We received 22 Intents to Apply and provided technical assistance to all applicants. 13 organizations submitted final proposals. A total of $50,775 was requested and we allocated $ 24,790 to 10 grantees out of the final 13 applicants.

Community Access to the Arts:

Gordon Sasaki will be a resident artist at Community Access to the Arts residency during June, 2007. The week-long program will include Faculty Artists, a group of CATA participants, family members and interested community members. Mr.Sasaki, a New York based artist whose artistic and teaching methods use a multi-sensory approach to address concepts of diversity and inclusion, was a recipient of a Pollock-Krasner grant in 2003 and is also a VSA arts International Fellow. The residency will include a series of inclusive hands-on workshops designed as professional development for teachers and artists, as well as for parent and student participation. The workshops will begin with basic foundational ideas and techniques and progressively build toward more complex projects and ideas. All workshops are inclusive and adaptable for diverse audiences with an emphasis on process and assessment. The workshops are studio based where all participants will develop a body of work; simultaneously the sessions will also act as a model of how to create an inclusive art classroom with adaptive techniques and approaches for populations with special needs.

Fitchburg State College:
The project brings the Show of Hands Theatre Company to Fitchburg State College for the first performance by a Deaf artist in the CenterStage series. A number of events influenced this decision. The director decided to build capacity for all performances; the director attended a professional development session that focused on accessibility and outreach to the Dear and Hard-of-Hearing (HOH) community (and felt more reassured and less daunted), and this grant application arrived which led the director to investigate and commit to presenting the Show of Hands Theatre Company. Show of Hands Theatre Company will perform as part of the New England Writers Series on Thursday, November 16, 2006. Their performance-as developed and defined by the company-will focus on "use of their improvised theatre works in naturally-evolved ASL, the distinct language in its own right… with their storytelling, body movements and poetry in rhymes of handshapes." Vocal translation will be provided for the benefit of non-Deaf audience members.
The intent of this project is to deepen the connection to the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (HOH) community. This deepening will be accomplished through three goals:
1. Increased inclusion (participation) of Deaf artists in the CenterStage at Fitchburg State College series.
2. increased use of American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters
3. Investigation and utilization of Deaf and HOH-focused marketing and promotion.

First Night Worcester:

As it approaches its 7th year, the Deaf Youth Theatre Program has become an integral part of the community and the First Night Worcester experience. In an effort not to put "all our eggs in one basket," First Night generates funding for the program through a number of sources; thereby not relying on a single funding arm which would jeopardize the program should it disappear. In the event that First Night is not able to receive funding from one source, the likelihood of replacement is greater for a small request than a large one. It is also a means by which to have some control so that if we do not meet revenue projections, the program can be adjusted accordingly without being totally eliminated.
The First Night Worcester Deaf Youth Theatre provides multi-faceted opportunities for Deaf and Hard of Hearing populations: as a program, it is creative, participatory and educational for youth from 8-18 years old; as a performance, it is provides an inclusive cultural experience for both Deaf (and Hearing) audiences; and finally, it is a source of employment for Deaf artists. Beyond the benefits directly derived for Deaf populations, the program and the exposure it provides promote understanding and appreciation for Hearing populations as well.
What sets the First Night Worcester Deaf Youth Program apart from other programs is its innovative capacity to open doors to cultural literacy and the possibilities that the experience engenders. It is the ONLY program of its kind in the entire region that welcomes and encourages creative and audience participation of this population as part of a mainstream public event. In this way, First Night Worcester breaks down barriers and gives a "voice" to Deaf community members that transcend the spoken word.
Medicine Wheel Productions:
The grant has helped fund Rob Cutler's teaching position and to enable us to present this inclusive teaching model at the Autism National Committee Conference in Nashua, New Hampshire, on September 8, 2006. As described above, Rob's teaching enables the disabled youth in the Medicine Wheel to access their talents and transforms all the students' beliefs about people labeled with disabilities. Presenting this inclusive teaching and program model to the conference attendees will inspire others to replicate this model in their programs, while providing them with specific information on how they can do so.

The money would go toward funding the publication of a chapbook of Cutler's lectures, transportation to the conferences for Rob and a group of the students and other teaching mentors, and the development of a curriculum presentation and arts workshop to be included in the conference.

Museum of Science:

The intent of the training portion of this project is to create a series of staff development workshops to enhance accessibility to the visually-impaired and hearing-impaired audiences. The workshops would be open to Museum of Science staff, especially front line staff in the cafeteria, store, visitors' desk and interpreters. Staff from other institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts, the Children's' Museum and the JFK Library would also be invited to participate.

The Museum of Science also proposes a free public program that highlights the work of oceanographer Dr. Amy Bower of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, to which recently trained staff and outside visitors would be invited. Bower, legally blind as a result of macular degeneration, is a tenured associate scientist at the Woods Hole Physical Oceanography Department. Dr. Bower's work incorporates adaptive technology, such as special computer software, a closed-circuit television system, and an optical scanner, all of which allow her to read and analyze data collected through field research. The proposed program would highlight how technological advances have assisted Dr. Bower's work in the North Atlantic and Indian oceans. As an advocate for the disabled, Dr. Bower will impress the audience (including Museum staff) with the possibilities open to this community.

The workshop series would consist of learning basic sign language, how to use our new Braille embosser, tips for visitor services, store and cafe staff on how to assist blind visitors, and training on how to be a sighted guide for exhibits. We have partners in the community including Deaf Inc., Access Umbrella, the Carroll Center for the Blind and the Perkins School for the Blind who could be our resource for expert facilitators/trainers.

North Shore Music Theatre:

NSMT has offered American Sign Language (ASL)-Interpreted performances since 1998, reaching approximately 2,000 deaf and hard of hearing individuals, and many times that in non-deaf audience members attending ASL-Interpreted performances. While attending these performances, audiences are inspired by the beauty and power that the interpretation adds to what NSMT has already created on the stage. One non-deaf patron wrote to NSMT to share that he enjoyed the ASL- interpreters' performances more than the concert they were signing for, and was ultimately inspired to learn sign language.
NSMT is seeking grant support through an ADA Mini-Grant at this time to help support our ASL-Interpreted Series for the remainder of our 2006 season in light of financial challenges since a fire in 2005, which have had an impact on the budget for our ASL-Interpreted Series.

Talking Information Center:

The greatest challenges faced by people with visual impairments are literacy issues, maintaining independence, unemployment (70%) and paralyzing isolation. Talking Information Center works to level the playing field for people with visual disabilities by providing the type of basic information that ties the fabric of lives together. Our goal is to provide this timely information so that those who are visually impaired can lead productive, inclusive lives. This means that we not only provide news, employment and shopping information but also provide programming that allows disabled individuals the opportunity to listen to, locate and participate in enriching cultural events.

The Trotter School:

The Dorchester- based school seeks funding from VSA Arts/Boston to support collaboration between jazz musician Tony DuBlois and students in Grades 3, 4 and 5 for the purpose of creating poetry. The project will be called "Poems to Go". Our goals are to implement arts based experiences that empower students to express themselves powerfully through poetry, to respond to and understand poetry - their own and others, support standards based classroom instruction/Readers-Writers workshop, and to enable students to appreciate diversity by working alongside talented artists with disabilities.

Tunefoolery Concert Ensembles:

Two of Tunefoolery's programs started with support from VSA mini-grants: The Music Scholarship Fund provides TF and Social Club musicians with low-cost ($1-5/lessons) professional music lessons and free workshops; The yearly TF Retreat allows our members to spend three days in the Berkshires where TF professional music coaches teach a variety of workshops emphasizing musical creativity, as well as topics such as music theory and vocal technique. These two programs would not have been possible to start without the support from VSA Arts. Furthermore, thanks to the success of the programs, we have been able to continue them with the help of individual donors.
Inspired by our past successes with VSA Arts mini-grants, we are asking VSA Arts, MA for a $4,000 grant to support a new program, The Rolling Coffee House, which would give people with psychiatric disabilities a chance to perform music, theater, and comedy as well as exhibit their artwork. The Rolling Coffee House will be collaboration between TF and Artful Endeavors, another cultural program of the Cambridge-Somerville Social Club.

Wheelock Family Theatre:

WFT, with support from the Cultural Access Initiative Grant Program, seeks to establish long-term relationships with schools and programs for Deaf and hard of hearing children through inclusion of Deaf artists in WFT Education Program's highly successful School Partnerships Initiative. WFT will train Deaf artists to become part of the Education Program team. Artist/educators will run residencies and DramaShops at partnering schools. In addition, Deaf and hard of hearing teachers from partnering schools and programs will have an opportunity to participate in trainings presented by WFT's education program.