Arts Access Newsletter Autunm 2002

Five Minnesota individuals and one arts organization will receive Arts Access Awards from V S A arts of Minnesota for their accomplishments in making the arts accessible to people with disabilities.

The award ceremony at 4:00 on Wednesday, Oct. 16 at the Crown Theatres in downtown Minneapolis will be a chance to learn about new technology that makes movies accessible to patrons who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or of low vision. The Minneapolis Mayor’s Advisory Committee on People with Disabilities has been advising the Block E complex on access issues and will also present awards. (Please call V S A arts of Minnesota to confirm your attendance.)

The award is also called the "Jaehny," honoring Jaehn Clare, co-founder of V S A arts of Minnesota and an activist in the Twin Cities' theater and disability communities before moving to Georgia. This year's Jaehny is being created by St. Paul artist D. Costandine.

Morgan Grayce Willow is a poet, writer, teacher and interpreter who has "made huge strides in bringing the literary arts to people who are hearing impaired in the Twin Cities by teaching others how to open these doors of silence." Her book Crossing That Bridge has encouraged other literary programs to be more accessible to the non-hearing community. She has served as a mentor to deaf and hearing writers, publicized performances and readings, taught performers how to collaborate with interpreters and broken ground in enabling deaf artists to perform in public as well.

Minneapolis City Councilwoman Lisa Goodman convinced the developers and movie theatre owners of Block E to introduce new technology that would make their movies accessible to patrons with hearing or vision impairments. The publicly subsidized complex was not in her ward, but she added her strong voice to the Mayor's Advisory Committee on People with Disabilities in order to promote access to movies for all.

Yuri Arajs is a Minneapolis artist whose philosophy is "Art is Art is Art, regardless of who or under what circumstance it is created." This matched the mission of Interact Center for Visual & Performing Arts, "Creating art and challenging society's view of disability," when he served as their visual arts co-director and Inside-Out Gallery director. Since establishing and marketing that gallery as a professional operation, he has moved on to create and execute the Visible Fringe Festivals in 2001 and 2002, making the public aware of still more artists. He has recently begun a mentorship program for self-taught artists, which the waiver system makes accessible to persons with disabilities.

Apollo Resource Center, a program of People Incorporated, is a drop-in center for adults with mental health issues in St. Paul. Apollo mounted a small art show for clients for six years, and last year expanded it into Artability at Apollo, a three-day show which involved 46 artists and attracted 500 people. Awards were given to emerging and established artists; and workshops addressed matting, framing, pricing, drawing, photography and watercolor. Artability at Apollo, which offers people with mental illness "opportunity for growth, independence and celebration for their success," will be held again October 3-4 from 5:00 to 9:00 and Oct. 5 from noon to 6:00, at 25 North Dale Street.

Eric Peterson is a Minneapolis actor who has long advocated for physical and program access for persons with disabilities. In 2001 he received a directing award at the state community theatre festival for his vision of a play by a disabled Minnesota artist. He and his cast of actors with and without disabilities also entered the play in the Fringe Festival. He has made access a priority in board roles with the Minneapolis Mayor's Advisory Committee for People with Disabilities, V S A arts of Minnesota, the Minnesota Association of Community Theatres, his Linden Hills block association.... As a blind theatregoer, he has seen Audio Description for blind patrons increase in Minnesota, and he has urged museum curators to make exhibits accessible as well through audio description and tactile tours.

Dennis Lamberson, professor of theatre at Central Lakes College in Brainerd, has worked for 16 years involving senior citizens, children and persons with disabilities in college productions onstage and backstage. All of his theatre's productions are signed for persons with hearing loss. He paired members of the Occupational Skills Program with Introduction to Theatre students in a show called "Welcome to My World." Dubbed Theatre for a Diverse Population, this class "created the script, using improvisation, creative drama games, discussion and observation to tell the story of what it is like living with a learning disability." Performances were well-received by students and faculty, and the college is now seeking funds to tour the production to area schools.

Congrats, Jaehny winners!!

6th annual Arts Access Awards:

Individuals Actively Promoting Access to the Arts for People with Disabilities:

• Yuri Arajs, Minneapolis.
• Lisa Goodman, Minneapolis.
• Dennis Lamberson, Brainerd.
• Morgan Grayce Willow, Minneapolis.

Organization Actively Promoting Access to the Arts for People with Disabilities:
Apollo Resource Center, St. Paul.

Active & Visible Minnesota Artist with a Disability:
Eric Peterson, Minneapolis.

More than two dozen veterans at the Minneapolis Veterans Home and Medical Center have taken art classes with artist Howard Carson over the past year.
Their pencil drawings and watercolors were mounted and displayed at the Veterans Home on September 13.
Among the artists were Evan Lander (two faces) and Don Pryor (smiling pig). Funding came from the VA and V S A arts.

The National Veterans Creative Arts Festival is coming to Minneapolis Oct. 21-28. This annual event presents performances and exhibits of first place-winning veterans from a national competition in art, music, dance and drama. Nearly 3,000 veterans from more than 100 VA facilities participated in local creative arts competitions this year, and 120 were invited to attend the Festival here, including workshops at the Radisson Metrodome.

First-place winners from the Minneapolis VA Medical Center are: Odell Brown, Graylyn Morris, John Lovseth, LaRue Cooke, Lucy Melena, Maurice Young, Monroe Wright and Calvin (Sonny) Knight.

Presented by the Department of Veterans Affairs and co-sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary and Help Hospitalized Veterans, the Festival recognizes the progress and recoveries made through creative arts therapies.

The main stage show and art exhibit featuring first place winners will be held Sunday, Oct. 27 at 2:00 at the Ted Mann Concert Hall on the campus of the University of Minnesota. Mistress of Ceremonies will be singer/actress Jane Powell. Also attending will be Bo Derek, who is Honorary Chairperson of the Department of Veterans Affairs National Rehabilitation Special Events.

For free tickets, call Katy Ryan at 612-467-3958.

Six $1,000 grants are available to Minnesota artists with disabilities through the V S A arts of Minnesota Artist Recognition Grant Program. Funded by the Jerome Foundation, the program aims to:

(a) recognize excellence in arts pro-duced by persons with disabilities;
(b) provide financial awards and tangible encouragement to artists with disabilities so their work in the arts might continue;
(c) identify Minnesota artists with disabilities who are dedicated to making presentation or production of art a central part of their lives.

The program is open to artists in all disciplines - visual, written, performance. Applications include a resume, an artist statement, and documentation of work created in the last 3 years (up to 20 pages of writing, 10 slides, 10 minutes of video/audiotape). Grant recipients from 1996-99 may reapply. The deadline is Friday, November 15.
For a 2002 application, call 612-332-3888 or 1-800-801-3883 or email jon@vsaartsmn.org. If you need a format other than standard print, specify what you need.

A $500 mini-grant from V S A arts of Minnesota can help a school bring in an outside artist to work with students in special education programming. The intent is to enable students with disabilities to participate in the arts.

Eighteen $500 mini-grants are available for the 2002-03 school year. Grants can be used to host an artist or artists (visual arts, music, theatre, dance, writing) in classrooms. Local sources must provide a cash match of at least $500 and use the grant money so that a majority of the students served have an IEP or a 504 plan.
This program is funded by the Ann Jack Memorial Fund, Minnesota Department of Children, Families and Learning, and V S A arts in Washington DC. For an application, contact Kristi Gaudette at V S A arts of Minnesota. Application deadlines are September 30, 2002 and January 31, 2003.

V S A arts of Minnesota will conduct four training opportunities for teaching artists working in K-12 classrooms in November, January, March and May. They will focus on teaching students with disabilities in self-contained special education classrooms and inclusive settings.

The Artist in Residence Fall Training, Saturday, Nov. 16, from 9 am to 1 pm, will focus on working with students with challenging behaviors and will engage teaching artists in a hands-on approach to developing creative cross-disciplinary adaptations for students who have visual impairments. For more information or to register, contact V S A arts of Minnesota.

Children with disabilities from around the world were invited by V S A arts to creatively reconfigure identical 4" square boxes for display during the 2002 Cultural Olympiad in Salt Lake City. The result, Children Beyond Borders, is a collection of original boxes from over 52 countries that expresses these young artists' ideas, dreams and visions. The exhibit includes artwork by Minnesota artist, Naa-Adjeley Mensah. To preview the exhibit, go to V S A arts (www.vsarts.org).

For three years, River Valley Dance Academy has successfully offered adaptive dance classes for children with disabilities, ages 5-16. The typical fee is $30 a month, but scholarships are available.

This fall an adaptive dance class is offered Saturdays at 12:30. Six students with cerebral palsy who use walkers or wheelchairs have an opportunity to stretch, use the ballet barre, and work on ballet port de bras arms. Using props such as hats, ribbons, scarves, poms and canes, students explore different styles of choreography and perform in a variety of venues.

A creative dance program on Saturdays serves children with Down Syndrome and with some ambulatory orthopedic disabilities combined with cognitive and verbal disabilities. Students warm and progress into the creative process utilizing music and exploring movement together. Using props like scarves and a parachute, the dancers explore ballet, modern and jazz styles of choreography.

For more information or to register, call River Valley Dance Academy at 952-368-2300.

Reflections Magazine is seeking contributions for its third edition from students with disabilities in grades 6-12. Poems, essays, short stories and artwork should be on the theme of Leadership. How are you a leader? What is a leader's responsibility? If you are a teacher with students anxious to write or draw, send their work by December 15, 2002, to Linda Larson, editor, at lindjhl@aol.com or mail artwork to her at 1214 44th Ave. NE, Columbia Heights, MN 55421. If you have questions, call 763-300-6163.

Arts For All art tools are one-of-a kind products that offer individuals of all abilities an opportunity for creative expression through arts and mobility. V S A arts of Minnesota has acquired a Chalk Walk and Roll, Push Pull Table Top Print Table and Wheelchair Bridge. To check out these tools for free, contact V S A arts of Minnesota.

Minneapolis pianist/composer Carei Thomas has cut his debut CD at the age of 64. Where has he been all this time? Cutting his musical teeth from Pittsburgh to Chicago to Minneapolis with the likes of Sun Ra and other improvisational artists. Mining Our Bidness represents the range of Thomas' no-boundaries Feel Free Ensemble, running the gamut from gorgeous Ellingtonian ballads to combustible free jazz testifying. Recorded live with a group that features Curlew saxophonist George Cartwright, it has cover artwork by Judith Lindbloom and liner notes by Douglas Ewart and Anthony Cox. To order a CD, send check or money order ($14 U.S., $15 Canada) payable to James Lindbloom, P. O. Box 300574, Minneapolis 55403.

James B. Livingston, Minneapolis, had a release party August 2nd for his new poetry chapbook, We Have Cried So Many Times Before. For information, call 612-376-7779 or e-mail livinn@concentric.net.

Saint Louis Park artist Dennis Behr will have his paintings displayed in December & January at the Flatland Gallery, 208 E. Hennepin, Minneapolis, 612-378-3890, Flatland Gallery Minneapolis (www.flatland-gallery.com).

Billy Golfus of Minneapolis, who created the documentary film When Billy Broke His Head and Other Tales of Wonder, received a Jerome Fellowship this summer in support of his film project, Sex and the Single Gimp, a romantic comedy about a paraplegic who tries to learn to swing dance in his wheelchair in order to meet women....

The Duluth Art Institute will mount an exhibit of the work of Jane Gerus in The Breath Feeds the Eye, Oct. 7 to Nov. 24. In the Institute's Newsmagazine, Ann Klefstad writes, "Gerus's work is both exciting and frightening. Her paintings have access to the most basic and essential sources of human nature, and also revel in the sensuality and beauty of painting. Bravery is what I think of when I see this body of work: someone is accepting and transforming perceptions of great intensity and truth, transforming them with humor and empathy. Someone is understanding what the ground feels like, what it is to be air or water or a human being. Gerus accepts the costs of perception, and communicates what she has paid so much to find." The St. Paul artist won a 1999 Artist Recognition Award from V S A arts of Minnesota. The exhibit is open in the Depot, 506 West Michigan St., from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1:00 to 5:00 Sundays. For more information, call 218-733-7560 or e-mail dai@cpinternet.com.

Rainbow Pony, a painting by Mari Alice Newman of Minneapolis, is on the cover of the 2003 Snyder Drug calendar. The painting was exhibited and sold at the 2002 Sister Kenny International Exhibit.

Art by six visual artists with disabilities is on display through October at Vision Loss Resources, 1936 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis. The exhibit includes watercolors by Jean Watson of Duluth, Rita A. Soeffner of Clearwater, and Paul Hanson of Mankato; brush marker works by Char Coal of Minneapolis; and tactile mixed media by Suzyn Lundgren, Minneapolis, and Carol O'Connor of Apple Valley. The works are for sale. A new exhibit will go up in November. If you are an artist with a disability and are interested in a 4-month exhibit, stipend and opportunity to have your work seen and possibly sold, send information about your work along with slides/photos if possible to V S A arts of Minnesota, or e-mail to jon@vsaartsmn.org. Contact us also if your organization would like to sponsor an exhibit of artwork by children or adults with disabilities.

Apollo Resource Center in Saint Paul will host its 8th Annual Art Exhibit, "Artability at Apollo," October 3-5. A community-based self-help center serving adults recovering from mental illness, Apollo is one of 28 programs of People Incorporated. The exhibit is one way to share the successes of people who have grown creatively in a welcoming, safe and encouraging environment.

This year more than 40 artists will fill the exhibit with paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography, poetry, and music. It is free and open Thurs.-Fri. from 5:00 to 9:00 and Saturday from noon to 6:00 at 25 N. Dale Street, Saint Paul. For more information, call 651-227-6321.

Art by Minnesota visual artists with disabilities will help draw attention to National Disability Employment Awareness Month (October). The Minnesota Department of Human Services and V S A arts of Minnesota sought original artwork exploring the idea that people with disabilities are able to work in a variety of settings. Two works of art will be selected to use as posters for the public awareness campaign. A public reception will celebrate the artists and artwork on Thursday, Oct. 24, from 2:00-4:00 at the Department of Human Services, 444 Lafayette Road North, Saint Paul. For details, call Kristi at V S A arts of Minnesota.

Friday, November 1. is the deadline for applying for the 2003 V S A arts Panasonic Young Soloist Awards. Outstanding young vocalists or instrumentalists age 25 or younger with disabilities will receive national recognition, scholarship funds to pursue studies in music, a trip to Washington, DC and a performance opportunity at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which could pave the way to additional performance opportunities. The annual award is sponsored by the Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company. The application requires a brief autobiography and a sample performance on a video/audio tape or CD. For an application packet, contact V S A arts Panasonic Young Soloist Award, 1300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20036; 800-933-8721, tty 202-737-0645; e-mail soloists@vsarts.org, or go to V S A arts (www.vsarts.org). Materials are available in alternative formats.

You can find "the house at the end of the rainbow" at 51st & Penn in Minneapolis. You'll know which house it is. No gold, unfortunately - after all, this is an artist's home.

At age six Mari Alice Newman was selling artwork on this street while other kids hawked lemonade. She has taken a few art courses here and there on ceramics, neon signs, glass, but basically is a self-taught artist using acrylic, tempura, watercolor crayon and color pencil. These media cover canvases, chairs, shopping carts, pop cans, sidewalks, siding, tree stumps and sculptures. Color? She likes color.

Legally blind, Mari finds it tough - like most artists - to make a living, despite being accepted into galleries and museums across the country. She has won contests (V S A Artist Recognition, Sister Kenny, among others), sold work to famous people (LeRoy Neiman, a mentor; Robyne Robinson), made a trainmobile series for Bruegger's Bagels, done murals (Dunn Bros. 50th & Xerxes), and soon will be a cover girl (cover art, rather, on the 2003 Snyder Drug calendar).

All the colors in the rainbow, in all combinations, appear as designs and creatures that come out of her head ("they're nicer than humans"). Her house is a work-in-progress, and she can always use donations to help buy supplies to paint more of it. She, too, has donated to many causes, like the Folk Art Society. You can find her work at the White Oak Gallery, Edina; Gallery 360, South Minneapolis; and Artlines Gallery, Saint Anthony Main.

Artworks by 14 Minnesota artists with disabilities were viewed by hundreds of staff and visitors at the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis during July. The Tip of the Iceberg exhibit in the Waterfall (Hennepin) Gallery featured: St. Paul: Brently Michael Davis, D. Costandine, Jane Gerus, Theresa Wanta; Minneapolis.: Tara Arlene Innmon, Howard Carson, Anne Krocak, Mari Newman; St. Louis Park: Dennis Behr; Hibbing: Jennifer Hanson; Clearwater: Rita Soeffner; Roseville: Jon Leverentz; Floodwood: Danny Gayder; and Park Rapids: John Hummingbird.

Here is what passersby said:
Wow… On the way to an office here, filled with dread and stress, I see this!! Thank you!
I really enjoyed the Candle Light painting.
Terrific - especially Dennis Behr's work!
Our favorite was Buttoned up with the truth.
What an inspiration!
Excellent work. The Gaming Shirt is phenomenal! Layers of thought/feeling.
Also Crossing Styx. Very provocative.
The works by Rita Soeffner, Howard Carson and Brently M. Davis are beautiful.
Desert Hill is really great!
Art students from Studio 7 loved the work. We liked Zodiak, Stagnation and Reflection the best.
Good show of diversity of art!
Some wonderful pieces!
Thank you - so much soul! Keep up the good work.
Thank you to all the artists who contributed to this wonderful exhibition.
I was very impressed with all pieces. Thank you for sharing your art.
Very powerful!
Thanks so much! It's always great to see my work out in the real world instead of stockpiled in my basement. I've been telling passersby "This is my work!" I especially love "The Beetle" and enjoyed everything by Anne Krocak.

Thanks to Paul Puerzer, V S A arts of Minnesota board member who arranged the exhibit with the Hennepin County Public Relations office.

Individuals can support favorite nonprofit organizations financially by writing a check to the organizations or giving through payroll deductions to a federated fund like United Way, United Arts, Federal Combined Campaign, etc.

If your employer offers one of these annual giving campaigns, you can pledge all or a portion of your donation to, for instance, V S A arts of Minnesota.
You can make that designation anonymously or you can indicate that your name be passed on to our organization. Either way, your workplace donation will go towards making the arts accessible to Minnesota children and adults with disabilities.

This past year, after United Way and United Arts deducted administrative costs of just under 10%, V S A arts of Minnesota received nearly $2,500 in designated fund donations. Thank you! Please consider this workplace option during the coming months.

Two ongoing funders of V S A arts of Minnesota this summer provided continuing support of our efforts to make the arts available and accessible to Minnesotans with disabilities. The Jerome Foundation awarded a two-year grant of $35,000. And United Arts increased its support for the Access to Theatre project from $12,000 to $14,775 for the coming year. We heartily thank both organizations!

by Craig Dunn, Executive Director V S A arts of Minnesota.

In August I celebrated my 10th anniversary as Executive Director of V S A arts of Minnesota. It has been a decade of great organizational renewal and growth as well as a period of personal pride and satisfaction. With the help of great volunteer board and committee members, partners in schools, arts and disability organizations, and for the past three years, other staff members, V S A arts of Minnesota has been a vibrant, effective and important "player" serving people with disabilities throughout the state.

But so much remains to be done! Children and young people with disabilities continue to have fewer opportunities than their non-disabled peers to participate in creative and engaging arts activities both in schools and in their communities. Far too many Minnesotans with disabilities still are unable to find work as visual artists, writers and performers. Finally, performance halls and exhibit venues continue to be inaccessible because of physical, program or cost barriers.

Like the peacemakers, the staff and volunteers at V S A arts of Minnesota hope someday to be out of work. But until our galleries, stages, classrooms and media are fully accessible to all, our work will be cut out for us. Given that, I look forward to an even busier and more successful next decade of service to the people of Minnesota through my leadership of this fine organization.

P.S. Do you know how your elected state representatives feel about funding for the arts? Approximately 6% of V S A arts of Minnesota's funding comes from the Minnesota legislature. Make sure that your elected officials support funding for the arts as you consider your vote later this fall.