabilities are required to participate per residency program and receive a minimum of 5 direct contact hours with the teaching artist.

Deadline: Applications are processed on a first-come, first-served basis. As a statewide organization, we work to distribute residencies throughout the state.

Residency Costs: Schools developing an Artists-in-Residence program can request funding from VSA arts of Minnesota in the range of $500-$1250. Schools are asked to provide support funds of $250 to help support their residency.

What to Submit: Please review the Artists-in-Residence Request Guidelines before beginning an application.

Past Awarded Sites: VSA arts of Minnesota's 2006-2009 Artists-in-Residence List.

Are you an artist, a teacher, or administrator in the state of Minnesota who is interested in supporting and developing integrated arts programming for students of all abilities? Please send us suggestions about other workshop topics you would like VSA arts of Minnesota to develop training on to: info@vsaartsmn.org.

Description

This roster is an approved listing of Minnesota artists (from all artistic disciplines) who have completed a thorough application, review, and interview with VSA arts of Minnesota.

• The primary purpose is to identify and promote high quality teaching artists who have particular expertise working with students with disabilities. The roster is intended as a resource for recipients of Artists-in-Residence Grants, as well as any community groups seeking teaching artists to work with their special needs population. 
• The roster has a secondary purpose of promoting and supporting professional development for teaching artists. Teaching in and through the arts is a complex profession and a growing field – and more support and training is needed.   With this roster, VSA arts of Minnesota hopes to play a role in advancing the field of teaching artists, with the ultimate goal of supporting, strengthening, and expanding arts education for all Minnesota students.

For information about rostered teaching artists, please contact Jenea Rewertz-Targui, 612-332-3888 or jenea@vsaartsmn.org.

Teaching Artist Roster Application

VSA arts of Minnesota is implementing a new application procedure for the Teaching Artist Roster. It is our intention that it will grow and evolve over time to better serve students with disabilities and their peers within our state, as well as the Teaching Artists themselves. This roster will be more efficient, accurate, and address the needs of schools, educational settings and communities utilizing teaching artists in their programming.

Eligibility:

Teaching Artist Roster applicants must be:

• 18 years of age or older;
• a resident of Minnesota;
• professional artists with expertise in one or more arts disciplines;
• have skills in working with children/ youth/teachers in educational settings; and
• have a commitment to become familiar with various disabilities and effective methods for adapting techniques and differentiating instruction to reach all learners.

What to Submit:

Applications are accepted on an on-going basis in the disciplines of Dance, Literary Arts, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts. Artists may apply in more than one discipline. Please review the Teaching Artist Roster Guidelines before beginning an application.

VSA arts of Minnesota exhibits work from artists with disabilities around the metro area! Artworks displayed are for sale. All profits go to the working artist.

Annie Young

Showing now through April 30, 2010.
Vision Loss Resources,
1936 Lyndale Avenue S. (at Franklin Avenue), Minneapolis.
See also: Art on Display at Vision Loss Resources.

Brian Jon Foster

Showing through February 28, 2010.
Park State Bank,
430 First Avenue N., Suite 104, Minneapolis, MN.
See also: New Artwork on Display at Park State Bank.

Exhibition Opportunities Info & Registration

Exhibition Opportunities Info & Registration (PDF document)
Exhibition Opportunities Info & Registration (Word document)
Exhibition Opportunities Info & Registration (RTF document)

VSA arts of Minnesota presents "Do You See What I feel?" an exhibit by Annie Young.

Burnsville artist, Annie Young wanted to provide insight into the world she lives through her exhibit at Vision Loss Resources 1936 Lyndale Avenue S., Minneapolis. She invites all to navigate each canvas, feeling the tactile landscape that illustrates the vision she wanted to share. Young’s artwork is on display through April 30 during normal hours at Vision Loss, 7:00 AM to 5:30 PM Monday through Thursday. The exhibit, sponsored by VSA arts of Minnesota, is free.

"I consider myself an artistic topographist, navigating the picture plane with my fingers - because I must. Working primarily in acrylics, I manipulate the interplay of color and gesture to both conceal and reveal the underlying tactile landscape I build on canvas. Though my eyesight is diminished, I continue to see a life store of visual memories and impressions. I regularly dream new images that my hands itch to put on the canvas for others to see… to feel…" - Annie Young, artist statement.

Young has realized the advantage of mixing acrylic paint and a texture medium to make visible strokes rise above the canvas. Various types of additives thicken the paint to add depth and detail to the stroke created by brush or palette knife. In this painting she uses this style to add dimension to the featured three daisy-like flowers, seen from above, with small circular woven rugs (the size of a drink coaster) attached to center of each bloom.

Vision Loss Resources, Inc. has a mission to assist people who are blind or visually impaired in achieving their full potential and to enrich the lives of all persons affected by blindness or vision loss. Web site: Vision Loss Resources (www.visionlossresources.org).

For information about purchasing these pieces or other artwork by Annie Young, please contact Jenea Rewertz-Targui, 612-332-3888 or jenea@vsaartsmn.org.

To learn more about current and upcoming exhibits by Annie Young, please visit the artist’s website: MN Artists, Annie Young (www.mnartists.org/annie_young).

VSA arts of Minnesota exhibits work by June Orr at Park State Bank.

Artwork by Hopkins artist June Orr is now on view until June 30 2010 at Park State Bank, Warehouse District, 430 1st Avenue N., Suite 104, Minneapolis. The exhibit, sponsored by VSA arts of Minnesota, is free and on view during normal hours 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday.

June’s acrylic paintings use layers of similar colors, ranges of blue in one painting or studies of red in others. The paintings are not large, but draw you into their landscape quality of abstract forms. Free and expressive, June’s paintings reveal washes, textures and drips of paint, surfaces painted to be suggestive and open.

"I ask the Lord to guide me when I paint. I have my own style of artwork. I find so many forms and figures in my paintings. Each person viewing the piece can also see shapes, etc. making the paintings almost a customized art just for them." - June Orr, artist statement.

Park State Bank is a full service financial institution that treats all customers and their assets with respect; is committed to the financial well-being of our customer; and provides quality personal service with affordable products. Park State Bank (www.parkstatebank.com).

For information about purchasing these pieces, please contact Laura Ahola-Young, 612-332-3888 or laura@vsaartsmn.org.

For additional information please contact the artist, June Orr by email: juneorr@juno.com.