VSA Colorado’s Artworks Program supports youth with disabilities that have artistic talent transitioning from high school to adulthood.  VSAC work with artists to develop job skills and opportunities to succeed through their art.

Artworks provides a variety of supports, including: studio space, professional mentoring art supplies, opportunities to connect with the community and make money. Individuals and companies alike can commission Artwork Artists to create murals, photo mosaics, mono prints, original works, art-o-mat additions, pet commissions and  more. Help us make meaningful impact in the lives of young people today.

Choose an artist from our list above and commission your piece today!

VSA Colorado/Access Gallery is pleased to host Colorado’s first Art-O-Mat machine. The Art-O-Mat machines are retired cigarette vending machines that have been converted to vend original, affordable and accessible art. Each piece of art from the machine is an original pocket sized piece. There are over 100 active Art-O-Mat machines across the country. What an easy way to start an art collection.

Not only is the machine fun and slightly addicting (although much less than cigarettes) the project supports
VSA Colorado/Access Gallery’s ongoing Artworks program. The top row of the machine has works from our teens and the bottom row features works from local and nationally known artists. Over the summer teens with disabilities in our Artworks program created their first editions for the Art-O-Mat machine. Each teen learned about simple economics, how to create sellable art and each will earn from the sale of the pieces. So not only can you buy an original piece of art for $5.00 you help a teen gain job skills.

Supported by the Alison Wera-Smith memorial fund.

VSA Colorado/Access Gallery is pleased to present the culmination of our “We Make Great Pets” artist in residency program. For 8 weeks our Artworks students have learned to paint portraits of pets. Led by artist in residence Niza Knoll and supported by VSA artist Elizabeth Neale these 10 students have studied composition, color theory and balance.

The portraits on display are to be used as examples of the style of each young artist. From the opening on November 18, 2011 through December 9, 2011 people can commission any one of our artists to paint a portrait of their pet based on a photograph. This is a perfect gift for any animal lover. Portraits start at $65 and if ordered before December 9 we can deliver in time for the holidays.

The goal of this program is to develop, implement and support arts integrated education

and employment programs for teens with disabilities. The portraits are as diverse as the teens that created them. Each has a personality and a style all their own.

We love all animals and as an inclusive organization we do not discriminate. You can commission a portrait of your dog, cat, hamster, snake or monkey. Our artists are encouraged to use their creative talent, therefore understand that the painting you are ordering will be an interpretation of your photograph. There are no refunds on commissioned paintings.

For more information contact VSA Colorado/Access Gallery 909 Santa Fe. 303-777-0797 or email damon@accessgallery.org

VSA Colorado/Access Gallery is accepting applications for: “Art Works”
An Excellent Summer Job Training Opportunity

VSA Colorado is seeking teenagers from age 15 to 21 years of age with disabilities who art interested and talented in the visual arts. Structured curriculum for youth includes instruction in various art forms as well as skills critical to success in finding and keeping a job.

Using the arts as the framework, students have the opportunities to gain skills while tapping into the rich resources of The Art District on Santa Fe. Our program is kept small so that each student receives individual attention. Students experience the excitement of discovering their creative potential and the reward of having their artwork exhibited and sold in the Access Gallery. This program has been designed to serve as a bridge from school to adult activities

Students will work with professionals in the area of graphic design, architecture, photography, drawing collage, and more. Excellent opportunity to develop resources, contacts and life long skills and experiences. Stipend is available.

Program Starts: June 7th through July 28th
Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 10:00 am to 2:00pm at the Access Gallery.

To learn more contact: VSA Colorado at 303/777-0797 (Spaces are limited.)

Plase download this document for more information.

Read a wonderful article by friendsofbeanstalk about us!

Clicking here!

* login or register to vote on our entry by clicking either link below the picture
* Your simple registration will record a vote for us!
* Click the “Like This Entry” button. That gives VSAC an automatic vote!

The organizations with the most votes wins $500, a contest through My Colorado Project, a program of Community Shares, our workplace giving partner. Share this with your network of friends and help us to continue the powerful and important work we do!

Our new show called Exploring Barriers, featuring abstract paintings by Clark Barker. Clark is a talented painter who captures the quality of the dream state in this work.  An excerpt from the artist’s statement:

“In September of 2009 I had a dream about my father. He committed suicide 32 years ago in 1979. A couple of months after my dream, I recreated the dream in the painting titled “Suicide Dreams”…Depression is a lonely place.  It feeds upon silence and isolation. In these paintings I try to open a dialog by interpreting part of the universal journey we as humans travel through life. Loss, anger, fear and love are all commingled feelings I had while creating this series.”

Exploring Barriers is opening in April for National Mental Health Awareness Month. This show is supported by the Second Wind Fund of Metro Denver, a nonprofit that provides resources for teens at risk of suicide. Learn more at www.swfmd.org.

First Friday Reception: May  6, 6:00 – 9:00

The VSA International Young Soloists Award Program annually recognizes emerging artists under age 30 with disabilities from all over the world that demonstrate exceptional musical talent. This year, they selected Coloradoan Mandy Harvey as one of three Young Soloists Award recipients who will make their debut at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on May 5 in Washington, D.C.

In addition to the opportunity to perform at the Kennedy Center, VSA is awarding Mandy with $5,000 to help her launch her musical career. Harvey will be joined onstage by fiddler/jazz violinist James Schlender of Montana and pianist Ráchel Skleni?ková of the Czech Republic.

VSA, the international organization on arts and disability, has received funding for programs through the federal Department of Education for 25 years. VSA increases access to the arts for people with disabilities and provides students, educators, parents, and artists with the resources and tools to support inclusive arts-integrated programming in schools and communities throughout the United States.

Current budget proposals have eliminated program funding for VSA, along with all other arts education funding. The federal funding for VSA provides VSA Colorado with money for programming throughout our state. We can’t let them remove the VSA line item.

VSA is the sole provider of federally supported programs for arts in education for students with disabilities. Through VSA’s national initiatives, students are afforded valuable academic advantages that contribute to classroom success. Their teachers benefit from innovative strategies to ensure student participation and progress that use arts to enhance learning and to cultivate inclusive environments that benefit students of all abilities in grades K–12. These educational programs directly reach more than 466,000 children nationwide—one-third of whom were students with disabilities. In Colorado alone we serve more than 5000 people

We can’t allow this to happen.

Help VSA Colorado get this message to Congress. There is little time, so please help us by doing something today!

You can:
Write Senator Bennet at bennet.senate.gov/contact/
or call 202-224-5852
Write Senator Udall at markudall.senate.gov/?p=contact
or call 202-224-5941

And tell them:
1) Direct funding for education programs are not earmarks attached randomly to irrelevant bills; they are budget line items within the Department of Education.

2) Don’t take away the VSA line item. Keep funding for inclusive arts programming so that schools can engage students with innovative strategies.

3) For every dollar VSA Colorado receives from this funding we leverage an additional $4 locally.

4) Why this matters to you. Describe your good experience with VSA Colorado.

The winning one-act play will be professionally produced or staged at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The winning playwright receives $2,000 and a trip to Washington, D.C., to view his or her work on stage. All submissions must be received by April 15, 2011, for consideration.

Download the official rules and procedures here.
Download the official application here.

VSA has an innovative and FREE Resource Guide for Teachers to help guide teachers and students through the playwriting process.

Deadline, April 15, 2011

Questions?
Mary Claire O’Neal, Program Director
VSA Kentucky
500 Mero St.
21st Floor, Capital Plaza Tower
Frankfort, KY  40601
502-564-3775

maryclaire.oneal@education.ky.gov