upcoming grant deadline: 05/15/2024

upcoming grant deadline: 05/15/2024

Resources for Inclusion of People with Disabilities in the Arts

By Mimi Kenney Smith, Producing Artistic Director
Amaryllis Theatre Company

The Kennedy Center - VSA
The website of VSA, the international organization for arts and disability has many resources for artists, teaching artist sand classroom teachers; calls for art; information about competitions and other opportunities; an artists’ registry and much more information. Their mission is to promote and provide equality in the arts for people with disabilities. They have affiliates in most of the states in the U.S. and internationally.

PA Department of Education - Inclusive Arts Education
The wiki site of the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Developed over a number of years under the leadership of William Pearce, the site contains specific information about the disabilities most common in a Pennsylvania classroom with techniques on how to adapt the classroom generally for students with disabilities. In addition, this excellent site also provides adaption ideas for each of the four artistic disciplines: Dance, Music, Theatre and Visual Art. Each disability is looked at individually in each discipline with suggestions that fit the needs of students with that specific disability. Many of these suggestions can be adapted for adults as well.

Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts
The Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts is a national organization that works to provide advocacy for and education on inclusion in theatre, film, television and related media. They focus on race, culture and disability. Their website lists opportunities for performing artists, Opinion Pieces request from leaders in the field of diversity and inclusion, and other resources including an excellent glossary of disability terms on their Deal program pages.

UCLA - National Arts and Disability Center
The National Arts and Disability Center at UCLA’s mission is to provide full inclusion for artists and audiences with disabilities in all facets of the arts. Their website lists organization in the U.S. and many other parts of the world that regularly include artists and audiences with disabilities. They also provide grants and many other resources for artists and for arts organizations.

This resource guide is just a sample of some of the resources available to artists and organization who would like to include more artists with disabilities in their work. Many universities in the Greater Philadelphia area also provide resources, classes, programs or hold forums and conferences on disability, including Temple, Haverford, Villanova, Moore College of Art, University of Pennsylvania and the University of the Arts, among others.

For more information, call 215-564-2431 or cell 610-731-6739.

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