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VSA Minnesota Teaching Artist Roster Training

August 19, 2010
9:30 AM – 3:30 PM
Perpich Center for Arts Education
6125 Olson Memorial Highway
Golden Valley, MN 55422

The VSA Minnesota Teaching Artist Roster is a community of teaching artists working to create engaging lessons and environments that meet the diverse learning needs of all students.

Who should attend?

Current members of the VSA Minnesota Teaching Artist Roster, artists interested in becoming a member, and educators who work with students with disabilities.

Goals of the training:

• Enhance your skills and abilities as a teaching artist
• Increase your understanding about inclusive practices in the arts
• Expand your knowledge of best practices in Special Education and the Arts
• Network with other artists from around the state

About the day

Use this opportunity to work with others to articulate and refine your teaching practices in order to anticipate the needs of students with various disabilities.

Examine the work that teaching artists do when three experienced Peer Coaches demonstrate Artful tools, part of the Artist to Artist Professional Development Program, an informal network of teaching artists actively supported by the Perpich Center for Arts Education, the North Dakota Council on the Arts, Red Eye Theater, and the Minnesota State Arts Board.

Session 1: Experience a visual art lesson first-hand taught by VSA Minnesota Teaching Artist Lori Brink. This model workshop is intended for collaborating teachers to become familiar with concepts that will be presented to students during the residency. Share strategies and ideas on ways to improve various aspects of the in-service experience for residency sponsors.

Session 2: Describe back what you experienced using a facilitated reflection protocol guided by facilitator Barbara Cox, Arts Education Partnership Coordinator, Perpich Center for Arts Education. These protocols will help you to perceive deeply, think critically and make meaning.

Session 3: Participate in a hands-on theater activity led by Teaching Artist Steve Busa. Learn how to design important and engaging learning experiences and how to identify learning goals and activities. Steve will also share insight about what worked and what didn’t work from past VSA Minnesota residencies.

Session 4: This session conducted by Mary Z. McGrath, Educator/Professional Speaker/Author, Reflections Resources Ltd. is designed as a review of various disabilities and teaching strategies for each. Mary will guide participants to modify their lesson plans and practices to accommodate the needs of students with time allowed for sharing ideas and experiences.

* Please bring a lesson plan of your own to participate in a small group activity.

Location

Perpich Center for Arts Education 6125 Olson Memorial Highway, Golden Valley, MN 55422. We will meet in the Glassbox Conference Room, located in the southeast GAIA Building (Professional Development & Research) on campus, separate from the main building.

Turn left on Douglas Drive, then take an immediate left onto the frontage road. Turn right at the third entrance (parking lots on both left and right). Turn left and continue southeast past the Arts High School main building towards the GAIA (Professional Development Research) building. Click here for driving directions (PDF).

Date/time

Thursday, August 19. Sessions will take place from 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM. Check-in begins at 9:00 AM.

Lunch/refreshments

Refreshments will be served in the morning and at lunch. Lunch includes a variety of drinks, a sandwich, served with potato chips, a pickle and a cookie catered by Panera Bread.

Registration/Cost

Registration Information (PDF).
Registration Information (Word).
Registration Information (RTF).

Registration Form (PDF).
Registration Form (Word).
Registration Form (RTF).

Registration costs $15. Please send a check payable to VSA Minnesota along with a completed registration form to: VSA Minnesota, 528 Hennepin Avenue, Suite 305 Minneapolis, MN 55403. As seating is limited, please register early.

Cancellation

Registered participants who wish to cancel their registration and receive a full refund must do so by August 12.

Clock hours

All participants who complete the training will receive a completion certificate stating the number of hours and content completed.

For more information, contact:

Jenea Rewertz-Targui
Arts in Education Coordinator
VSA Minnesota
528 Hennepin Avenue, Suite 305
Minneapolis, MN 55403

Tel: (612) 332-3888 V/TTY or (800) 801-3883
Fax: (612) 305-0132
Email: jenea@vsamn.org

Writers with disabilities are invited to meet with Anne Finger, a distinguished writer of fiction, memoir and non-fiction in the disability field. VSA Minnesota is hosting Finger at Interact Center for Visual & Performing Arts in Minneapolis on Wednesday, July 28. She will tour Interact Center’s visual and performing arts studios and the Inside-Out Gallery before meeting with writers at 2:30 PM to discuss and share writing approaches to personal experiences with disabilities and the arts. Interact is located in the Warehouse District of downtown Minneapolis at 212 Third Avenue N. #140 (one block north of Washington, three blocks west of Hennepin). An ASL interpreter will be available.

Anne Finger, who was regularly published in The Disability Rag and The Ragged Edge, has written three books:

• A novel Bone Truth was published by Coffee House Press in 1994.
• Her memoir, Elegy for a Disease (St. Martin's Press, 2006) combines her personal history with polio with a social history of the disease. "Anne Finger creates a lyric prose that shimmers like a serious dream… This is a memoir of history and imagination and it belongs on every book shelf." - Steve Kuusisto, author of Planet of the Blind
• She has a new short story collection, Call Me Ahab.

Finger has taught creative writing at the university level, as well as giving many community workshops. Her website is Anne Finger.

Interact Center provides artists with disabilities the opportunity for creative expression, artistic growth, performances and exhibitions. Its new visual art exhibit, EAT ART and MUD: The Art of Coffee, opens Thursday, July 29, with a reception from 6-9 pm.

For more information, contact VSA Minnesota at 612-332-3888 or Interact Center (www.interactcenter.com) at 612-339-5145.

Arts Access Awards are an annual program of VSA Minnesota to recognize individuals – artists, educators and others – and arts organizations who have made exemplary achievements in enabling Minnesotans with disabilities to participate in the arts. Their examples encourage others to create greater access in their communities, too.

Named the Jaehny, after Jaehn Clare, a founder of the organization (at that time Very Special Arts Minnesota), the awards recognize dedication to making arts programs and facilities more accessible, as well as creating opportunities for artists with disabilities. Categories include, but are not limited to:

Award winners will be honored at a public ceremony in September 2010, and will receive an original artwork created by a Minnesota artist with a disability, as well as publicity about the access issues they promote. Nomination forms are available at: Access Nomination Form

Nine arts organizations in the Twin Cities have been awarded a total of $100,794 for projects to make the arts more accessible to people with disabilities. Funding for these ADA Access Improvement Grants for Metro Arts Organizations is from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, which voters approved in 2008. VSA Minnesota administers this program for the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council.

The purpose of this grant is to enable nonprofit arts organizations in the seven-county Twin Cities area to make improvements to their programs, projects, equipment, or facilities that will enhance access to the arts for people with disabilities. Such activities must advance the mission of the arts group, have the potential for significant or long-term impact in involving more people with disabilities as participants or patrons in arts programs, and report measurable outcomes.

Earlier this year eight organizations were awarded a total of $89,437. Two more rounds of grants (up to $15,000 each), along with updated guidelines and application forms, will be announced later this year and will be available online.

Grant Recipients

Mixed Blood Theatre Co., Minneapolis, $11,718 -- To carry out a number of targeted facility improvements to improve accessibility for artists, audiences, and future employees with mobility impairments. The project lays a foundation for aligning programming, audience development, and facility resources that provide access for people with disabilities.

Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, $4,544 - To help fund the purchase of a rehabilitation pottery wheel, as well as the purchase and installation of a secondary automatic door opener to be used with an interior entrance to Northern Clay Center’s classrooms.

Illusion Theater & School, Minneapolis, $15,000 -- To improve its accessibility services for deaf and hard of hearing individuals and to add additional services for the sight impaired. Funds would support: 1) Purchase of a new Assisted Listening System; 2) Increased AD/ASL interpretation at matinee performances; and 3) A survey/research/focus group component to determine potential deaf/hard of hearing and sight impaired audiences, to make information of reaching them a part of Illusion’s overall marketing plan, and to identify Illusion’s long-term AD/ASL needs.

Rosetown Playhouse, Roseville, $1,161.17 - To purchase two Personal PA hearing assistance devices that will work with our theatre sound systems to make an easier listening experience for our hearing-impaired audience members.

The O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University, St. Paul, $15,000 - To improve access to The O’Shaughnessy for patrons and performers with disabilities by creating entrances to the theater and dressing rooms that are in compliance with the requirements set forth in the ADA.

Circus Juventas, St. Paul, $15,000 - To refine and promote its “Wings” program which makes circus performing arts classes and performance opportunities available to children and youth with physical and developmental disabilities. Funding would help cover cost of staff, special equipment, outreach activities and class fee subsidies to recruit additional participants.

Interact Center for Visual & Performing Arts, Minneapolis, $13,875 - To purchase furniture and equipment that will make it possible for more artists with disabilities to have inspiring, supportive and accessible opportunities to engage in art making. In our 14 years history, artistic quality has grown exponentially, but some of our equipment is not accessible at all, lighting is inadequate for vision impairments, and furniture is worn out and not always safe.

Young Dance, Minneapolis, $9,496 - All Abilities Dancing is an initiative to build physically integrated dance into the fabric of our organization. Funds from the ADA Access Improvement grant will go specifically towards outreach, teacher training, curriculum development, and an ASL interpreter for all company classes, rehearsals, and performances.

Upstream Arts, Inc., Minneapolis, $15,000 - To increase our accessibility to specific groups of individuals with disabilities, Upstream Arts will host a series of trainings for its teaching artists, led by local experts including disability service providers and Special Education teachers. We will also host a week long intensive training on American Sign Language.

Grant Review Panelists

Barb Boelter, Eagan, parent of a young adult with disabilities, past president of Metro Deaf School, and a past board member of PACER Center;
Warren Bowles, Minneapolis, actor, director, playwright, Mixed Blood board member
Paul Deeming, Eagan, a certified ASL theatrical interpreter and a case manager for DeafBlind Services Minnesota;
Jeanette Frederickson, Saint Paul, attorney, past PACER board, parent of a young adult who is deaf
Adrienne Mason, Saint Paul, disability advocate/speaker, Goodwill/Easter Seals board, past Metro Center for Independent Living (MCIL) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) committees
Lia Rivamonte, Saint Paul, executive director of Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts
Kurt Wiger, Plymouth, coordinator of volunteers and interns at Courage Center in Golden Valley, and a member of several access advisory panels.

Time

Tuesday, June 15, 2010, 7:30 P.M.

Location

Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, 4801 France Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN.

Description

Alec was a recipient of this year’s VSA Minnesota’s Career Advancement Grant. Alec used this grant to purchase a new professional, digital accordion! 

Please join Alec and friends in the sanctuary at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd for an hour of fabulous music. Alec will open with a variety of pieces that showcase some the new sounds at his fingertips. In the second half, Alec will delight you with piano works by Bach, Grieg, Gershwin, and Prokofiev.

Everyone is welcome to this free event, with a reception to follow.

Eight arts organizations in the Twin Cities have been awarded a total of $89,437 for projects to make the arts more accessible to people with disabilities. Funding for these ADA Access Improvement Grants for Metro Arts Organizations is from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, which voters approved in 2008. VSA Minnesota administers this program for the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council.

The purpose of this grant is to enable nonprofit arts organizations in the seven-county Twin Cities area to make improvements to their programs, projects, equipment, or facilities that will enhance access to the arts for people with disabilities. Such activities must advance the mission of the arts group, have the potential for significant or long-term impact in involving more people with disabilities as participants or patrons in arts programs, and report measurable outcomes.

A second round of grants (up to $15,000 each, application deadline May 21) will award up to $130,000. Two more rounds of grants will be available in 2011. Guidelines and application forms are available at: ADA Access Improvement Grant for Metro Arts Organizations.

Grant Recipients

Park Square Theatre, Saint Paul, $15,000

Renovation will create elevator access to the mezzanine level of Park Square’s auditorium, allowing for new additional wheelchair seating and making its control booths accessible for staff.

The Soap Factory, Minneapolis, $15,000

A new accessible entrance to the Soap Factory’s galleries will have an auto-opener and be at level grade on the west façade of the building.

Textile Center of Minnesota, Minneapolis, $4,500

Upgrades to its sound system (transmitter, portable receivers and headsets) will make programming more accessible to patrons with hearing loss. The new access service will be promoted broadly to the public through print and electronic communications and facility signage.

History Theatre, Saint Paul, $15,000

History Theatre will buy and install additional equipment for audio enhancement and audio description; hire additional ASL interpreters and Deaf/Blind tactile interpreters; hire a consultant to advise and train the organization on accessibility-related planning, building advisory committees, customer service, website design and marketing; and buy a portable sound system for outreach and discussions off-site.

Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center, Minneapolis, $15,000

This nonprofit organization focusing on art forms involving heat, spark and flame will add a lift to its new facility, enabling access for all students to both main-floor shop for large-scale metalworking and a mezzanine for glass and jewelry.

Sample Night Live!, Saint Paul, $15,000

This monthly performance sampling of Twin Cities performers will become more accessible to the Deaf community by providing ASL interpretation, discounted ticketing, an accessibility concierge and additional audio enhancement equipment. It will add hours to its marketing and communication team and its community liaison to communicate services to disability communities and create and maintain ongoing relationships with differing communities.

Minneapolis Musical Theatre, Minneapolis, $5,000

Outreach to persons with disabilities will be increased by providing a block of free tickets and additional discounted tickets for the American Sign Language-interpreted and Audio Described performances for its three 2010-2011 productions.

DanceWorks Repertory Ensemble, Lakeville, $4,937

An adaptive dance program will be provided for young people with physical or learning disabilities to participate in basic dance and moving to music instruction.

Grant Review Panelists

The grants were reviewed by an eight-member panel of persons active in the metro arts and disability communities. They read, discussed and ranked the applications, and their recommendations were approved by the VSA Minnesota board of directors. Panelists included:

Barb Boelter, Eagan, parent of a young adult with disabilities, past president of Metro Deaf School, and a past board member of PACER Center;
Gail Burke, Woodbury, human resources director at Tubman Family Alliance and past access coordinator at the Minnesota State Arts Board;
Sally Childs, Roseville, playwright, theatre director and founder of the Lyric Theatre and the Jon Hassler Theater in Plainview;
Paul Deeming, Eagan, a certified ASL theatrical interpreter and a case manager for DeafBlind Services Minnesota;
Hunter Gullickson, Robbinsdale, access coordinator at the Guthrie Theater;
Sheri Melander-Smith, Chanhassen, moderator of the “Living Forward” segment of a cable access TV program, "Disability Viewpoints";
Bill Muchow, Bloomington, a retired CPA and financial planner who has served as president and treasurer of several Burnsville community theatres, the Minnesota Association of Community Theatres and the American Association of Community Theatre;
Kurt Wiger, Plymouth, coordinator of volunteers and interns at Courage Center in Golden Valley, and a member of several access advisory panels.

The staff and Board of Directors of VSA Minnesota were pleased to learn on Monday evening, March 22, that the organization had been identified as the recipient of the 2009 Sally Ordway Irvine Award in the category of Vision.

The annual awards, made in honor of the founder of the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in Saint Paul, recognize individuals and organizations demonstrating exemplary work in the Minnesota arts community. Since the awards were initiated in 1992, other recipients in the Vision category have included Mixed Blood Theatre, Joe Dowling of the Guthrie Theater, the Minnesota Fringe Festival, Theatre de la Jeune Lune and John Killacky, formerly of the Walker Art Center. This year’s awards in the categories of Initiative, Commitment and Education went to Bedlam Theatre, choreographer Myron Johnson and singer-actor T. Mychael Rambo respectively.

Many friends of VSA Minnesota were at the Ordway’s McKnight Theatre for the surprise announcement, which included a video presentation narrated by Steve Schmidt, director of Rochester Civic Music and past VSA Minnesota board president. Ordway Executive Director Patricia Mitchell presented the Sally Award to VSA Board President Sue Warner and Executive Director Craig Dunn to recognize "outstanding contributions to the state’s cultural life."  Dunn asked that all current and past board and staff members stand to be recognized by the audience of approximately 200.

In his brief remarks, Dunn spoke of the strong leadership provided by past board presidents, especially co-founder Jaehn Clare and the late Eric Peterson. Their vision of ensuring that arts programming and services be provided to adults as well as children with disabilities, and that arts programming throughout Minnesota be accessible and available to all regardless of disability, has provided the direction for the organization’s activities over its 22-year history.

The Sally Award recognition includes a crystal sculpture and $2500 cash. A video of the presentation can be found on YouTube: VSA Minnesota - Sally Awards.

Seven Minnesota artists have been awarded grants of $1,250 each through the VSA 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 Minnesota 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 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 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 next Artists With Disabilities Alliance Meeting

When: Wednesday, July 21, 2010.

Time: 7:00 PM-9:00 PM.

Where: Minneapolis College of Art & Design, Emeritus Room 201, 2501 Stevens Avenue S., Minneapolis MN 55404. 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: The Artists With Disabilities Alliance (AWDA), an organization of artists with disabilities that meet regularly to share recently created art, get feedback, work on group projects and offer support for disability or art-related issues. The meetings are fragrance-free, and accommodations (like ASL interpreters) can be provided if requested at least a week in advance.

For more information Contact Laura Ahola-Young, VSA Minnesota’s Artist Services Coordinator via e-mail: laura@vsamn.org or call: 612-332-3888 ext. 5.

2010 Open Flow Forum

Visual Artists, Performers, Musicians and Poets

When: Tuesday, August 3, 2010.

Time: 7:00 PM.

Where: Carleton Artist Lofts, 2285 University Avenue W., Saint Paul, MN.

Hosted by: Pamela Veeder and Mike Price.

Facilitated by: Dan Reiva.

Description: Open Flow Forum is for artists with and without disabilities to bring a sample of their work to share and discuss. Artists convene monthly and anyone is warmly invited to share artwork, poetry, a song – or any recent work!

Featured Artist: Brian Shaughnessy Brian will talk about what goes into producing a Fringe show and the artistic process of creating a one-person show. The Squeaky Wheel Squeaks will be performed at the University of Minnesota Rarig Center Arena as part of the MN Fringe Festival. Brian Shaughnessy, writer/director/performer, tells the story of waking from surgery, paralyzed, his challenges and triumphs including a master's degree and becoming a lawyer. Funny and tearful.

Directions: Just east of HWY 280 and Raymond Ave, the main entrance is off Charles Street, one block north of University Avenue between Carleton and Hampden. Please park on Charles Street, not in the residents' lot. The entry is well-lit, and the Community Room is straight ahead.

For more information: Contact Laura Ahola-Young, VSA Minnesota’s Artist Services Coordinator via e-mail: laura@vsamn.org or call: 612-332-3888. The forums are fragrance-free, and accommodations (like ASL interpreters) can be provided if requested at least a week in advance.

Past Open Flow Forums:

July 1, 2010

VSA Minnesota 'Writing Mental Illness' class read writings of their new work.

April 7, 2010:

Alison Bergblom Johnson performed her writing related to the subject of mental illness and art.

March 3, 2010:

Pamela Veeder showed samples of her textile art. Joe Rheault talked about his cartooning art and showed samples from past and upcoming books. Link to his work at: dirtyinks on deviantART, Dirty Inks: Gnarly Imagery Since 2004, or Dirty Inks Blog.

February 3, 2010:

Michael Price read from his recent fiction and talked about his creative process.

December 2, 2009:

Brian Jon Foster presented examples of his "art on the floor" (vinyl tile) artwork and talked about his artistic process.

November 4, 2009:

Alison Bergblom Johnson performed her writing and talked about her artistic process.

Interested in the Arts?

VSA 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 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 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 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 Minnesota
Arts Mentoring Project
528 Hennepin Avenue, Suite 305
Minneapolis, MN  55403
Email: laura@vsamn.org,
Fax: 612-305-0132

Questions?

Please contact Laura Ahola-Young, Artist Services Coordinator: laura@vsamn.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 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 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 Minnesota.
528 Hennepin Avenue, Suite 305.
Minneapolis, MN 55403.
E-mail:  jenea@vsamn.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@vsamn.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 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@vsamn.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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 Minnesota to develop training on to: info@vsamn.org.

Professional Development Day – August 19

Current members of the VSA Minnesota Teaching Artist Roster, artists interested in becoming a member, and educators please join us on Thursday, August 19 from 9:30am-3:30pm at the Perpich Center for Arts Education to work with others to articulate and refine your teaching practices in order to anticipate the needs of students with various disabilities. Read more about the upcoming training…

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 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 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@vsamn.org.

Teaching Artist Roster Application

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

Amy Monthei

Showing now through August 31, 2010.
Vision Loss Resources,
1936 Lyndale Avenue S. (at Franklin Avenue), Minneapolis.

June Orr

Showing through June 30, 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)

Artwork by Minneapolis Artist Amy Monthei is now on exhibition at Vision Loss Resources until August 31, 2010. Vision Loss Resources is located at 1936 Lyndale Avenue South and is open Monday-Thursday 7:00 am – 5:30 pm. This exhibit is sponsored by VSA Minnesota.

Amy was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1972 with congenital cataracts.  Her lenses were removed when she was a few months old, leaving her legally blind.  Her parents, who are also legally blind and artists, saw great promise in Amy’s creative endeavors very early on and encouraged her with great enthusiasm.  “Blindness is an inconvenience, not a tragedy”, this lesson was imparted to Amy by her parents every day growing up. They taught her to believe that when an individual is disabled in one area of their existence they are not necessarily left at a considerable disadvantage; that having a disability should never be perceived as being inadequate.

She graduated with Honors from Grand View College in Des Moines, Iowa, earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Art in 1995, with studio emphasis in both on painting and drawing.  Amy moved to Minnesota in 1996, working in the fine art and custom framing industry.  She was determined to pursue a career in the arts and enjoys working as an Art Sourcer for a local art consulting firm.  She has shown and sold work in many local galleries and her work is included in many corporate and private collections.

Currently Amy is working on a series of tactile Braille paintings that have highly textured surfaces and multiple layers of color. These works not only intrigue the viewer, but also create a piece of art that is accessible to a blind individual and can be enjoyed from a completely new and different viewpoint. A blind person can read the words contained within the texture while a sighted person not knowing how to read Braille, is relegated to darkness and left with the disadvantage of not knowing the secret contained within the artwork.  Thus, an interesting enigma is created, presenting all the pieces to the puzzle in which neither a blind nor a sighted person can completely decipher the meaning concealed within.  Only by understanding one another’s viewpoints will the mystery be revealed.

She lives a life filled with Irony as a blind visual artist, perceiving the world from a truly unique perspective. She understands and accepts these circumstances and the challenges that have assisted in shaping her own philosophy. She enjoys the exploration, not only as a personal journey but as an art movement in itself.  It is her goal as a legally blind artist and an advocate to create art that is accessible, to assist others in understanding the importance of experiencing art and the role it can play in the lives of every person.

Join us for the artist’s reception of "Atmospheres", an exhibition of paintings by artist Amy Monthei at Vision Loss Resources. The reception is on June 15 from 5:00 -7:30 pm. Come and explore Amy’s new tactile paintings! Vision Loss Resources is located at 1936 Lyndale Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55403

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 Amy Monthei, please contact Laura Ahola-Young, 612-332-3888 or laura@vsamn.org,.

VSA Minnesota exhibits new work by Mary Neilan at Park State Bank.

Artwork by Woodbury Artist Mary Neilan is now on view until October 31, 2010.

Mary Neilan is an artist and writer. She creates oil portraits, landscapes, custom tile mosaics and original hand drawn advertising- including book covers and logos.

Images in the exhibit include illustrations for her upcoming book "Over the River and Through the Woods."  In the words of Mary "I call my art 'Emotional Realism' regardless of the medium I am using, contemporary paintings which show my opinion on our current society, or my mosaic or 3D art. The current project has been a long one and finally completed. Of course, many more memories could be put down in paint. I paint to document my memories of the past, like Grandma Moses, and to make comments on today’s values, work that reaches out to the future."

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@vsamn.org.

For additional information please contact the artist, Mary Neilan by email: maneil6@aol.com.