S4DAC
LINKS
Copyright 2003-05
Society for Disability Arts & Culture
S4DAC
LINKS
Copyright 2003-05
Society for Disability Arts & Culture
What kept us going through last winter and early spring was the production of Arts Smarts: A Handbook of Information and Inspiration for Canadian Artists with Disabilities. It's a 100-odd page manual that provides, to artists with disabilities especially, insight into the world of the arts.
The content comes from interviews with twelve artists with disabilities from across Canada. Feedback on Art Smarts has been fantastic so far. Join us at the official launch of the handbook and our new video on Wednesday, November 27th, 2002.
You can get your own Art Smarts handbook, packaged with our 13-minute video, kickstART!: A Celebration, for $35. The Handbook is available in English or French, as a book, audiotape or CD. If you or anyone you know might find it useful, please contact us! To order or for institutional pricing and options, contact the S4DAC office at 604.685.3368 or email info@s4dac.org. You can also read the handbook online or download the pdf files to print on your home computer.
While fundraising is always a concern for a not-for-profit arts organization, the great news is that we have a financial foundation to build on. We were successful in securing a three-year funding commitment from the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, which levered the release of a two-year commitment from the Vancouver Foundation. Big thanks to both - we hope that their support bodes well for continued financial support for the Cyborg Project in 2003.
In July we hired a General Manager, Lorna Boschman, and an Administrative Assistant, Anna Stauffer. They will introduce themselves later in this newsletter, but let me say, as Artistic Director and only employee for several months, it's wonderful to have them on board! We have our work cut out for us, with reports to file, projects to plan and funding applications to prepare....and another kickstART! Celebration to think about! We're aiming for 2004; the scope and timing to be determined.
Meanwhile, our major funders have provided additional money to be used for strategic planning and capacity building. We have engaged a consultant, experienced with arts organizations, to aid us with a strategic plan and with staff/board training. Over the next three years at least, a certain amount of our time and energy will be devoted to policies, strategies and skills building — generally strengthening the organization.
Last May, grants from the City of Vancouver and the BC Rehab Foundation enabled us to co-produce two Mavor Moore plays, Getting In and The Store, with Theatre Bagger and Real Wheels Productions. Though not a money-maker, the show was an artistic success, much credit to director Trevor Found, and it gave local actor James Sanders (who uses a wheelchair) an opportunity to hone his craft. The partnership provided us with an opportunity to learn about realizing a production from start to finish.
In August we were a community sponsor for the Out On Screen presentation Keeping It Real: The Adventures of Greg Walloch — a film about a very funny gay comedian Greg Walloch, who has CP.
I may not be entirely objective (as a member of the Swamp Angels Choir myself!) but the Choir is really coming together! Under the co-direction of Susan Summers and Patti Powell, rehearsals are fun and we're adding some unusual songs to our repertoire. With a couple of post-kickstART! concerts under our belts, we are looking forward performing at the video and book launch on November 27th. Join us! We thank the Leonard Foundation and the Canadian Music Therapy Trust Fund for contributing again to the Swamp Angels.
If you like to sing and want to feel the high of making music, then come on down! Practices are Tuesdays evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 at the CNIB building, across the street from the Joyce Street SkyTrain station at 5055 Joyce. No choir experience is necessary, and you don't have to be able to read music. If you want more information about the Choir, call Patti Powell at 604.253.2127. Choir membership has its benefits, too! Last year, through the generosity of Festival Vancouver, choir members were offered tickets to either Vancouver's musica intima or the Choir for South Africa, both of which were very inspiring performances.
Among our plans for next year are an art exhibit, an online gallery (including both Outside the Lines and Artitudes, the shows that were presented at kickstART!), a directory of artists, and an original multi – disciplinary theatre production – which will be referred to as the "Cyborg Show" until a better name comes along. The production in mind will explore, from a disability perspective, issues of self-determination, body augmentation and human consciousness, using the science fiction concept of "cyborg" (a human/machine hybrid). The envisaged show will have a "funky sci-fi" aesthetic and a visceral, European feeling. Engineers, technicians and bicycle repair guys in the community will be recruited to help design props and costumes — exaggerated metal puppet pieces that will attach to actors/dancers. The concept and content will be developed through research, interviews and workshops in the first half of 2003. If you're interested in this project, or want to refer me to any visual art, writing, film, video or music that deals with this topic, then please contact me (Geoff) at the S4DAC office, 604.685.3368.
Lorna Boschman, General Manager
I used to work at Video In Studios, an artist-run media center, as the Business
Manager. In addition to my background in grant writing, administration and
financial planning, I am a documentary video artist. I edited S4DAC's 13-minute
video about the 2001 kickstART! Celebration, which is now available from
the office. Most recently, I worked with director Paul Lang as a video editor
on a new website about Risk, Chance, HIV and AIDS. Check it out at bigreddice.com.
Anna Stauffer, Administrative Assistant
Four years ago in the old hometown of Edmonton, I began a program for an Arts
Administration certificate. Since graduating, I've had the opportunity to
work with a number of different arts organizations, including the Arts Club
Theatre Company and the Western Front. The knowledge gleaned from these experiences
has been, and will surely continue to be a fantastic resource in the months
to come.
S4DAC has been a bit of a cultural shock. Before starting here, I've always taken for granted my ability to reach things, and to skip through doors with regular knobs with impunity. I've had to adjust slightly, remembering that accessibility is key.
Now the office is up and running, the databases culled, and everything is present and accounted for. Soon we'll be mounting productions and looking for volunteers!
Thanks to the support of the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, we are currently upgrading and updating our website. This will include an online gallery featuring the two visual art shows from kickstART! — Outside the Lines: Self-Portraits by Artists with Disabilities and Artitudes.
In January, if further funding is secured, S4DAC will incorporate an Artists Directory into our website. We will begin with listings by local artists with disabilities, and expand later in the year to include national and international listings.
As you no doubt already know, the kickstART! Celebration of Disability Arts and Culture was an exciting, groundbreaking event held in Vancouver in August of 2001. It was the first international festival of disability art and culture ever held in Canada, attracting more than 160 Canadian and international visual and performing artists. It inspired Philip Patston, a comedian from New Zealand, to write:
"Art and performance... are magic and creative forces. Mix them with the experience of disability and they become a miraculous expression of the illusion of limitation and proof of the existence of infinite human potential."
Now you can catch the flavour and excitement of kickstART! by getting your own 13-minute video, kickstART!: A Celebration. S4DAC is offering the video, packaged with our newly-released handbook for artists with disabilities Art Smarts, to individuals for $35.To order or for institutional pricing and options, contact the S4DAC office, 604.685.3368 or email info@s4dac.org.
Anyone who attended kickstART! might have seen the reading of local playwright Rick Waines' play Dragonfly drinking. Well, it's now going into full production and will be presented at the Roundhouse Community Centre, November 24 to December 1. Dragonfly drinking is the story of a decision made to leave behind the struggle with illness, choosing instead to run bravely toward death and the magic that can happen along the way. Presented by the Dragonfly drinking collective and the Western Canadian Pediatric AIDS Society during World AIDS Awareness Week.