Featured Charity: VSA Texas

This week’s Featured Charity, VSA Texas, The State Organization on Arts and Disability, is working to create a society where Texans with disabilities can excel in, learn through, & enjoy the arts. 

What our organization does:

Located in central Austin, VSA Texas, The State Organization on Arts and Disability, is a member of the international network of VSA affiliates, and is a program of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Recognized nationally for our ground-breaking programming, VSA Texas uses a collaborative model to deliver programs and has extensive partnerships with community-based arts and disability organizations across Texas.

Poised to begin our 16th year, VSA Texas is working to create a society where Texans with disabilities can excel in, learn through, and enjoy the arts. Raising awareness in communities about the importance of inclusion, we have directly served over 50,000 children and adults with disabilities in every major region of the state.

VSA’s programming is designed to cultivate people with disabilities as both consumers and creators.

A sample of VSA Texas’ diverse programming includes:

• Artworks: Creative Industries – a multi-layered program, designed for emerging artists with disabilities, that provides:
  • career development
  • regional networking forums
  • skills-building workshops
  • formal artist to artist mentorships
  • micro-enterprise learning experiences for young adults with Autism and other intellectual disabilities
  • artist support services for disabled Veterans and wounded warriors
• New Media Arts  - a fusion of new media and traditional art forms for youth and young adults with disabilities, especially young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Activities are designed to enhance pre-vocational skills while providing a bridge to the media arts community and the world of media employment.
• Accessible Arts – an arts enrichment program designed to support special education teachers through innovative arts-based activities integrated into their daily classroom routines. These semester-long residencies have demonstrated impact in improving classroom environment, communication and social performance, and academic achievement.
• Performance Partnerships - promoting public awareness of the artistic talents and achievements of emerging and professional performing artists with disabilities from all disciplines including:
  • Dance (Body Shift, a partnership with Forklift Danceworks)
  • Theater (Actual Lives Austin)
  • Music (Sight.Sound.Soul, a partnership with Knowbility)
  • Performances by internationally acclaimed artists (i.e. Wings Are Given to All (Moscow); Bill T. Shannon (NYC); Divadlo z Pasáze (Slovakia); Henry Butler (New Orleans and NYC); and The Thing That Ate My Brain…Almost (Perishable Theatre, Rhode Island)   

How you can make a difference:  

In order to offer our groundbreaking programming, VSA Texas relies on contract specialists and more than 200 volunteers each year to supplement its six-member staff. September and October are generally the months when we need support from donors most, since tremendous financial outlay is required upfront to produce the variety of programs, services, and events that we offer.

How you can help:

• Donate: You can support us by making a generous donation on our website or through your workplace-giving program.
• Volunteer:  Visit www.vsatx.org to learn more about volunteer opportunities in your community and join the VSA Texas team.

How your company can help:
In order to serve as a statewide arts and disability organization and provide all of our services, we are always in need of program partners. Partnerships can take several forms: financial, programmatic, long-term or one event.

CVS/Caremark: joined forces with VSA Texas in 2008 to provide funding support for arts-based instruction for teachers and students in special education classrooms, and to provide volunteer support at VSA Texas festivals, such as Art in the Park at Morgan’s Wonderland and Fiesta at San Antonio’s State Supported Living Center. As a result of this partnership, we have provided artist residencies in 43 special education classrooms, and supported hands-on arts activities and experiences for almost 6,000 children and young adults with disabilities at inclusive VSA Texas Art in the Park festivals.

Some of our other partners include, Moody Gardens, Target, 3M, and Best Buy, who have teamed up with VSA Texas to support teaching artist residencies and inclusive art-making festivals in communities across Texas.  Click here for contact information and to learn more about our community partners.  

Your donation's impact:  

VSA Texas used donations from individuals and businesses to support all aspects of our arts educational programs - from covering fees for space rental and supplies, to updating technical equipment like cameras and computers, to providing scholarships to our New Media Arts summer camps, to underwriting the Audio Description program that enables individuals who are blind or have low vision to attend the movies, theater or outdoor event with their sighted friends and family. 

Here are some examples of how your donation can make a big difference: