Arts Access Newsletter September 2005

Two musicians who have been blind since birth will bring their exceptional musical talents to Hopkins High School’s new stage on Saturday, September 17 at 7:00 PM. Tony DeBlois, an internationally touring pianist and vocalist from Massachusetts, and Lucy Sirianni, a 16-year-old vocalist from Saint Paul, are performing as a benefit for VSA arts of Minnesota and Young Audiences of Minnesota to present artist residencies and other collaborative arts programs at the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind in Faribault.

The concert will open with Lucy Sirianni, who earlier this year won second place in the Joyce Walsh Young Artists’ Competition, a national contest for teenage musicians with disabilities. As a result she performed at the National Federation of Music Clubs conference in Austin, Texas. Lucy will perform operatic repertoire, perhaps including some of the roles she has sung at the Ars Musica Summer Institute in Minneapolis, including Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare, Mozart’s Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, and the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro. Lucy plans to study music at a conservatory and major in vocal performance so that she can become a professional opera singer. She states, "I’m also interested in teaching voice. There is no question that I want to pursue music as a career!"

Tony DeBlois’ exceptional musical talents surfaced early in his life, shortly after he was diagnosed with autism. He plays 20 instruments and has a repertoire of over 8,000 songs. Since graduating with honors from the Berklee College of Music in Boston he has led an improvisational jazz ensemble and performed solo shows internationally, including Ireland, Taiwan and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. His sixth CD, Some Kind of Genius, will come out in October, as will the book Some Kind of Genius: The Extraordinary Journey of Musical Savant Tony DeBlois (Rodale Books).

Benefit tickets can be purchased from VSA arts of Minnesota, 612-332-3888 (V/TTY), or Young Audiences of Minnesota, 651-292-3399, which can take credit card orders. Advance tickets are $25 for adults, $15 for children and seniors. At the door tickets will be $35. $10 of each ticket is tax-deductible. If you are unable to attend but wish to support the arts programs at the Academy in Faribault, you can use the donation form and designate MSAB.

Concert sponsors are Schmitt Music, State Services for the Blind and Vision Loss Resources. Braille programs, Audio Description and ASL interpreting will be provided. Real-time captioning will be available if requested by September 9th.

Tony and Lucy are featured in the August Access Press (www.accesspress.org) and may be featured on a live segment of KARE-11 TV on the morning of the concert.

Hopkins High School is located at 2400 Lindbergh Drive in Minnetonka. From Highway 169 take the Cedar Lake Road exit (2 mi. south of 394), go west half a mile to Lindbergh Drive and turn right (north) to the school.

For more information go to Young Audiences of Minnesota (www.youngaudiencesofmn.org), or Tony DeBlois Home Page (www.tonydeblois.com).

Four Minnesota individuals and two arts organizations received the 8th annual Arts Access Awards from VSA arts of Minnesota for their outstanding efforts in making the arts accessible to people with disabilities. The awards were presented July 26 at the 15th anniversary celebration of the Americans with Disabilities Act at the Earle Brown Heritage Center.

Outstanding Individuals Actively Promoting Access to the Arts for People with Disabilities:
Jimmie Hanson is a Minneapolis musician and accessibility advocate. A social worker at Sister Kenny, he has volunteered on many boards: VSA arts of Minnesota, Metro Council on Independent Living, Accessible Space, Inc., Minneapolis Advisory Committee on People with Disabilities, etc.
Char Coal, a Minneapolis visual and performing artist, founded the 2005 Mental Health Conference & Expo at Minneapolis Community & Technical College, which included a large exhibit by artists with mental illness. Her artwork was featured on the Ready, Willing and Disabled posters distributed by the Minnesota Department of Human Services. She has led music workshops for adults with disabilities, served on numerous boards and won awards for her art, photography and public speaking.

Outstanding Arts Educators of Students with Disabilities:
Rilyn Colucy has led ground-breaking artist-in-residence projects at the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind in Faribault. She has invited performing artists, puppeteers, a photographer and a movie maker to work with every student. By collaborating with the artists to address IEPs and academic standards, she has seen improvements in students’ self-esteem, respect, responsibility, empowerment and knowledge.

Lee Schwanke, Saint Paul, an art specialist at Dowling Urban Environmental Learning Center, Minneapolis, has built many staff collaborations to gain a better understanding of the needs of student with disabilities. He designs art activities to help students meet IEP goals, works with occupational and physical therapists to create adapted art tools for students with limited motor skills, and employs a variety of instructional strategies and multisensory experiences to achieve student involvement. A mentor of student teachers, he is working with others on establishing certification for art teachers of students in special ed.

Organizations Actively Promoting Access to the Arts for People with Disabilities:
Mixed Blood Theatre for 30 years has addressed artificial barriers to succeeding in society while promoting successful pluralism through content and example. In recent years its commitment to accessibility has resulted in a new ramp into its historic Minneapolis Firehouse, performances with ASL interpreting, Audio Description and the first Captioning program in Minnesota theatres (developed by Robin Gillette) and plays (The Boys Next Door, Sweet Nothing in My Ear, The History of Bowling, The Deaf Duckling, Cloud Cuckooland) that include actors with disabilities and address topics of group home living, deaf children born to hearing parents, AIDS and other disability issues.

KFAI Radio Without Boundaries (90.3 FM Minneapolis, 106.7 FM Saint Paul) broadcasts the weekly “Disabled and Proud” show, begun by Martha Hage and continued by Sam Jasmine, that discusses disability culture, features an Artist of the Month and lists accessible performances. Its Community Access program, the Wave Project, enabled students with disabilities to share their experiences and reflections. KFAI also works with and gives tours to groups that empower people like Access to Employment, Opportunity Partners, Kaposia, Inc.

Journalist John Hockenberry, whose parents live in Albert Lea, was the Cargill keynote speaker at the 15th anniversary celebration of the ADA, attended by over 600 people on July 26th.

The event, a collaboration of disability organizations, featured exhibits, speakers, workshops and performances by Kevin Kling, Rebecca Kragnes and Ted Brown.

Dean J. Seal of Minneapolis has written Church & Stage: Producing Theater for Education, Praxis, Outreach, and Fundraising (Cowley Publications (www.cowley.org), ISB 1-56101-233-5, $16.90, Phone: 800-225-1534). Seal, a past executive director of the Minnesota Fringe Festival, this year produced a Spiritual Fringe addition to the 11-day festival.

LeAnne Nelson Dahl has written her first book, You Walk Pretty, published in July ($11.95, Publish America/You Walk Pretty - http://www.publishamerica.com/shopping/shopsearch.asp). She will read and sign books at Royce Place, 1515 44th Ave NE, Columbia Heights, on Saturday, September 17, 9:30 AM to 11 AM and 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Her poetry expresses her feelings about living with cerebral palsy, her parents, faith, turning 64, and her tenacious search for independence. Dahl worked as a lobbyist and activist for adults and children with disabilities for PACER Center and wrote for Access Press.

Lane McKiernan, a performance artist from Minneapolis, participated in “At Least One Shoe,” a four-woman Spoken Word showcase at the Minnesota Fringe Festival. A past VSA Artist Recognition Grant recipient, she worked with staff to make Intermedia Arts the Fringe’s first scent-free venue.

Naomi Cohn, a Saint Paul poet, was one of two artists accepted for a three-week residency this summer at Pine Needles, a program of the Science Museum of Minnesota St Croix Watershed Research Station. She worked to complete Creatures and Landscapes, a manuscript of poems using the lens of insect life to examine human culture. Naomi was a 2004 Artist Recognition grantee.

Amy Rice, arts coordinator at Spectrum Community Mental Health, Minneapolis, was one of six winners in the 2nd annual Dunn Bros Coffee Local Flavor Art Contest with her artwork, “Coffee & Contemplation.” Their website, Dunn Bros Coffee/Local Flavor Art Contest (www.dunnbros.com/artcontest.asp), pictures 2004 winners including Mari Alice Newman’s “Java! It grows on you.” Winning art was sold to benefit local nonprofits.

Rachel Parker, Minneapolis, is one of five recipients of the Phillips Award, presented annually by Courage Center. Parker, a 2004 Jaehny recipient, works part-time at PACER Center and has long been an advocate and mentor for people with disabilities and an awareness trainer for businesses, live theater venues, museums and other organizations. She and the other Phillips Award winners were honored August 27 at the Celebration of Courage gala at the Medtronic Headquarters in Fridley, where Trisha Meili (the Central Park Jogger) received the 2005 National Courage Award.

Two Deaf writers from Saint Paul will present an ASL Poetry Reading September 14 at 6:00 at the College of Saint Catherine, 2004 Randolph Avenue, Saint Paul. Cara Barnett, an instructor at Metro Deaf School and St. Kate’s, creates rhyme and prose in the form of hand shapes and space to convey her poems. Also reading is John Lee Clark, publisher of The Tactile Mind Press and recipient of a 2003 Artist Recognition Grant and other writing awards. The free event is cosponsored by SASE: The Write Place. For more information: 612-822-2500.

Donovan Durham’s lithographs and monoprints are featured through Sept. 9 at Highpoint Center for Printmaking, 2638 Lyndale Avenue S in Minneapolis. See August 12 Star Tribune article. For more information: 612-871-1326 or Interact Center, 612-339-5145.

Janet Paone, a legally blind performer, stars in the new show at Plymouth Playhouse: Church Basement Ladies. For more information: 763-553-1600 or Plymouth Playhouse (www.plymouthplayhouse.com).

Talented young musicians with disabilities can now apply for the VSA arts Young Soloist Award. Four finalists will receive $5,000 each and a chance to perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. in spring 2006

You are eligible if you are (A) an individual musician (instrumental or vocal) with a disability, age 25 and under, OR (B) a musical ensemble of two to eight members (any ensemble: rock band, chamber ensemble, drum corps...). At least one member of the ensemble must have a disability, and all must meet the age requirement. All types of music are accepted: rock, pop, classical, country/folk, hip hop/rap, jazz, R&B/blues, Latin, etc

For more information about disabilities that apply, see VSA arts’ Disability Awareness Guide (http://www.vsarts.org/x523.xml).

The application deadline is December 1. For application materials, go to VSA arts - 2006 Young Soloists Award Call for Entries (www.vsarts.org/x1485.xml). Direct inquiries and submissions to:
VSA arts Young Soloists Award,
818 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 600,
Washington, DC 20006,
202-628-2800, ext. 3889, or 800-933-8721; Fax: 202-429-0868; TTY 202-737-0645; info@vsarts.org.

A new Arts Ambassador Program is designed to bring artists with disabilities into classrooms around Minnesota for presentations to students ages 14-21 with and without disabilities. Arts Ambassadors will talk about or demonstrate their work in the arts, providing their audience of students and teachers a positive and real model of a person with a disability.

These presentations will offer new options to transition-age students who have had limited exposure to particular art forms and who are beginning to prepare for adult life pursuits. Arts Ambassadors will offer students a new look at the diversity of people with whom they may work or recreate as adults. Students and educators will be able to identify a variety of resources available through VSA arts of Minnesota and its partners. One example is Putting Creativity to Work: Careers in the Arts for People with Disabilities, created by VSA arts and published by the Social Security Administration in 2000. Each participating school will receive an electronic copy.

At each presentation an Artist Ambassador will speak about or demonstrate his or her art form and answer students’ questions. Kristi Gaudette, VSA arts education coordinator, will share information about other artists with disabilities and materials available. She will work with a designated teacher at each school to arrange accommodations based on disability, age and classroom setting. Schools will be charged a nominal fee to offset a portion of project expenses.

Each student attending a presentation will complete a brief pre- and post-survey to assess their awareness of disabilities in general, of the activities of people with disabilities in the arts and of their feelings about people with disabilities. In addition, teachers will be asked to complete a questionnaire on issues of curricular relevance, age and ability appropriateness and suggestions for improvement.

Teachers or school administrators can arrange for a visit by an Arts Ambassador by calling Kristi Gaudette at 612-332-3888 or 800-801-3883.

Meet the Arts Ambassadors

Michael Deutsch, Keyboardist Extraordinaire

For the past several years Michael the "Hook" Deutsch has concentrated his musical talents on the study and performance of the Blues. Its artistic and musical value has always been an integral part of his work as a musician. He also designs abstract soundscapes, painting sounds improvisationally via computer-based sequencing for video, documentary film, and commercial/industrial use. His numerous awards include two V S A arts Artist Recognition grants, three Minnesota Music Awards and the W.C. Handy award. In the classroom, he plays the piano and talks to students, passing on "POSITIVE" vibes to embellish their sense of self-worth. His piano talent is a result of years of practice, patience and wanting to excel at his chosen lifestyle. He sees his disability as a mere curveball in life, a challenge he has come to accept, and believes that by recognizing daily challenges, we can overcome them. He encourages students to establish goals and gather all the information they can around themselves in order to reach that goal.

Alissa Hullett, Multi-media Visual Artist

Alissa Hullett has an extensive background as an art teacher in schools and community settings. She works across a variety of media -- drawing, painting, watercolor, acrylic, printmaking, sculpture, mixed media, mosaics, weaving, etc.
Motivated by sharing her love of art, Alissa will engage a small group of students in hands-on art-making activities. Students will warm up with a self-expression drawing exercise to get the creative juices flowing, then introduce students to a paste paper activity which can be used to make books. She will demonstrate three book-making techniques.With larger groups of students, she will demonstrate a simple printmaking technique. She will invite students to participate in a dialog about the importance of the arts, using visual images as a catalyst. She can also design presentations around watercolor or collage concepts and activities.

Bob Saxon, Sculptor

After growing up on a farm near Worthington, Bob Saxon studied painting and sculpture at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, the University of Minnesota and St. Cloud State University. He has been a professional artist, a teacher and a media specialist. His work has been displayed in Minnesota and elsewhere and is part of various public and private collections. His River Egg Studio is located on the banks of the Mississippi River in Elk River.
Bob says, “For the past 30 plus years I have been involved with the study of organic growth patterns which are manifested visually in my paintings, concrete structures and more recently in mixed media pieces. I look forward to sharing my artistic knowledge and experience with the students, but more importantly I look forward to what I will learn from the uninhibited minds of the young people I hope to work with across the state.”
With a small group of students, Bob will select hands-on activities depending on the setting and the teachers’ and students’ interest and need.

Alec Sweazy, Musician Piano/Accordion

Alec Sweazy is a 2004 graduate of McNally Smith College of Music (formerly Musictech College) in St. Paul, where he earned a diploma in the Professional Musicians Keyboard Course. Performing on piano and accordion, he plays a repertoire of classical, jazz, pop, and contemporary, as well as spontaneous, original compositions. Alec, who has Williams syndrome, made his passion for music known at a very early age, attending group lessons at age six on keyboard and singing in solfege (do, re, mi). Alec has received several awards and scholarships, and been featured in news programs and documentaries. He continues to study privately on piano and accordion, and also sings baritone with the Apollo Male Chorus of Minneapolis.
Given a tuned piano in good condition, Alec will perform several classical pieces and compose one or two new creations on the spot. He can talk about how the accordion works, perform various styles and let students try out a small accordion. He will also talk a little about Williams syndrome.

Carei Thomas, Pianist/Composer/Educator

Carei Thomas has been associated for years with the music, literary, visual arts, dance, recovery, neighborhood and Buddhist communities of the Twin Cities. He is known for his spiritual energy, interdisciplinary vision and creativity. In the words of Carleton Macy, music professor at Macalester College, “Carei brings with him an infectious sense of community and unity of purpose which is likewise communicated in his music.”
Carei will work with students to compose mini pieces using their names. They will experiment with an ABC structure using students’ mini-compositions to illustrate A, then B, then A again of a larger composition. He and the students will expand these compositions using numbers above notes to define rhythmic accent. These designs can be transcribed to standard music notation.

Visual artists with disabilities in Minnesota are encouraged to participate in VSA arts of Minnesota’s newly-designed Gallery Pages on its Web site. As part of an internship project, Britta Beeck designed a new portion of the website to include images of artworks, information about each artwork, biographical information about each artist, and preferred contact info about the artists.

The Gallery Pages will feature past recipients of Artist Recognition Grants as well as other visual artists. Plans are eventually to include writers, performance artists, videographers, and other artists.

The hope is that art buyers and galleries may be able to look at a selection of work by each artist for consideration in their buying or future exhibits. The Gallery Pages will state that artwork images are copyrighted and owned by the artists.

To participate, contact VSA arts of Minnesota, 528 Hennepin Avenue, #305, Minneapolis, MN 55403; jon@vsaartsmn.org. For more information: 612-332-3888 ext. 2 or 800-801-3888 Voice/TTY. Include:

• Short biography about yourself as an artist (we can edit to fit), your preferred contact info, such as address, phone number, email, gallery or artist’s website if available.
• Artwork images, plus their titles, a short visual description of each artwork (to assist people with low vision to visualize your work), dimension (size), medium, and value (cost) if artwork is for sale. The following formats are preferred: JPEG, TIFF, or Photoshop. The file size for one image should not exceed 1 megabyte. Slides and prints are also acceptable; please include return postage.

Join the Gallery Pages today!

VSA arts of Minnesota joins forces with Twin Cities area community organizations and artists to make quality arts classes available and accessible to students with disabilities.

In Minneapolis, Kids in Motion! 2005-06 will be taught by James Sewell Ballet dancer, Brittany Fridenstine, and Shapiro and Smith dancer, Maggie Bergeron. Both have extensive knowledge of dance and of teaching to various abilities.

Founded in the belief that anyone can dance, Kids in Motion! will offer two classes, one for ages 9-13 with a focus on developing technical movement understanding. The second class for ages 13-17 will focus on continuing movement understanding and applying learned tools toward creating a piece of choreography. Both classes will culminate in a performance at the end of the school year.

The class will occur in three six-week sessions throughout the 2005-06 school year. The class is meant to build upon itself, so please register for the first session early; space is limited.

Classes will meet on Tuesday evenings at Anne Sullivan Communication Center, 3100 E. 28th Street, Minneapolis. Level I classes are 6:30 - 7:30; Level II are 7:30 - 8:30:
Session A: September 13, 20, 27, November 1, 8, 15;
Session B: November 29, December 13, January 3, 10, 17, February 21;
Session C: March 7, 21, April 11, May 2, 9, 16.

Class tuition of $75 per trimester is due by first class of each session. For more information, contact Brittany Fridenstine at 612-827-1853 or balloweenie@yahoo.com.

Eden Prairie Parks and Recreation has invited the Northern Clay Center to the southwest metro area to offer students Play with Clay - a hands-on introduction to the rewards of making an art project out of clay. Register early and come with your enthusiasm to learn basic hand-building and glazing techniques. For more information and to register, call Nicole White at Eden Prairie Parks and Recreation, 952-949-8442.

Hastings Community Education is encouraging students with disabilities to join one or both of two classes for grades 5-8.

Free-style Saori Weaving will teach students to weave on special looms from Japan. Dan and Chiaki O’Brien will show the techniques to make your own weaving. All materials will be provided. The class (Sec. 58763A) will be taught at Hastings Senior High, First Floor B Cluster, Saturdays 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM, October 29, November 5, 12, 19. $74.

Adventures in Theatre with Andy Langenfeld and Robin Starch will explore creativity through movement, improvisation and theatre games. Classes (Sec. 58439A) are Mondays, 6:00 to 7:15 p.m., September 26, October 3, 10, at the Hastings Middle School Auditorium. $25.

To register for Hastings classes, make checks payable to Community Education and send to Westview Center, 1355 S. Frontage Road, Suite 150, Hastings, MN 55033, or go online to Hastings Community Education (www.hastings.k12.mn.us/ce).

Britta Beeck (left), a University of Minnesota student, is working to make our Web site more accessible and to add an accessible Artists’ Gallery (see Gallery Pages invite visual artists to Web site).
She presented a workshop on Web site accessibility at the July 26th American with Disabilities (ADA) Celebration.

Mary Anne Kinane, a Master in Arts Administration candidate at Saint Mary’s University, Minneapolis, will work to increase awareness of arts programs available in Minnesota to people with disabilities.

The Arts in Education bill, which is the source for VSA arts funding, is set for a September vote in Congress.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the FY06 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Bill, with $35.7 million for the Department of Education’s Arts in Education program, on July 14. The bill is expected to pass Senate floor votes in September.

Neither the President’s FY06 budget proposal nor the companion bill passed by the House in June provided any funds for the arts in education program. Advocates are looking to House-Senate conferees to agree to fund arts education at the level set by the Senate bill.

Thanks to the Senators who have championed arts education spending in the committee’s deliberations: Sens. Thad Cochran (R-MS), Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Tom Harkin (D-IA).

VSA arts of Minnesota will award six $1,000 grants to Minnesota artists with disabilities through its Artist Recognition Grant Program, funded by the Jerome Foundation. All art disciplines are eligible - visual, performing, written, media, etc. Grant recipients from 2003-04, two-time grant winners and people who prepared artwork for educational credit are not eligible.

The program’s goals are to:

• recognize excellence in arts produced by persons with disabilities;
• provide financial awards and tangible encouragement to artists with disabilities so their work in the arts might continue;
• identify Minnesota artists with disabilities who are dedicated to making arts production and/or presentation a central part of their lives.

The program’s goals and processes are being reexamined by past applicants, grant winners & panelists. A new grant application will be on the website by October 1 and will be mailed to those who have previously requested an application. For a copy, call VSA arts of Minnesota or email jon@vsaartsmn.org. Applications are due Monday, November 14.

The Access to Theatre Project at VSA arts of Minnesota has received renewed funding from COMPAS to assist performing arts organizations in the 11-county metro area who offer Audio Description, American Sign Language Interpreting, or Captioning, and who provide reduced-price tickets to patrons using these services. Additional VSA arts funding covers these services in Greater Minnesota.

Performing organizations can request:
1. Up to $100 per production to assist in hiring an ASL interpreter, Audio Describer or Captioner (maximum $200 per season).
2. Reimbursement of ticket subsidies to patrons using these services up to $7 per person (blind or deaf patron plus one companion) at ALL your accessible performances.

Information and Request Forms are available on our website, by email or mail, as well as a list of other Access to Theatre resources and a monthly calendar of accessible shows. For more information: 612-332-3888 ext. 2 or jon@vsaartsmn.org.