The power of music to significantly impact the lives of children and communities is widely acknowledged.  But how can we best harness that power in a way that reaches young people of all backgrounds, circumstances and abilities? And, how can we create a world where all people are viewed equally-where diversity is the point of celebration? As artists, can we build projects that enable all young people’s ideas to be valued? And, how can we grow the capacity to deliver innovative creative projects through unique partnership models?
 
 
It is these such questions that inspired the vision for the Music for All Project-a pioneering music-education program in South Australia that saw over fifty students with multiple intellectual and physical disabilities collaborate across a weeklong creative music program. The bold design of the project sought to demonstrate the deep potential of a contemporary and inclusive model for music education that positioned students of all abilities at the centre of the creative process, mentored and guided by world-class teaching artists and emerging musicians.
 
 
Under the direction of award-winning composer and educationalist, Paul Rissmann (UK), and London-based violinist, Belinda McFarlane, students from three Adelaide special schools came together to take part in a series of collective composition workshops, supported by early-career musicians from the Australian Youth Orchestra. Inspired by the heart-warming Australian picture book Fancy Pants, by Kelly Hibbert and Amanda Graham, the five-day program of music-making and creativity was designed to empower and engage students of all abilities and experience.
 
The challenge for the artistic team to successfully incorporate the ideas of so many students with such highly diverse individual needs required extensive creative thinking, flexibility and commitment. The extraordinary outcomes achieved exceeded all expectations and were a true testament to the deep-level of collaboration and ambition demonstrated by all staff and artists involved in the project. A key indicator of the level of success of the project was the way in which each child personally felt acknowledged, celebrated and valued across the entire creative process.
   
 On stage, in a sold-out public performance, the students sang, hand signed, danced, played instruments, and narrated, as they performed side-by-side on stage with the AYO Momentum Ensemble and international artists. The concert integrated the musical contributions of all student groups, interwoven with enchanting musical excerpts and songs composed by Paul Rissmann. The event was a joyous and deeply moving celebration of the power of music and community to bring people together.
 
 
Beyond the artistic achievements of the project, most significant of the successes was the deep level of connection that developed between students, artists, community members and school staff. There is no doubt that the immense impact that the Music for All Project has had on both the school community and the individuals involved will be felt for a lifetime.
   
Emily Gann
Project Leader
Connecting the Dots in Music
 
This project was made possible by a team of highly committed partners.  Project footage available at www.musicforallproject.com. 
 
Creative Directors: Paul Rissmann (composer), Belinda McFarlane (violinist)
Project Leader: Emily Gann
Music teachers: Lucy Standish, Lily Lorraine, Mala Byam
Delivery Partners: City of Marion, Connecting the Dots in Music, Kilparrin Teaching and Assessment School and Services, Australian Youth Orchestra, Raising Literacy Australia,
Partner Schools: Kilparrin, SA School for Vision Impaired, Suneden Specialist School

Jill Rothstein is Chief Librarian of the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library in New York City, New York. She has presented at the National Library Service conference, Metro Libraries conference, and Harvard’s World Heritage Strategy Forum. Last year she became the first library staff to receive a Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability (LEAD®) Award for Emerging Leaders. Here, she shares about the New York Public Library’s expansive accessibility initiatives, including their newest program, Dimensions.

VSA & Accessibility: You have worked at several New York Public Library branches in different positions, how and when did you start incorporating accessibility into your roles?
Jill Rothstein: When I was a children’s librarian and then branch manager at the New York Public Library’s 67th Street branch I joined a group of staff working on serving children with  disabilities. That was my entry into the work.

As awareness around representation of performers with disabilities has slowly increased in mainstream media outlets, so has the visibility of comedians with disabilities. Reality television competitions introduced comedians like Josh Blue, Zach Anner, and Ryan Niemiller to a broad audience, while Maysoon Zayid and Liz Carr appeared in roles on major scripted television shows. Here are four comedians with disabilities to follow in 2020:

Liz Carr is known to many as the character Clarissa on the BBC One drama Silent Witness, but she is also an accomplished comedian, performing her stand-up routine in venues all over the world for over 15 years. She is the creator of Assisted Suicide: The Musical

Greg Walloch is a comedian, writer, storyteller, and director based in Los Angeles, California. He shares his passion for storytelling in his own stage work, as well as through advising other performers on their personal narratives. Walloch, who has cerebral palsy, talks here about the intersection of comedy and disability, the power of sharing our stories, and what comedians with disabilities he is watching right now.

VSA and Accessibility: You are a comedian, writer, storyteller, director—so many creative roles! How do you describe your work?

In 2019, the Jewish Museum in New York, New York launched new audio tours intended to illuminate the Museum’s collection. Funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the tours bring new perspective to a museum visit through artists’ voices, a variety of lenses grounded in Jewish traditions and rituals, lively conversations with grade-schoolers, and more. The tours are available via the web at Tours.TheJewishMuseum.org and are easily accessible for both on-site and off-site use.

 This month we speak to JiaJia Fei, Director of Digital, and Nora Rodriguez, Interpretive Media Producer, at the Jewish Museum about conception and creation of the tours. 

Gaelynn Lea leapt onto the national music scene when she won NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest in 2016. Since then, the singer, violinist, songwriter, and public speaker has been touring full-time, sharing her unique mix of haunting original songs and traditional fiddle music with audiences all over the United States and around the world. Here, she talks about her musical background, the memoir she is writing, and why she feels strongly about making music venues accessible for performers and audiences.

VSA & Accessibility: Where are you currently based?
Gaelynn Lea: Duluth, Minnesota

VSA & Accessibility: What is your area(s) of artistic practice?
Gaelynn Lea: Music, writing, and public speaking

VSA & Accessibility: What training or experiences have shaped you as an artist?
Gaelynn Lea: I began learning the violin 25 years ago after a creative music teacher helped me to adapt a playing style that suits my frame. I hold my instrument upright in my electric wheelchair like a tiny cello and I hold my bow like a bass player. I played classically all the way through high school, thanks to some excellent orchestra conductors and private lesson teachers. During college, I got very involved in Celtic and Old Time fiddling, which is pretty much all I played for the next several years. It was at this point that my friend Andy Gabel asked me to form a folk duo with him in 2006. This ignited a love for improvisation that only expanded when my friend and mentor Alan Sparhawk introduced me to the looping pedal in 2011. A looping pedal is a piece of gear I control onstage that records what I am playing live and loops it back. I can create multi-layered compositions in real time on stage and this is hugely liberating to a classically trained musician. Exposure to the looping pedal also sparked songwriting for me, somewhat spontaneously, in 2012. So along the way I have been writing my own version of folk songs that explore the contrasting realities of life: birth and death, grief and joy, anger and forgiveness. In 2016, I entered and won NPR Music's Tiny Desk Contest by submitting my original song, "Someday We'll Linger in the Sun" and that gave me a lot of national exposure. This launched my current musical career. In the past three years, my husband and I have been touring full-time; since the Tiny Desk Contest, I have played over 600 shows in 43 states and 8 countries. I also love to do speaking engagements about disability rights, finding inner freedom, and accessibility in the arts.

VSA & Accessibility: What current projects you would like to share with VSA members?
Gaelynn Lea: I released a new single and music video this fall, called The Long Way Around. Also, I am currently working on a memoir about my touring adventures and disability advocacy that I plan to release in 2022.

VSA & Accessibility: Who or what is currently inspiring you in your artistic pursuits?
Gaelynn Lea: Musically, I am currently inspired by instrumental pieces and the way they can create a mood and even visual images in the mind's eye so effectively. I am hoping to work on some instrumental music in the next year or so. But what I am most excited about is working on this memoir. I am incredibly inspired by the idea of disability as diversity, of changing the narrative around disability so that it is more authentic and empowered in mainstream culture. I want my book to be a small part of this wider shift.

VSA & Accessibility: How does disability influence your work?
Gaelynn Lea: I think everyone's life experience shapes the music they write. So having brittle bones means that one minute life can be going along swimmingly and the next minute you break a bone and are pretty much laid up for six weeks. This teaches you about impermanence and even your own mortality at a pretty young age, and I know it's colored my songwriting. A couple songs are more directly about disability, like "Bird Song" and "I Wait," but usually I write about broader concepts like love, sorrow, or being in the present moment.

Although disability is a huge part of who I am and it has certainly shaped me as a person, I also carry other identities and interests. So music for me is not wholly linked to my disability—it's a passion for me that helps me feel connected to my higher self. Performing gives me a kind of energy and grounds me in a way nothing else does. Writing music, too, comes from a place that almost seems super-conscious. Connecting to your creative spirit transcends the physical body, so in that way music lives apart from my disability.

However, because I have a physical disability and use an electric wheelchair, I do unfortunately face additional challenges when it comes to performing and touring as a full-time, professional musician. Often venues are not accessible to me or to the paying customers with disabilities, which limits the places I can perform and thus earn my keep.

I used to be more flexible about accessibility and I would do shows at venues where I had to be lifted onstage and such. But about a year ago I finally took a stand and said I would only play at spaces with accessible entrances, bathrooms, and that I wouldn't have my chair lifted on stage. So either the venue has to have a ramp to the stage or I will play on the floor. I think lifting my chair sends a negative message—that there's not truly equal access for disabled artists.

Another way I have noticed my artistic career and disability intersect is in the realm of representation. Disabled voices are rare to nonexistent in mainstream culture and thus venues and festivals often do not think to seek out disabled artists for their regular programming, even if they are otherwise committed to diverse representation onstage. I believe it is so important that we include disability in our thinking of diversity. Rather than pity or fear it, we should celebrate it in our culture. Although much of the disability community already embraces this concept of Disability Pride, much of mainstream society continues to cling to outdated modes of thinking about physical, mental, and behavioral difference. The arts is a great place to move society forward in this way, by connecting with people’s emotions, dreams, and appreciation of beauty to change hearts and minds. That's a major reason I want to write this memoir, to increase representation and challenged outdated concepts about disabilities!

VSA & Accessibility: What advice would you share with emerging artists with disabilities?
Gaelynn Lea: Not everyone will be famous. Actually, a better way to put that is: almost nobody will be famous. But truly, that’s not the point of music. Music is a healing medium that can touch the lives of almost anyone…and that is the point. All the stuff you worry about (Who is my fan base? What if I am not cool enough? What if no one comes to my shows?) dissolves instantly when you realize that music is simply a gift that we did not create and that is much, much bigger and more valuable than any label or measure of success. Performance and “fame” are just tiny, tiny pieces of the wonderful body that is music.

But obviously lots of people do love to perform and want to do it for a living. It can be frustrating when you feel like your career is moving at a glacial pace. Here I have always tried to remember that all I can do is work hard and then whatever happens, happens. My motto regarding my career in music is, “Act like it depends on me, but pray like it depends on God.”

Action is key; going through the motions is truly half the battle. If you want to be a musician, play as much as you can—open mics, bars, dinner gigs. All experience is good for honing your craft and getting your name out there. Because as cliché as it sounds, you have to start somewhere. Fate will not be able to find you if you are hiding away in your room; it will seek you out in the field as you fight for what you love.

Specifically for disabled artists, I would say never underestimate the impact you'll have by making all your shows accessible. Yes, it will limit where you can play temporarily, but if each of us makes accessibility non-negotiable, it will speed up the much-needed change we seek. You matter. You deserve equal rights. You’re not mean or difficult or picky just because you want to play at spaces that are accessible to you and other disabled music lovers—you’re just asking for the same rights others enjoy. Remember that if you fight for your rights today, you can make the world a little more accessible for the next generation of disabled musicians.

 

Learn more about Gaelynn Lea on her website: https://violinscratches.com/. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @GaelynnLea, and on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/gaelynnlea.

The British Paraorchestra calls itself the world’s only large-scale ensemble for professional musicians with disabilities. By creating a visible platform for talented musicians with disabilities, the Paraorchestra aims to reinvent the orchestra for the 21^st century. Jonathan Harper, CEO and Executive Producer at the Paraorchestra, shared some insight into the organization’s goals, creative process, and future plans.

VSA & Accessibility: Tell us about the Paraorchestra.

Rhoda Bernard, Managing Director of the Berklee Institute for Arts Education and Special Needs regularly meets with arts teachers who are hungry to know more about how to help students with disabilities.

“You are not alone,” Bernard says.  “There are terrific resources, you can get help and you can connect with other people that care about this work.” 

Founded in 2013, The A11y Project is an open-source, community-driven effort aiming to make it easier to implement accessibility on the web. Four main values guide the site; The A11y Project is open, communal, approachable, and authoritative. Similar to the mentality and the work many of VSA International Network members are doing, The A11y Project site emphasizes the importance of the accessibility community, “the web accessibility industry is small, but welcoming—we’re all in this together. Our successes build off each other’s efforts, and are performed in the service of others. We highlight people doing good work.” 

Phamaly Theater  is a disability affirmative theater company in Denver, Colorado that exclusively casts actors with disabilities of all kinds.  Phamaly is an artistic home for artists with disabilities as well as a leader in the field of accessible and inclusive practices in the arts.

Educational touring productions have been an important part of Phamaly’s programming for more than a decade.  In its 30-year history Phamaly has primarily re-envisioned shows that may include disability as part of the human experience, but are not necessarily about disability.  The original play Morph Masters, however, is about disability as a creative asset in people’s lives. The inspiration for Morph Masters came during a talk-back for Phamaly’s touring production of James and the Giant Peach. 

For the past 20 years, Back to Back Theatre has made a name for itself both in Australia and around the world through its contemporary performances created by an ensemble of actors with disabilities. The company aims to give voice to social and political issues that speak to all people. In January and February, they bring their piece THE SHADOW WHOSE PREY THE HUNTER BECOMES on a five-city tour in the United States, continuing to foster social and cultural dialogue between artists and audience.

The company describes THE SHADOW WHOSE PREY THE HUNTER BECOMES (SHADOW) as, “a group of activists with intellectual disabilities hold a public meeting to start a frank and open conversation about a history we would prefer not to know, and a future that is ambivalent.” Back to Back created SHADOW, as it does with all its new work, through a process of collaborative research, improvisation, and scripting between the ensemble, Artistic Director Bruce Gladwin, and guest artists.

Michelle Miles may have just graduated from college in May, but her career in the arts is already off to a bright start. Miles was recognized with the Grand Prize for the 2019-2020 VSA Emerging Young Artists Program. Her work hand model will be featured in the exhibition Connected, which will tour the United States over the coming year. Here, Miles offers insight into her artistic practice, her experience with the Emerging Young Artists Program, and what emerging artists with disabilities can do to support one another.

 

Creative Generation is an organization that links the arts to advocacy by cultivating the creative capacities of young people to solve complex global issues. Jeff M. Poulin, the founder of Creative Generation, believes arts educators must be advocates and need to be involved in the processes of creating educational policy at the local, state and federal level.

“We need to be ready to talk about the role of the arts in the education of students with disabilities,” Poulin said. “And to ensure their right to an education that includes the arts is protected.” 

Since 2002, the Kennedy Center and Volkswagen Group of America have presented the VSA Emerging Young Artists Program to recognize and showcase the work of emerging young artists living with disabilities, ages 16-25, who are currently residing in the United States. Connected, the 18^th exhibition presented as part of the VSA Emerging Young Artists Program, gives 15 young artists the opportunity to display their work in venues across the United States where each artist’s individual talent, mode of expression, and view of the world is showcased and valued.

This year’s theme asks artists to connect, to span new distances, and to see unexpected relationships. When is connection, or disconnection, most needed? What roads lead us there? Overlapping stories and interrelated ideas can overwhelm or can create important new discoveries. These artworks resonate deeply and spark greater understanding of our connected lives.

Laurie Baskin is the Director of Research, Policy & Collective Action at Theatre Communications Group (TCG), a national organization that supports and promotes nonprofit theatre through networking, knowledge building, and leadership. In 2012, TCG partnered with Blue Star Families to launch Blue Star Theatres, an initiative intended to build stronger connections between the theatre community and military families through accessible admissions. Blue Star Families has also partnered with other organizations, including the National Endowment for the Arts for the Blue Star Museums initiative, to increase cultural access across the sector.  In our Q&A, Baskin shares about the partnership and the difficulties and successes of the program. 

Q: How did the partnership between TCG and Blue Star Families begin?
A: Through a contact at Signature Theatre in Virginia, our executive director was introduced to somebody at the Pentagon. They had a conversation about active duty and veteran programming, and the connection was made to Blue Star Families, an organization dedicated to supporting active-duty military families.

According to recent statistics from the US Census, there are currently over 20 million veterans and active duty service members in the United States. Although arts play an important role in healing, the veteran community is often overlooked in programming. New Mexico Arts (NMA), a state arts agency, and Art Spark Texas, a nonprofit focused on inclusive arts, are two organizations emphasizing and creating programming for veterans and military families. 

Discovering the Gap

“In 2009, we realized there were a lot of veterans in our community and people who we were going to war and coming back, but not identifying as people with disabilities, which is the population we work with,” says Art Spark’s ArtWorks Director, April Sullivan. “The terminology didn’t relate to them.” 

Vanessa Jones is the first person to hold the position of Access Programs Specialist at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery. Although she has been a paraplegic wheelchair user since the age of 18, Jones’ diverse career in the arts didn’t begin with an eye towards accessibility. 

“My story is a bit interesting because it defies assumptions or expectations that people who are not in the disability community might have,” Jones shares. “People see me in the role as advocating for arts and access now, but that hasn't always been the case.” Jones developed a love of culture from a young age, finding herself drawn to foreign languages and humanities in high school. “In my own journey, when I became disabled I didn't feel like I had to be defined by that and I continued to pursue the same career goals and interests I always had. I felt I could advocate just in the way I lived my life, in expecting to participate.”

Christine Bruno is an actor, director, teaching artist, and disability inclusion consultant for the entertainment industry. She holds an MFA from the New School and is a lifetime member of The Actors Studio. Christine has worked extensively in theater, film, and television in the US and abroad. She sits on the New York board of SAG-AFTRA and is chair of the union’s New York Performers with Disabilities Committee. Christine can be seen in the documentary series ABLE, streaming now on Amazon Prime.

Where are you based?
I have been a proud New York City-based artist since 1995.

Seven years ago, Danielle Hark founded Broken Light Collective, a nonprofit organization that offers photographers affected by mental health challenges a space to share their work. Here, she talks about creating a venue to share both her own work and the work of other artists.

What is Broken Light Collective?
Danielle Hark: Broken Light Collective is a nonprofit organization that helps empower people affected by mental health and developmental challenges using photography. We strive to create safe and accepting environments, both online and through live exhibitions and workshops, where photographers of all levels affected by mental illness can display their work, as well as inspire one another to keep going and keep creating, despite any challenges they encounter. The types of photography we feature vary greatly, and include self-portrait, nature, abstract, and street photography. No matter the genre, through art we can observe and share in the darkness and light of living with mental illness.

United Kingdom (UK) theater company Mind the Gap envisions an arts sector where there are equal opportunities for performers with learning disabilities*, and where artists with learning disabilities are recognized as leaders in their fields. Mind the Gap’s new leadership program, called Staging Change, aims to increase the visibility of artists with learning disabilities in the wider arts community and offer them skills development and advocacy opportunities.

Staging Change is based around three-way partnerships between Mind the Gap (MTG), six arts venues across the UK, and artists with learning disabilities. According to MTG Associate Producer Deborah Dickinson, the program has five objectives: to grow talent among artists with learning disabilities (LD); to increase participation in LD-led arts; to increase representation of LD people in high quality work; to nurture new leaders to advance LD-led work; and to accumulate better evidence to support the value and impact of LD-led arts practice. They plan to accomplish these goals through three strands of the project: active partnerships with their six venue partners; training and leadership development for artists with LD; and collaboration and knowledge exchange events that bring venues and artists with LD together.