Accessible
Arts Newsletter
Fall
2001, Volume 8, Number 2
Our mission is to champion the arts for children with disabilities and advocate access to the arts.
BIG
CHIEFS, BIG ART, BIG NIGHT!
Monday,
November 12, 2001
This is your chance to meet Kansas City Chiefs John Tait, Trent Green, Will Shields, Donnie Edwards and “Snoop” Minnis! And you can help support Accessible Arts at the same time. Tait and his fellow Chiefs will participate in a fundraiser for Accessible Arts on Monday evening, November 12, 2001, at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. “Big Chiefs, Big Art, Big Night” will begin at 6:30 PM and feature your favorite football players painting original works of art. As guests mingle throughout the gallery enjoying hors d’oeuvres, complimentary drinks and contemporary art, the Chiefs will be hard at work painting. Later in the evening, there will be a “wet paint” auction of their newly created artwork. Admission is only $35 per person and is open to the public. All of the proceeds from this wonderful event will go directly to Accessible Arts.
The United Way has a commercial that says, “The strongest muscle in the NFL is the heart.” We found that to be true with Chief’s left tackle John Tait. On August 21, 2001, Tait held a press conference announcing the formation of his own foundation. Tait has chosen to focus his energies on children and the arts and selected Accessible Arts as one of the primary beneficiaries. Accessible Arts is thrilled and proud to be associated with Tait and we join him in his enthusiasm for the arts and their importance to children.
Please join us for “Big Chiefs, Big Art, Big Night.” Call (913) 281-1133 for more information or make your reservation by sending a check by November 6th to: The John Tait Foundation, 10400 Flint Street, Overland Park, KS 66214.
To the rhythmic beat of drums, flashing feet of dancers, and swirling costumes-in a tumult of sight, sound, and reverberation-seventy-five children, twenty-nine professional and amateur performers, fifty volunteers and two hundred twenty-five spectators clapped in rhythm for the glorious culmination of 99 Drums!
The 99 Drums Musical & Cultural Camp was held the third week of April on the campus of the Kansas State School for the Blind. Children with and without disabilities from Kansas City, Olathe, Bonner Springs, Wichita, Lawrence and Leavenworth attended. 99 Drums featured hands-on music and dance workshops exploring the arts, history, customs and food of West African, Native American, Mexican and Caribbean cultures. Everyone had fun and it was a learning experience for children, volunteers, professionals, and staff. Volunteers came from as far away as Wichita to assist in directing and accompanying students throughout the program. For many participants, 99 Drums was a first experience in dormitory living, dining room meals, multi-cultural drumming and dancing classes, and inclusive arts. From multi-cultural food to arts experiences to group discussions each evening around the Village Circle, 99 Drums was an immersion in interesting and connecting experiences and relationships.
Participating artists included: Artistic Director Bird Fleming, Pat Conway, Vanessa Gibbs and Jaisson Taylor (Traditional Music Society); Ira Toshavik, Toni Tsatoke and Jay Mule (Pelathe Center); and Rose Marie Mendez (Fiesta Mexicana).
99 Drums was generously sponsored by Kansas Arts Commission, Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation, Sisters of Loretto, State Street Foundation and Farmland Foundation.
Will there be another 99 Drums? Major programming commitments have already been made for 2002; however, there is a strong possibility 99 Drums could make a comeback in the spring of 2003! If you know of students or volunteers who might like to participate in the next 99 Drums, please call Accessible Arts at (913) 281-1133 and we’ll include them on the mailing list.Wish List
Acrylic paints
(including white)
Model magic clay (by Crayola)
Clay tools
Poster board
Children’s scissors
Glue (Elmer’s)
Sponge brushes (assorted sizes)
‘Specialty scissors’ (w/pattern blades)
Heavy duty wooden easels for painting
Picture frames of all sizes
Lights that clamp on tables
Musical instruments - all types and sizes
Unusual beads - various sizes and shapes
Feathers - various sizes and colors
Children’s costumes, hats, masks
1/2" & 1" white 3-ring binders (w/plastic insert front/spine)
New or newer used
copier (2-sided, sort, reduce/enlarge, 2 paper trays)
Refrigerator (frost free, w/freezing compartment)
Hat Rack/Clothes Tree
Free long distance phone line
Volunteers Needed To Help With:
Bulk mailings
General filing
Copying / folding brochures
Reading for visually impaired staff
Staff transportation
Photo album maintenance
Library management
Training in Word, Excel, Netscape Messenger, Filemaker Pro (for Macintosh)
We encourage you to check out our website at www.accessiblearts.org. We continue to post current information about our programming and other projects.
One of our latest programs is the Cultural Access Initiative which is a process to determine the physical and programmatic accessibility of cultural venues and to advertise that information. This facilitates participation in the arts by all members of the general public.
Under
the “Cultural Access” section you will find:
Under “What We Do” you’ll find:
Check it out and give us your feedback!
A Day of CaringAccessible Arts’ offices needed trim and paint work and dedicated volunteers heeded the call. On the annual Day of Caring, six Sprint PCS employees and friends came forth with paint brushes, buckets, and cell phones; ready to work. “Frog Green” soon covered door trims, “Lazuli Blue” completed work in the kitchen and the entry was given an airy touch of light blue.
What a learning experience the crew had when Accessible Arts Program Director Tina Blatter climbed a ladder to finish the highest, most awkward area of trim. It quickly became apparent to the workers that Tina doesn’t let her visual impairment affect her activities very much.
After trimming, painting, a pizza break, socializing while working, and picture taking, the crew left with their paint areas cleaned up, tarps folded, and all made ready for our next day of work. Many thanks to Sprint PCS, Stacy Nagy, Geoff Schallare, Tom Eichinger, Shiela Lefebvre, Brian Tindell, and Sandy Dolan for a job well done!
The
following are exceprts from Dr. Howard Martin’s remarks upon acceptance
of the Accessible Arts 2000 Distinguished Service Award in Arts & Disabilities.
On the southwest coast of New Zealand, my native land, there is a small church
that has in it one of the most beautiful windows in the world. The window is
beautiful not because of the designs on its surface but because of what you
can see when you look through it. If you stand inside the church you look out
on a gorgeous landscape of mountain, glacier, forest, valley and river. If you
stand outside the church looking in, there are times when you can see a candle
glowing there—a symbol of the eternal energies of life, light, and love.
The window of the church of St James provides us with a way of talking about the arts. The arts are the window through which light passes from the soul of the world to the soul of the person and back again. This is a proposition that is not testable in any objective way but has nevertheless proven to be true over the course of 50 centuries of human history. Allow me to give you two examples of how I have come to see it as true for myself.
I have a sister named Olive who lived with MPS—Hurler’s Syndrome, an enzymal condition that caused multiple severe mental and physical disabilities. She grew typically for a while, then began to change in ways that were both mysterious and distressing. She died from complications of her disabities when she was 10 years old. One of Olive’s gifts was a beautiful singing voice. She received light from the soul of the world through her family’s music-making and she returned light from her own soul in the form of songs that were sweet and true. Her voice was an expression of pure joy. In the last few months of her life, when her own ability to sing had faded away, her eyes would light up as we sang the songs she knew and her lips would shape the words that she could no longer speak. Her art was deeper than thoughts could ever be.
Let
me tell you about Brian Henderson. He is fifteen years old, a student at Richmond
Middle School, and happens to have significant cognitive disabilities. Among
Brian’s gifts is the gift of dance. He loves to dance. And that is why
he was selected to play the role of Tom in a play called “Bless Cricket,
Crest Toothpaste, and Tommy Tune” that was performed by the students at
Richmond High School last April. Brian has received light from the world’s
soul in the form of a play and a teacher who recognized and affirmed his special
gifts. He passed the light back through his pure delight in playing the role.
And Brian’s delight became the delight of the whole cast.
The
Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard, once said: “Life’s blessings
are woven from the blossoms of the moment.” Every time a child experiences
the light from the world’s soul, every time he passes it back from his
own, every time she sings or dances or paints, a flower blossoms. It is from
such blossoms that the true blessing of life is woven. No person is incapable
of such experiences and therefore every one of us can know life’s blessing.
That is why I see the work of Accessible Arts as so vital to all our children and especially those whose abilities are different and whose gifts are more hidden. That is why I am honored to be recognized as a partner in what you are doing. Encouraged by this award, I pledge myself to keep working with you to bring the life-affirming experience of art to all children.
Nominate
Your Choice for
ACCESSIBLE ARTS
2001 Kansas Educator of the Year
in
Arts & Disabilities
Do you know an outstanding individual who has made a difference in the lives of children with disabilities through the arts? Perhaps a teacher, therapist, community member or artist?
The Honors Committee of Accessible Arts and the Kansas State Board of Education invite you to take a moment to think of someone who is deserving and nominate them for the 2001 Educator of the Year Award.
Selection is based on the following criteria:
1. COMMITMENT
to arts opportunities for children with disabilities.
2. CONTRIBUTION to integrating arts into basic education of children
with disabilities.
3. DEMONSTRATION of innovative teaching strategies.
4. INVOLVEMENT & LEADERSHIP in the community working directly with
children with disabilites.
5. ADVOCACY and program development efforts.
TO NOMINATE
1. Please complete
the following nomination form.
2. Attach the following:
DEADLINE for submission of Nominations is December 31, 2001.
NOMINATION FORM
Name
of Nominee_________________________
Title/Position_____________________________
Telephone (Day)__________________________
(Eve)___________________________________
Agency/Business/School____________________
Address_________________________________
_______________________________________
Your
Name(Nominator)_____________________
Title/Position_____________________________
Telephone (Day)__________________________
(Eve)___________________________________
Agency/Business/School____________________
Address_________________________________
Send
Nominatons to:
Accessible Arts, Inc., 1100 State Ave., Kansas City, KS 66102-4411
Please call (913) 281-1133 or e-mail accarts@accessiblearts.org with questions.
In June eight teenagers from Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa traveled 850 miles of the old settlers’ Trail in the company of artists recruited by Accessible Arts. The annual Oregon Trail trek is a joint project of Accessible Arts and the Kansas State School for the Blind. Twenty-five teenagers who are blind or visually impaired have made the trek since it began four years ago.
This year’s trek was memorable particularly for the music and stories the young pioneers created along the trail, for the evenings of sharing their adventures with folks along the way, and for the chance to carve their names in stone alongside the names of pioneers from the 1840s and 1850s.
Each year Accessible Arts recruits artists for the trail who facilitate expressive and artistic activities that encourage the teens to identify with the pioneer experience. As members of the Trail staff, the artists not only engage students in the arts but also contribute valuably to all the chores and daily activities of a wagon train moving steadily across the plains in the summer dust and heat.
Ann Cunningham of Golden, Colorado, is a sculptor who works in stone and metal. Ann directed all the members of the wagon train in carving their names in a block of Kansas limestone donated by the Bayer Stone Company of St. Mary’s, Kansas. The stone was left at Register Cliff in Wyoming, where many pioneers of the mid 1800s carved their names.
Michael Rice, an improvisational actor from California, led the young pioneers in spontaneous group activities, helped them create songs and stories, and challenged them to imagine themselves as 1800s characters on the Trail. Jolan Smith, art teacher and musician, guided the teens’ creation of original music on harmonicas and guitars. Jolan accompanied the trekkers’ rap about “Life and Love on the Oregon Trail” at a campfire presentation for high school students in Bayard, Nebraska.
The fifth Oregon Trail trek is scheduled for June 8-22, 2002, when trail staff plan to take pioneering teens still farther along the Trail, to the South Pass over the Continental Divide in southwestern Wyoming.
Accessible Arts and the Kansas State School for the Blind will host A Trail Arts Weekend for teenagers who have participated in the Oregon Trail Summer Treks. Friday evening to Sunday afternoon, November 9th-11th, high school trekkers and trail staff will explore and develop Oregon Trail themes through hands-on artistic activities. All twenty-five students who have experienced Oregon Trail Treks 1998-2001 are invited to participate.
The artistic staff for the Trail Arts Weekend will be Ann Cunningham, stone sculptor, and Tina Blatter, visual artist and Program Director for Accessible Arts. Both Ann and Tina have been Trail artists for summer treks.
Student pioneers participating in this year’s Trail Arts Weekend will experiment with stone carving and create carved objects of lasting significance. Trekkers residing in metropolitan Kansas City will use their arts projects to teach the Trail to fourth graders at Deerfield Elementary School in Lawrence, Kansas. The young pioneers will also have opportunities to speak to elders’ groups about their Trail and Arts experiences.
No Foolin’-- It’s Okay to Touch!
On April 1st, nearly 570 visitors attended In Touch With Art making this program a rousing success again in its second year. Collaborators Accessible Arts, Alphapointe Association for the Blind, VSA arts of Missouri, and The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art (host to the event) were pleased with the response to the special exhibit that allowed visitors to experience the art through touch.
The presence of so many persons with visual impairments (many more than last year) made a strong impression on sighted visitors. This year’s promotion resulted in a number of preschoolers attending through Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired. Out-of-town teachers also enjoyed the exhibit, some bringing several students with them. A small group of highschoolers from the Kansas State School for the Blind had just returned from a school outing before visiting the museum. Although they were tired, they had a wonderful time. They were glad they had come.
The clay workshop was a big hit this year for sighted and visually impaired of all ages. The workshop was held in the large central atrium, drawing the attention of visitors. A group of students, apparently from the Kansas City Art Institute, stayed for part of the afternoon, creating many outstanding art creations.
Sixty-five volunteers provided 165 hours of service throughout the day. Accessible Arts Board member Heidi Benham, newly trained as a sign language interpreter for persons who are deaf-blind, was able to put her training to good use for two of the visiting patrons.
Other volunteers also enjoyed the chance to participate. Past International Lions Club Director Gene Vogel, a Kansas metro-area member, filled a transportation need for talented Accessible Arts friend, Tina Jinkens who also brought her seeing eye dog. With the Lions Club interest in serving the blind, this was an exceptionally good match, and of course Gene was also able to experience the entire tour.
Based on the enthusiastic response and comments from visitors, The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art has already set the date for the next In Touch With Art for Sunday, May 19, 2002. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend. In Touch With Art is free and open to the public.
Financial supporters who helped make this event possible include VSA arts Washington DC, Missouri Arts Council, Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation, DST, and Kansas Arts Commission.
Monday, November 12, 2001 at 6:30 PM
Big Chiefs, Big Art, Big Night - A Fundraiser for Accessible Arts
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MOThis fundraiser will include appearances and paintings by Kansas City Chiefs John Tait, Will Shields, etc. Admission is $35 at the door. 100% of the proceeds will benefit Accessible Arts. For information call 913-281-1133.
Friday, November 30th & Saturday, December 1st, 2001
pARTicipate Conference
Washburn University, Topeka, KansasAn interactive conference utilizing creativity, skills and ideas from artists, arts organizers, educators, volunteers, board members and everyone who believes in the power of the arts in Kansas communities. Conference fee is $50. For information call 785-825-2700.
Wednesday, March 13, 2001
Accessible Arts Awards Ceremony
Kansas State School for the Blind, Kansas City, KSAccessible Arts will present its annual awards for Educator of the Year and Distinguished Service in Arts & Disabilities, in collaboration with the Kansas State Board of Education. For information call 913-281-1133.
Accessible Arts Board of Directors
Patty Scott, President
Kathleen White, Vice President
Walter Dietrich, Treasurer
Martin Zander, Secretary
Heidi Benham
Fritz Edmunds
Vickie Horton
J.J. Jones
Danny Meisinger
Dawn O’Brien
Terri Rathbun
Donna Tout
Martin
English, Executive Director
Tina Blatter, Program Director
Eleanor Craig, Office Manager
Beverly Johnson, Program Assistant
(913) 281-1133
[Voice/TTY]
(913) 281-1515 [FAX]
accarts@accessiblearts.org
http://www.accessiblearts.org
We are happy to continue sending our newsletter to all persons who wish to receive it. The Accessible Arts mailing list now contains nearly 5,000 contacts and friends nationwide. However, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, please help us by letting us know. We will immediately remove your name from our list. If you have any changes or updates for our mailing list, please notify us. You can e-mail us at accarts@accessiblearts.org or drop us a note at Accessible Arts, Inc., 1100 State Ave., Kansas City, KS, 66102-4411 or feel free to call us at (913) 281-1133. We also welcome feedback about our programming and the content of our newsletter. Thank you for your help in this matter.
1100 State Avenue,
Kansas City, KS 66102-4411
(913) 281-1133 [Voice & TTY] (913) 281-1515 [Fax]
e-mail:
accarts@accessiblearts.org
For large print or Braille newsletter contact Accessible Arts
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