Arts Access Newsletter June 2004

Twelve workshops to help artists with disabilities focus on issues and solutions in their careers are being offered by VSA arts of Minnesota through July.

Individuals in both self-employment and traditional employment situations will be able to use the workshops to help achieve success in the arts by identifying obstacles and resources, understanding the effects of earned income on their health benefits, learning skills in documenting artwork, self-advocacy and marketing, and sharing their artistic expressions with other artists or arts and rehabilitation administrators.

The workshop is one of 12 being presented around Minnesota by Denise Martineau, an award-winning entrepreneur, visual artist, educator, published author, and staff member of VSA arts of Minnesota, whose mission is to help create a society where people with disabilities can learn through, participate in and enjoy the arts. Funding is from the Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation and VSA arts. Participants are requested not to wear perfumes or other strong fragrances. Workshop sites are accessible to people with mobility disabilities.

The workshop fee is $15. To pre-register, call VSA arts of Minnesota at 612-332-3888 or 1-800-801-3883 (voice/tty); fax or mail your contact information to VSA arts of Minnesota, 612-305-0132, 528 Hennepin Avenue # 305, Minneapolis, MN 55403; or contact Denise Martineau at 763-537-7738.

Workshop Schedule:

Saint Paul:
Wednesday, June 2, from 4 PM to 8 PM;
Metro Center for Independent Living, 1600 University Avenue W., Suite 16.

Golden Valley:
Saturday, June 5, from 1 PM to 5 PM;
Courage Center, Education Center Room 1, 3915 Golden Valley Road.

Marshall:
Wednesday, June 23, from 4 PM to 8 PM;
Marshall YMCA Meeting Room, 200 South A Street.

Oakdale:
Saturday, June 26, from 1 PM to 5 PM;
Oakdale Branch Library Meeting Room, 1010 Heron Avenue N.

Bemidji:
Wednesday, June 30, from 4 PM to 8 PM;
Bemidji Regional Library, 509 America Avenue NW.

Moorhead:
Saturday, July 10, from 1 PM to 5 PM;
Moorhead Regional Library, KL Room, 118 S. 5th Street.

Bloomington:
Saturday, July 17, from 1 PM to 5 PM;
Bloomington Art Center Rehearsal Room, 1800 W. Old Shakopee Road.

Duluth:
Thursday, July 22, from 4 PM to 8 PM;
First United Methodist Church, East Lounge, 230 East Skyline Parkway (enter on east side of building).

VSA arts of Minnesota will be hosting its first fundraising event in over 14 years! "Autumn's First Cabaret & Silent Auction" will be held on Sunday, September 26, from 2:00 until 5:00 at the Nicollet Island Pavilion on the Mississippi River just south of the Hennepin Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis.

First announced a year ago, the affair will include delectable desserts, luscious libations and tantalizing treats as well as musical and theatrical presentations by some of Minnesota's best performers with disabilities.

Thanks to readers who have offered in the past few months to volunteer time, talents or donated items for auction! You will hear from either office staff, board members or event volunteers this summer to confirm your original offers of goods, time or talents.

If you are interested in being a silent auction donor or wish to volunteer to work on the silent auction, reception, performance, visual art show, accessibility or logistics, feel free to contact the office at 612-332-3888 or 800-801-3883, v/tty, or e-mail craig@vsaartsmn.org.

Invitations will go out in early August, so watch your mail and join us on Sunday, September 26th for an entertaining way to support artists and people with disabilities in Minnesota.

Springtime with the Arts rhythms were contagious at two April festivals in Eagan and Cambridge, cosponsored by VSA arts of Minnesota with the Community Education departments. Char Coal (right) involved adults with disabilities in improvising with musical rhythms. About 200 people attended the festivals, which also offered classes in theatre, movement and visual art as well as performances.

Thanks to Cambridge-Isanti Community Education (Lori Dusan and staff) and the Project Explore Community Education Consortium for Burnsville, Farmington, Lakeville, Randolph & Rosemount (Derek Appleyard, Beth Coleman & staff) for hosting Springtime with the Arts festivals in April. Workshop presenters were Deb Helmke-Wodtke, Dean Seal, Char Coal, Janet Beard, Joy Purchase, Denise Armstead and Melissa Spurbeck. Chiaki & Dan O'Brien demonstrated Saori loom weaving. Performers included pianists Brandon Lolar and Ted Brown (pictured below), the Merry Music Makers from Anoka-Hennepin, the Special Delivery Singers with the Velvet Tones from Apple Valley, Movement Is Magic from Community Bridge in North Saint Paul, Project Challenge Singers from Saint Cloud, accordianist Jim Roth and VSA arts Executive Director Craig Dunn.

Art by Twin Cities artists and student artists with disabilities is on display through August at Vision Loss Resources, 1936 Lyndale Avenue S. (at Franklin), Minneapolis.

Dennis Behr, Saint Louis Park, is displaying four acrylic works. This summer he will also be exhibited at the Bloomington Art Center (June 26 - August 8) and the Premier Gallery in downtown Minneapolis. Debbie Peil, an artist at Anodyne Artists Co. in St. Paul, shows two acrylic works. Denise Martineau, Minnetonka, presents watercolors representing the forces of nature (various physical forms of energy) and their use in the universe.

Finally, student artists from the Artcycle program in Minneapolis have a large wall of mixed media creations on the theme of Peace. Artcycle is a studio/gallery/shop at the Lehmann Center at 1006 W. Lake Street where students create unique arts/crafts projects out of recycled/found/donated materials. These include greeting cards, clay pins, bracelets, bookmarks, large studio pieces and other products that are marketed around the city.

According to instructor Laura Wright, Artcycle is based on the premise that art can be a rewarding career choice. Students explore many art media and forms, working independently on small projects and cooperatively on larger pieces. Individuality is pursued and encouraged. Much of the work is multicultural in nature, exhibiting the diversity of the student body. Students also attend community art events related to their projects.

For more information on Artcycle, contact Laura Wright at 612-668-3848.
To sponsor and host an exhibit by artists with disabilities, contact VSA arts of Minnesota.

Bridget Riversmith, Duluth (left) and Char Coal, Minneapolis, won the Pathways to Employment poster contest to promote employment of persons with mental illness. Sponsored by the State Department of Human Services and VSA arts of Minnesota, the Ready, Willing and DisAbled posters will be seen all around Minnesota.

The Twin Cities Hot Summer Jazz Festival (June 18-27) will feature these musicians with disabilities at Minneapolis venues:
Michael 'The Hook' Deutsch: Friday, June 25, 11:30 AM-1:00 PM, lunch at Copeland's, 7th & Hennepin;
Joseph Baird: Saturday, June 26, 4:00 PM-5:00 PM at Caribou, 1116 Nicollet;
Carei Thomas: June 27, 2:00 PM-3:15 PM at Dakota Stage, 1010 Nicollet;
For more information: Hot Summer Jazz Festival (www.hotsummerjazz.com).

Stephanie Dawn of Duluth will sing the national anthem at the Metrodome when the Minnesota Twins play Anaheim on Tuesday, August 3 at 7:00. For more information: Minnesota Twins (http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com).

Maureen Pranghofer, Golden Valley, was Artist of the Month on KFAI's Disabled and Proud May 25 radio program. Interviewer Sam Jasmine featured Maureen's new CD Maureen Pranghofer, Maureen's Music (www.maureensmusic.com). The program airs Tuesdays at 7:00 pm on 90.3 fm Minneapolis or 106.7 fm Saint Paul. For archives, go to KFAI Fresh Air Radio (www.kfai.org).
Joe Sorenson will talk about creating one's own employment on the June 8 Disabled and Proud.

Artists from Interact Center for Visual & Performing Arts will be part of an "Imagination and Memory" exhibit June 7-29 at St. Thomas University, O'Shaughnessy Education Center, 2115 Summit Avenue, Saint Paul, and part of the "Fields of Mind" Conference about teaching and learning at the intersection of art and science, June 28-29, at O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library Center.
The Inside-Out Gallery will feature "Transformation: Burn This Show" June 11 through July 24, at Interact, 212 Third Avenue N., Minneapolis Artworks will explore ideas of change, renewal, uncertainty and release. A reception is Friday, June 18, 5 PM-9 PM. For more information: 612-339-5145 x13 or Interact Center for Visual & Performing Arts (www.interactcenter.com).

In February, VSA arts of Minnesota partnered with Young Audiences of Minnesota to deliver an innovative program at the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind in Faribault. The subject was photography, which to many may sound impossible or at least difficult for people who are legally blind to accomplish.

"This residency turned out to be so much more than I ever dreamed possible," said Rilyn Colucy, curriculum director at MSAB. "It opens the door for so many." Rilyn also said that she has been searching for ways for visually impaired students to get involved in the visual arts. "I wanted to do something with photography. I wanted the kids to experience what it's like to take a picture."

It was part of the lesson plan of Barry Kleider, Minneapolis-based photographer and teaching artist, to teach the students at MSAB about photography by creating three-dimensional photo images they could feel with their fingers. The technique, which he helped to develop, uses solar plates to capture images from film using direct sunlight or ultraviolet light. The process usually takes six to eight minutes and leaves a tactile impression on the plates.

Students were given camera, film and the artistic freedom to explore the photographic medium. At the beginning some of the students felt unsure about their abilities, but over the course of several days they became immersed in their arts experience.

"Blind doesn't mean lights out," said Kleider. "A huge number of legally blind people are visual artists."
Results of the two-week residency have been impressive. In addition to making their own photographs and having them on display at the State Capitol and Department of Education, the students have learned about other visually impaired artists and possible career options they hadn't considered before.

Funding for this program was provided by VSA arts, Young Audiences and the Minnesota Department of Education.

Colorful masks were created by students with disabilities at Hazel Park Middle School, under resident artist Amy Ballestad, and later displayed at the State Capitol and Department of Education.

by Linda Back McKay.

Is it May already? When I found out I had been selected as Kristi Gaudette's temporary replacement as Education Coordinator at VSA arts of Minnesota, it was the end of January, one day after I returned from a trip to Mexico. From then on I was off and running! As I've been told many times, Kristi's are big shoes to fill (figuratively, of course). There was the added challenge of having only one day together before the doctor ordered Kristi on bed rest. Dozens of programs to coordinate, events, exhibits and festivals to plan, and the occasional smoldering ember to douse have kept me busy these past months. Ironically, I also taught a VSA arts-sponsored residency during this time, so I was in effect making site visits at my own site. I think that makes me my own grandma or something.

But it is May already. Kristi has a new baby daughter and plans to come back to VSA arts June first. This means my time here is almost finished. I feel honored to have been able to work with people like Craig, Jon and Denise as well as teachers and staff connected with VSA arts partners and friends. Special thanks to Colleen Haggar and Lisa Loeding, Jayne Spain, Mandy Brobst and the other Augsburg students, Marilee Mahler, Teressa and Chris from Galumph, Kate from Young Audiences, Gerry Chapman, Gina Paton and everyone who offered information, support and inspiration. It's all been good.

Who can write a poem? Can a student with a developmental disability? The answer from a mid-winter experience with "Project Imagine-Nation!" is a resounding Yes!

Middle school students with developmental cognitive disabilities at Lake Harriet Community School worked with residency artist Linda Back McKay on a poetry writing project in February called "Project Imagine-Nation!" The class read and discussed poems by poets including Langston Hughes, Valerie Worth and Phebe Hanson. They also enjoyed theatre and movement exercises, wrote group poems, worked on individual projects and worked together in shifts to build the Twin Cities' first Poetry Robot. Another popular activity was "Watercolor Poems," in which students painted a watercolor image and then wrote their own poem inside the painting.

"The wonderful thing about Watercolor Poems," says Linda (AKA the Poetry Diva), "is that everyone can do it. You don't need to be a Picasso and you don't need to be an Emily Dickenson. It's a great artistic experience to make something that pleases you."

Teachers Cary Sifkas and Patrick Burns were wary at first about attempting a poetry writing project with their students.
"We were afraid they wouldn't be able to do it," Patrick said at the culminating performance in which each student in the class read newly created poems aloud to family, school staff and friends. "In many ways it was hard for these kids, but look at what they accomplished! We're so proud of them!"

Teachers, aides and the Poetry Diva worked closely with the students to help them access their creative selves to imagine and write authentic poems about nature, love, friendship and dreams for the future. At the end of the residency, students were given a laminated copy of their own poems and photos of themselves at work during the project. At the final performance, one of the students, Marquez Hobson, presented Back McKay with a treasured "Poetry Diva" version of the booklets.

Watercolor Poems (see picture) from a VSA arts school residency in schools were displayed at Senator Mark Dayton's office near Fort Snelling in April. More student art was displayed in May at the State Capitol and at the Minnesota Department of Education.

Funding was provided by the Minnesota Department of Education and VSA arts.

Singer/guitarist/composer Joseph Baird played at the Augsburg festival for students with disabilities in April.

Hopkins Center for the Arts hosted opportunities for Transition Plus students to try their acting skills.

Clay sculptures were created in a project with Apple Valley Community Education and Northern Clay Center.

The Minnesota State Council on Disability is offering a $500 award to an artist who submits the winning design for a new logo for the organization. Dedicated to serving people with disabilities, the Council wants to enhance and revitalize public awareness of MSCOD's mission by designing a new logo representing its mission.

For contest guidelines, mission statement and contest tips, call 651-296-6785 or visit MSCOD's web-site at Minnesota State Council on Disability, Logo Contest (www.disability.state.mn.us/logocontest.html). Submissions deadline is June 30. The winner will be announced in August and publicly honored at the Annual Disability Awards Luncheon on September 30, when the new logo will be publicly revealed.

Two new dance classes for young people with disabilities will be offered this summer by instructors Brittany and Jody Fridenstine, in collaboration with Ballet Arts of Minnesota and VSA arts of Minnesota. One class is designed for children age 9-14 with special needs, and the second is for young adults (under 21).

The classes will be held July 26 through August 6 at the Hennepin Center for Performing Arts in downtown Minneapolis. The 75-minute classes meet three times per week with a demonstration performance at the end of the program.

This program is funded in part by a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council from an appropriation by the Minnesota Legislature. For registration information, call Brittany (a member of the James Sewell Ballet Company) at 612-827-1853, email balloneenie@yahoo.com, or contact VSA arts of Minnesota.

VSA arts & Volkswagen of America, Inc. are calling for entries to identify promising young artists with disabilities. Awards to 15 finalists, ages 16-25, will include $10,000 grand prize, $5,000 first award, $3,000 second award, and 12 $1,000 awards of excellence. Selected artwork will be exhibited in Washington, D.C. in October and then tour the United States.

The theme, "Driving Force," challenges artists to consider what motivates and inspires creativity. Art must be original (paintings and drawings, fine art prints, photography or two-dimensional mixed media), completed in the last three years and should not exceed 60 inches in either direction.
For more information or to download an application form, go to VSA arts & Volkswagen of America (www.vsarts.org/programs/vw).

The VSA arts Young Soloists Award annually recognizes outstanding musicians with disabilities who have exhibited exceptional talents as vocalists or instrumentalists. Four musicians will receive scholarship funds and perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Some Arts Access readers may recall that Stephanie Dawn, at that time of Bemidji, was one of the award winners in 1995.

To apply for the 2005 Young Soloists Award and make your debut at the nation's cultural center, you must be a vocalist or instrumentalist, age 25 or under (as of the application deadline, November 1, 2004), with a disability (defined as an impairment that substantially limits a major life function).

For more information, go to VSA arts Young Soloists Award (www.vsarts.org/programs/ysp).

VSA arts of Minnesota wishes to send a hearty thank you to Govenaires, Chops Inc. and Minnesota Brass, Inc. for donating $450 to our organization following the Minnesota Drum & Bugle Corps Showcase at Saint Paul's Highland Park High School in mid-April. A special thanks goes out to Brent Turner for making the benefit possible. Singer-songwriter Joseph Baird sang the national anthem and one of his own compositions to open the Showcase.

The International Art Show by Artists with Disabilities was held at Sister Kenny in Minneapolis from April 22 to May 20. On June 2, the Sister Kenny Foundation's annual Art Gala and Auction will be held at the Minnetonka Center for the Arts, 2240 North Shore Drive, Wayzata. Funds raised will benefit the Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute. Honorary Chair is Kevin Kling, named "2003 Actor of the Year" by Minneapolis/Saint Paul Magazine. Donor artists include Linda Karshan, Anthony R. Whelihan, Don Taylor, Dennis Behr, Tim Harding, Karen Neuburger and more. Food, wine, jazz and silent auction items will be available for $25. Call 612-863-4466 or email sisterkenny@allina.com.

The fall issue of Arts Access will feature eight Minnesota artists with disabilities who attend the fourth International VSA arts Festival, June 9-12 in Washington, D.C. Odyssey - Dare to Imagine celebrates the abilities and accomplishments of artists of all ages, disabilities and artforms from 35 countries and each U.S. state. For more information: VSA arts Festival (www.vsartsfestival.org).

Recipients of the 2004 Arts Access Awards were honored by VSA arts of Minnesota on Sunday, February 22 at the Owatonna Arts Center. Recognized for their efforts in making the arts accessible to people with disabilities were (left to right): Kevin Kling, Minneapolis playwright, actor, storyteller, musician; Interact Center for Visual & Performing Arts founder and artistic director Jeanne Calvit, Minneapolis; Allyson Hogan, a high school student from Worthington who won the national VSA arts Playwright Discovery Award; Pat Young, Minneapolis, visual arts program administrator, 26th Street Artists (Spectrum Community Health); and Rachel Parker, Minneapolis, disability rights advocate, accessibility trainer, and parent trainer for PACER Center. Not pictured is Cora Culbert, director of the Range Center Artists and SoHo Artists in Hibbing. Culbert was presented her award in January in Hibbing.

The Jaehny Award sculptures were designed by Joseph Pendergast, who teaches at Anodyne Artists Co. in Saint Paul. Owatonna Arts Center Director Silvan Durban and his volunteers hosted a reception and exhibit of 20 Minnesota artists with disabilities.