
Title: Elements of Cultural Access

Presenters: Bonnie S. Kaplan, Director of Cultural Access, VSA MA
		  	bsk@vsamass.org
Janice Hastings, Executive Director, VSA arts of NH
   	vsanh@ix.netcom.com
   
   VSA arts of Massachusetts
   China Trade Center
   2 Boylston Street
   Boston, MA  02116

   617-350-7713 (Voice)
   617-350-6836 (TTY)
   617-482-4298 (Fax)

Level: Introductory

Type of Session: Round Table

Session Strand: Inclusion (also appropriate for program strength)

Session Track: Affiliate and Partner Staff (Interested Board Members welcome)

Session Description: This session introduces the VSA arts Cultural Access Initiative and starting points others used to state initiatives.  We will cover the elements of a successful partnership.  including the state arts council and representatives of the disability community.  Participants will receive a description of available resources for training and program development.

Content Description:  

Participants will receive a hand out listing key program elements and resource information.  Using a PowerPoint presentation, participants will learn about various successful approaches to cultural access program development employed by affiliates and partners.  We will enumerate the elements of effective CAI partnerships and introduce the resource available for program development.




Learner Outcomes:

1) Participants will become aware of the elements of cultural access programming and the resources and training available for developing initiatives.
2) Participants will identify possible starting points and potential partners for new or reinvigorated initiatives.

Suggestions for Session Evaluation Questionnaire:

1) Have you ever attended or sponsored an event involving people who are Deaf-Blind?  No__   Yes, Attended___  Presented____  
2) What Cultural Access Resources do you believe will be helpful in promoting cultural access in your state? (we could provide a list based on session content with options of Yes, no and don't know)
3) Who are potential partners for cultural access programming in your state?
4) Would you be interested in participating in the Cultural Access Institute?  Yes___  No___


Source of Information:
 
VSA arts of Massachusetts has promoted cultural access programs for twenty years. VSA arts of New Hampshire has developed a successful statewide Cultural Access Initiative and has identified a variety of starting points organizations can use to launch their own initiatives.

VSA MA is a leader in the movement to include people with disabilities in the cultural life of our communities. In partnership with the Massachusetts Cultural Council, VSAM has helped create award-winning innovations in accessible programming at hundreds of Massachusetts' cultural organizations. Over $5 million in programs exploring new ways to engage people with have been produced since the inception of the ADA Cultural Access Mini Grants in 1994.  For over 11 years VSAM has chronicled the movement toward full access in the arts and culture for people with disabilities in Access Expressed!, a newsletter reaching 20,000 people in print and alternative formats.  In 1998, a grant from the Department of Commerce enabled us to launch www.accessexpressed.net, an interactive web site to supporting cultural access.  This site is receiving 100,000 hits each year. VSAM also publishes a directory of access features in Massachusetts' cultural facilities and soon  we will release a directory featuring the accessibility of the premier cultural facilities in the entire six-state New England Region. VSA arts of Massachusetts conducts the VSA arts National Cultural Access Initiative on behalf of the international VSA arts network.  Through a series of training conferences in Massachusetts teams from 29 states have joined the effort.  As part of this initiative VSA MA, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts,  is documenting the successful application of Universal Design theory to the art of cultural program presentation. We will produce videotape that can be used to introduce the concepts of Universal Design and the technologies and services of cultural access to presenters.  We are collaborating with jazz vocalist Lisa Thorson to produce and tour an inclusive multi-media performing art experience called JazzArtSigns.  We will also use footage introducing Live Captioned Theater produced in a Community Collaboration project  with Wheelock Family Theater.

VSA arts of New Hampshire is the second affiliate to hire a full time Access Coordinator.  In collaboration with the Portsmouth Music Hall, VSA NH is presenting JazzArtSigns this June and promoting the use of Audio Description in a project for 2004.

