2006 Start with the Arts Family Festival
Throughout the month of June 2006, the Start with the Arts Family Festival offered the work of renowned performing and visual artists with disabilities at Union Station, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and in outdoor concerts around the city. The Festival is named Start with the Arts© , after the VSA arts signature educational resource that has been giving school teachers and parents the tools to integrate the arts into early childhood learning for 20 years.
Below, take a look a short Photo Gallery from the 2006 Start with the Arts Festival and information about the various events that took place all over Washington, DC.
Union Station
A View from My Window children's art exhibit
Live Performances
Open Studios
Art Stops for Children
Disability Book Fair for Children
The Kennedy Center
The Matt Savage Trio Concert - Click here to watch
2006 International Young Soloists Award Concert - Click here to watch
Tranformation art exhibit
Farragut Square*
The Matt Savage Trio
Tokounou, African Drum Ensemble
Festival Schedule | Festival Flyer 
420kb | Festival Map 1.7mb
* Presented as part of the Farragut Sounds in the Square concert series.
Photo Gallery
Captions appear when the pointer hovers over each photo.
All photos were taken by Scott Suchman, photographer.
All photos taken by Scott Suchman, photographer.
Live Performances
The Matt Savage Trio - The Matt Savage Trio, headed by 14-year-old jazz pianist Matt Savage and featuring adult sidemen John Funkhouser on bass and Steve Silverstein on drums, has been featured on NBC’s “TODAY Show”, ABC’s “20/20” and “The View,” Montel Williams, the Discovery Channel, and Lifetime Television’s “Beyond Chance.” Heralded by Dave Brubeck as “amazing” and “another Mozart,” and by Chick Corea as “delightful and inspiring”. Savage was a big hit at the famed Blue Note and at Birdland in New York and at the New Orleans Jazz Festival. Savage, who was diagnosed with autism at the age of three, has been featured in People magazine, Jazziz magazine, and Time Magazine. Savage is the only child to have been signed by Bösendorfer Pianos as a Bösendorfer artist. The Trio will release their fifth CD this September. www.savagerecords.com. Savage performed at the 2004 International VSA arts Festival.
Tokounou, African Drum Ensemble - Tokounou, an African music and dance ensemble, was founded in 1988 by Sidiki Conde. The desire to sing and dance first came to Conde in a dream, at age 14, after he lost the use of his legs. Prior to coming to America and starting Tokounou, Conde toured West Africa with other artists with disabilities, giving performances and working to change perceptions of disabilities. Conde now works extensively with children and adults of all abilities, giving performances while teaching African dance and music in schools, hospitals, and universities. Tokounou performed at the 2004 International VSA arts Festival.
Imagination Stage's Hip Hop Anansi, by Eisa Davis - Something for everyone. It starts with a very old Ghanian folk tale about Anansi, a spider who wants to win a Hip Hop contest. The performance teaches kids about teamwork and sharing with modern music, break dancing, and sign language. Featuring a cast of hearing and deaf actors, singing, like the music itself, is fully integrated into the story. Fred Beam, a deaf actor and the show’s choreographer, plays Anansi.
Jeff Moyer, songwriter and storyteller - Also a National Public Radio “Morning Edition” commentator, producer, author, historian, public speaker, and publisher. Moyer has developed numerous products and services that promote inclusive schools and communities and a variety of albums of original music and materials for schools and groups. His unique blend of humor, music, and powerful ideas has made him a popular and sought-after conference presenter.
Bill Shannon, performing artist - A dance and media artist, is widely recognized in the dance/performance world, the underground New York club scene, and the disability community. This Brooklyn resident expresses himself through video, writing, and drawing. Shannon, a graduate of the Art Institute of Chicago, regularly performs at contemporary art and dance festivals in the U.S. and abroad.
Anita Hollander, singer and actress - Anita Hollander has worked as an actress, singer, composer, lyricist, director, producer, and teacher. She received a Helen Hayes Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical for the Olney Theatre premiere of The Fifth Season. She also originated the title role in John Belluso’s Gretty Good Time, the winner of the VSA arts Playwright Discovery Award in 1998. Hollander’s most recent theatrical roles have been Emma Goldman in Ragtime, Golde in Fiddler On The Roof, and Grizabella in CATS. Hollander has also appeared in TV and film roles. As a member of all three actors’ unions, Hollander serves as East Coast National Chair of the AFTRA Performers with Disabilities committee and represented VSA arts at the United Nations.
Inner Harbor African Drum Ensemble - Inner Harbour African Drum Ensemble consists of a group of students, from the Inner Harbour School in Georgia, who have learned the craft of building West African drums and the art of playing the music of West Africa. Since the group’s start in 1996, participating students have built more than 100 drums and have performed in more than 200 public performances.
Derek Mortland, guitarist - Derek Mortland’s musical life began at age 12 when his parents gave him his first guitar. As an adolescent, he explored manystyles of music before finding his passion for the 12-string acoustic guitar.Throughout the ‘90s Mortland was a nationally ranked motorcycle racer, and in 1997 he survived a paralyzing crash. During a period of rehabilitative care, he relearned the guitar. In time, he reclaimed, redeveloped, and redefined his own unique and distinctive sound. In 2002, he released his debut CD, Medicine Wheel. Mortland has completed an Artist-in-Residence project through VSA Arts of Ohio and in June 2004 he appeared at the International VSA arts Festival.
Jessie Ross, jazz singer - Jessie Ross has been singing jazz and blues for thirteen years. Ross, who is 27 and has low vision, lives in London, Ontario, where she is taking undergraduate courses at the local university. She writes her own songs and accompanies herself on the guitar. She has been influenced by jazz and blues singers like Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, Abbey Lincoln, and Betty Carter. Last winter, Ross released her first CD, 13 songs of original music. Ross was the recipient of the 1998 VSA arts International Young Soloist Award.
Quamon Fowler, jazz saxophonist - Quamon Fowler, a native of Fort Worth, Texas, started his musical journey on the tenor saxophone at the age of twelve and has been composing music since he was fifteen. Fowler attended Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he studied with clarinetist Alvin Batiste. Twice-winner of the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award, Fowler has performed at the Jazz Journalists Association’s Awards program in New York. Following the award, Fowler released his third CD, The Vision. Fowler was the recipient of the 2001 VSA arts International Young Soloists Award.
Scott MacIntyre Family Singers - Scott Douglas MacIntyre began playing piano by ear at age 3. He has trained classically and composed since the age of 5. Born blind, he has independently produced, engineered, and released 5 full-length CDs. MacIntyre has been internationally profiled and received numerous top prizes and awards for piano, composition, and vocal performance. He regularly performs with his family, the Macintyre Family Singers, who present Broadway show tunes, a cappella jazz numbers, and classical arrangements.
Tony DeBlois, pianist - Tony DeBlois has been playing the piano since age two. This 31-year old from Randolph, Massachusetts, is a graduate of Berklee College of Music. He plays 20 instruments, knows 8,000 songs, and is forging a career in jazz. DeBlois is blind, has autism, and savant syndrome, a condition in which a person with developmental disabilities has a highly developed talent, often in music. He was the subject of the 1997 CBS made-for-TV movie of the week “Journey of the Heart.”
The Women of Tin Pan Alley - A world premiere cabaret with performers from the Theater Alliance, a professional theater company that focuses on presenting new or rarely produced work geared towards attracting diverse and alternative audiences. Performing songs from the early 20th century, the music celebrates the women in music during a time period that included the popularization of the automobile, the Roaring 20’s, Prohibition, the Great Depression, and two world wars. Women like Kay Swift, Dorothy Fields, Dana Suesse, and Ann Ronell were among the influential women of that time period who created music with universal appeal because of its direct and specific connection to human experience. Featured performers are Rob McQuay, Judy Simmons, Jim Breen, Maureen Codelka, and Joanne Schmoll.
Open Studios
Visitors enjoyed watching and talking with professional artists with disabilities, June 9 & 10 at Union Station.
Anthony Delfin, Arlington, Virginia - Artist and mask maker Anthony Delfin captures the fantasies of his clients with his custom-made and personalized “Mask Appeal” masks. Each mask is an original design, meticulously constructed for a perfect fit and embellished with fabrics, fibers, feathers, and fragments from around the world. Delfin, who has a hearing disability, has had numerous commissions through Nieman Marcus and has participated in several local exhibits and craft fairs, including the Red Cross Waterfront Festival in Alexandria, Virginia.
Brom Wikstrom, Seattle, Washington - Brom Wikstrom was first artistically influenced by his father, a commercial artist and illustrator. He continued his artistic development by enrolling in art classes at Seattle Central Community College following graduation from high school. Two years after completing courses at this commercial art school, Wikstrom had a diving accident and injured his spinal column. During his rehabilitation, he started mouth painting, holding a pen or pencil in his teeth. Wikstrom has taught art at children’s hospitals and is actively involved with the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists.
Elaine Robnett Moore, Silver Spring, Maryland - Elaine Robnett Moore, who has arthritis, creates jewelry that directly relates to her travels in West Africa and the Caribbean. During these voyages she became acquainted with the spiritual aspects of indigenous cultures and the way in which that power is often manifested in jewelry. Combining her love of beadwork and these travel experiences, she creates unique wearable art of magnificent color and style called “Pieces of Love.”
Robert Swain, Parksley, Virginia - Robert Swain captures the past with his stylized marshland decoys. The shorebird decoys are always simple with minimal finishing and painting. Swain, a paraplegic since a 1965 auto accident, inherited his family’s business, a feed and farm supply store. When he sold it, he took up carving. He has sold work through Lord & Taylor and The Audubon Wildlife Museum in Pennsylvania.
Art Stops
Through a series of open activities, children learned and walked alongside professional artists in the areas of visual art, theatre, dance, and music.
Beading • Through My Eyes: Window to the World of Beads
Through story and discussion about beads from around the world, children gathered the tools they need to then create a necklace starting with a “Centerpiece Window Bead” representing themselves. Art stop led by Lisa Raye Garlock.
Mask Making • The Animal of My Dreams
Children were invited to make a mask that represents the animal of their dreams using different materials. Art Stop led by Carolina Mayorga.
Collage • “A View From My Window”
Students created mixed media collages representing their personal "view". Finished peices were collectively displayed at Union Station as part of the "A View from My Window" exibt. Art Stop led by Marla McLean.
Drawing • Robert Guilleman (aka Sidewalk Sam)
Sidewalk Sam creates artworks with colored chalk and paint on sidewalks.
Disability Book Fair
Visitors were able to choose a wide variety of delightful books for young people that explore a spectrum of differences. More than 100 titles were available for sale. Among them were exciting new authors who read from and signed their books:
Marvie Ellis, Saturday, June 10 at 12:00 noon - author of Keisha’s Doors: An Autism Story Book One, and Tacos Anyone? An Autism Story Book Two, which received the Barbara Jordan Award.
Gloria Koster, Friday, June 9 at 3:00pm - author of The Peanut-Free Cafe In this picture book, a boy with a peanut allergy arrives at the peanut-loving Nutley School, challenging Simon to reconsider his own fussy eating habits and to reflect on the benefits of being more flexible.
Cynthia Lord, Saturday, June 10 at 12:30 pm - author of Rules, has candidly captured the delicate dynamics in a family that revolved around a child’s disability. Set in coastal Maine, this sensitive story is about being different, feeling different, and finding acceptance.
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