VSA arts of Montana
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200 North Adams |
Alayne Dolson |
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Tel.: (406) 549-2984 |
Website: |
Organizational Profile:
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Full-time Staff: 1 |
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VSA arts of Montana's mission is to provide inclusive learning opportunities for creative expression and learning in the arts for people with disabilities.
Programming Partners and Other Funders:
Montana Arts Council; Montana Cultural & Aesthetic Trust; Montana Alliance for Arts Education; Opportunity Resources Inc.; Montana State Hospital;, Missoula County Public Schools; Beall Park Art Center; Custer County Art Center; Silver Foundation; Goldberg Foundation; University of Montana-Music & Dance Education Departments
State Programs
Educational Programs and Artist Residencies
Beall Park Art Center
Visual art programs will be provided for students with and without disabilities through the Beall Park Arts Education program. Classes will be scheduled at the Beall Park Art Museum throughout the school year, in six-to-ten week terms.
Custer County Art Center Partnership
VSA arts of Montana administers three arts education programs through a partnership with the Custer County Art Center. Participants in the Holy Rosary Convalescent Center project work in a variety of artistic media to develop creative expression and social skills. They work with staff and home school children from the surrounding rural area. Arts workshops occur on a monthly basis throughout the year.
Home on the Range Girls Residency
Home on the Range Girls Residency participants experience the creative process with clay under the instruction of a Custer County arts education teacher during a summer residency project. Additional arts programming is provided through monthly arts activities for children at TLC Personal Care Home and the Friendship Villa Care Center, and for adults with disabilities from Eastern Montana Industries. Participants' artwork is displayed at each residential facility.
Paris Gibson Square Museum of Arts Residency-Great Falls
Arts programming for youth and adults with disabilities provides arts instruction in a variety of media for over thirty-five people with disabilities. Artwork is exhibited at the museum, and celebrated with an artists' reception.
Visual Arts Residency -- Salish-Kootenai
In its third year, this program is a ten-week visual arts residency for at-risk Native American students at an Alternative School on the Salish-Kootenai Reservation. Students working with the residency artist learn how to integrate arts activities into classroom learning activities. The project gives students experiences in working with clay, learning to use glazes, and focuses on designs that connect the students to their cultural heritage using the stories and symbols of their Native tradition.
Theatre and Dance Workshops
Through one-day theatre workshops in Great Falls, children who are blind and children who are deaf learn about creative expression through performance in the theatrical arts. Participants are K-12 students from the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind. Dance workshops are also offered to Great Falls children with disabilities in collaboration with Missouri River Dance.
Creative Writing for Adults
This is a creative writing program for adults with disabilities held at Opportunity Resources in Missoula. It was implemented in response to the demand for continued creative writing experiences by Opportunity Resources participants.
Lewistown Art Center Programming
Lewistown Art Center visual arts program for adults with disabilities meets once a month throughout the year, exploring the development of creative expression through a variety of arts media.
Harlem/Chinook Arts Programming
People with disabilities served through New Horizons and at a convalescent care facility participate in workshops once a month to develop creativity and expand social opportunities through the arts. Participants share their work in local exhibits at fall community fair events and during the holidays.
Mime Residency for the Hearing Impaired
This arts residency at schools in Missoula and Great Falls fosters skill development in the art of mime for children who are hearing impaired. Language test results after the program's first year indicate that students’ language skills increased dramatically over the four-month period of the residency.
Montana State Hospital Residency
The Montana State Hospital Residency in Warm Springs provides arts programming in visual art, theatre, and drumming to patients in need of psychiatric care. The program culminates with an afternoon Festival where participants present exhibits and performances for peers, staff, and area group home residents.
VSA arts of Montana Choir
The VSA arts of Montana Choir is an education program for youth and adults with physical, developmental and/or emotional disabilities. The choir performs over ten times annually at diverse venues, from holiday parties to professional sporting events.
New Visions Dance
New Visions Dance is a program that promotes the development of creative expression through movement for adults with physical, developmental and/or emotional disabilities. It includes a training program for university students on working in movement with adults with disabilities.
Professional Development and Technical Assistance
Accessible Music Symposium
Accessible Music Symposium is a week-long forum in March that offers the University of Montana’s (UM) elementary and music education majors disability awareness training and inclusive arts training for children. VSA arts of Montana also provides training to these students in UM classes each semester. This year, VSA arts will expand its training to schools on the Salish Kootenai Reservation.
Start With the Arts
VSA arts of Montana offers Start With the Arts Training for childcare resource and Head Start organizations in Missoula and Helena. Target populations are early childhood teachers and childcare providers, particularly in rural areas.
Cultural Access and Inclusive Arts Services
Cultural Access
VSA arts of Montana delivers presentations on cultural access and conducts site reviews for the Montana Art Gallery Directors Association, the Montana Performing Arts Consortium and the Montana Association of Symphony Orchestras. VSA arts of Montana also conducts access surveys for cultural organizations statewide. Staff assess cultural organizations' physical and programmatic access , and provide technical assistance to support the development of policy handbooks and guidelines for improved access.
Public Awareness and Outreach
Governor’s Art Show
In its ninth year, the Governor’s Art Show features two and three-dimensional work created by children, youth and adults with disabilities from throughout the state. The exhibit is presented in Montana’s state capitol during the legislative session. It then travels to other cities in the state. As a part of the show, the governor presents awards to the winners of the annual poster contest recognizing Disabilities Awareness Month.
Festival of the Dead
Festival of the Dead is a multicultural event based on the Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations and remembrances. In its 13th year, the Festival includes a month-long series of events, ranging from art workshops and poetry readings in public schools to the cultural activities of various ethnic groups. Approximately 500 people participate actively in this event that draws an audience of two-to-three thousand people.
Newsletter
VSA arts of Montana publishes a statewide newsletter at least twice during the year. The newsletter is distributed to art centers, service provider organizations, funders, schools, and individuals throughout the state to build awareness of VSA arts activities.
(F) 202-429-0868