VSA arts of Hawaii-Pacific is the local affiliate of the national VSA arts out of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., whose core funding comes from the U.S. Department of Education. VSA arts was originally established in Hawaii in 1984, and was reestablished as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation in 2002 in the City and County of Honolulu. It is governed by a volunteer board of directors, administered by a full-time executive director, and employs a host of artists and art educators as consultants.
IN 2008-09
EDUCATION, ARTIST RESIDENCE, PROFESSIONAL, CULTURAL ACCESS AND OUTREACH
1. EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS AND ARTIST RESIDENCIES
Artist Mentors
Professional artist-mentors with and without disabilities provide after-school art instruction and mentorship for students K–12 up year around at various schools statewide. Programming promotes high-level arts skills and products and builds resiliency skills working with significant adults. Master artists with and without disabilities oversee the advancement of art skills and generalizes art competency from the art studio back to classrooms and the community.
Literacy through the Arts
VSA arts has committed itself to “Universal Design for Learning,” which expands access to learning environments and diverse learners to advance more of their literacy skills and knowledge through embedded art making and equips learners with more multiple approaches and tools for achieving learning, personal and career goals. “Literacy Through the Arts” studio classrooms are designed to engage youth and adult learners with developmental and other learning disabilities by multiple means of representation, action and expression and multiple means of engagement in learning. Using hands-on arts education with other strategies, such as “artful” thinking disposition and universal design for learning, we’ve enabled ourselves to make learning more accessible and relevant to daily living as students quickly learned to view language arts (reading and writing), fiction and non-fiction and poetry, autobiographical writing, numeracy, employment and life skills, visual art-making, journalism as “literacy through arts” learning projects. Literacy through the Arts, as a multiple means of representation, means of action, expression and means of engagement — promotes understanding of abstract concepts and gives students the chance to learn and express themselves without the fear of making mistakes.
Along with self-assessment and self-evaluation, students use ongoing journals, portfolios, classrooms group projects as a means of demonstrating indicators of literacy gains among students with the lowest levels of literacy skills. Students demonstrate letter recognition, word attack, and basic reading skills, and that all students at all levels bettered their reading and writing abilities, reading comprehension, life skills, grammar, and confidence with words, as measured by national CASAS assessments and evaluation tools.
Community Field Trips are part of the “Literacy through the Arts” process. Meeting and interacting with the public is a vital part of developing communication skills (Equipped for the Future (EFF) community inclusion and self-determination for adults with developmental disabilities. During the course of 2007-08, beginning literacy students in developed their art-making competencies to such as level that allowed them to exhibit their work in public places and help VSA arts with its outreach and education and recruitment of new students.
Such public awareness events, as 2008 Pacific Rim Conference (Sheraton Hotel) “Sunset on Beach” in Waianae; “Made in Hawai‘i” Festival (Blaisdell Center in Honolulu); Maili Beach Park Talk Story Weekend; Windward Community College Ho’olaulea; Abled Artists (ADA) Festival at Kapiolani Community College afforded students the opportunity to work on their decision-making and problem-solving skills, promoting, communicating and talking story about their creative works to visitors. “Literacy through the Arts” in a comprehensive and daily way, gives students the opportunities and choices to work and cooperate with others, resolve conflicts and advocate for themselves and each other.
2. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
“Artists Mean Business” in Hawai‘i
Entering its sixth year under the VSA arts of Hawai‘i-Pacific banner, “Artists Mean Business” supported self-employment initiative grew out of the National Arts and Disability Center-VSA arts in Washington, D.C., Careers in the Arts statewide forums led by Dr. Olivia Raynor at UCLA. Across the state, and in collaboration with University of Hawai‘i Center on Disability Studies Medicaid Infrastructure Grant, and VSA arts of Hawai‘i-Pacific emerging and professional artists and cultural craft makers with disabilities have year-round subsidized opportunities to advance their creative skills and business acumen in professional development studio intensives. The business-creative industry classroom style workshops draw on the strength and value of flexibility derived from self-employment, with high-level technical assistance on business and marketing skill development. Embedded in the process is ongoing discussions and knowledge building regarding SSA and Medicaid benefits planning information. SSA-eligible individuals who use mental health services and others who qualify for SSA may have “Artist Mean Business” business and studio tuition subsidized by Division of Vocational of Rehabilitation.
“Youth@Work” in Hawai‘i
Another outgrowth of the Career in the Arts forums, and Hawai‘i SCR 199 (2004), in January 2009, VSA arts of Hawai‘i-Pacific in partnership with the Hawai‘i Division of Vocational of Rehabilitation, the state Department of Education, State Foundation on Culture and the Arts (SFCA) and the UH Center on Disability Studies will role out “Youth@Work” a model internship pilot for students with disabilities in transition. Expanding on traditional career and technical education internships for non-disabled high school youth in transition, “Youth@Work” will demonstrate how to utilize the Hawai‘i Career and Technical Education Pathways for students with significant disabilities to earn elective credits and gain employment experience in various business sectors, including the creative industries, while still enrolled in high school.
3. CULTURAL ACCESS AND INCLUSIVE ARTS
Arts for All Cultural Access
Utilizing the short-term workshop format, these intensives offers sustainable, hands-on, inclusive teaching artists professional development trainings in Multiple Intelligences, Universal Design for Learning principles and Positive Behavioral Supports in the arts classroom. It provides increased access to statewide arts and cultural resources through trainings and collaboration with state agencies and national arts-cultural specialists and professional artists with disabilities.
4. PUBLIC AWARENESS AND OUTREACH
Creative Abilities Series
Through the “Creative Abilities” series, VSA arts of Hawai’i-Pacific works with new and established statewide partners as partners in a series of art events that promote the creative power of people with disabilities in the creation of arts. Existing annual gallery exhibitions and seasonal product sales are among the events, and at least 10 medium- and small-scale events to further expand public awareness beyond Honolulu to smaller neighbor islands with rural and remote communities.