Taking Notice
Taking Notice is a program that cultivates artistic expression and self-awareness in youth
with differing abilities through the exploration of the art of photography.
Participants in the program are encouraged to explore self-expression and to develop
decision-making skills by learning the photographic arts.
Summer Arts Camp
VSA arts of Louisiana offers summer camps that are designed to stimulate and enrich the
lives of students with varying disabilities, through integrated arts, math and science
workshops.
Blues In School
Blues in the Schools is an innovative arts project that uses quality experiences grounded
in the indigenous music of Louisiana to stimulate the creative and intuitive minds of
young people. World-class artists make strong commitments that contribute to the success
of this program by providing a series of statewide, live, and interactive sessions for
students with disabilities.
Professional Development and
Technical Assistance
Start With The Arts
Start with the Arts gives four- to
six-year-old children of differing abilities valuable, lifelong, academic, and social
advantages by using the creative and communicative power of the arts to enhance learning
and social skills. It is designed to provide educators and parents with objective-based,
thematic learning experiences in the arts. The statewide program supports the development
of basic literacy skills and offers engaging activities in visual art, creative movement,
music, and creative drama.
Summer Arts Institute
Supporting Louisiana’s higher education goals, VSA arts of Louisiana provides
statewide in-service training and resources in the arts to regular and special educators.
In addition, VSA arts of Louisiana conducts teacher training institutes each summer
in up to four areas of the state. The objectives of these institutes are to train teachers
to effectively integrate the arts into the educational experiences of students with
disabilities; to encourage dissemination of ideas and skills among regular and special
educators; and to develop a trained cadre of teachers as potential statewide resources and
to provide in-service assistance.
Making Connections
VSA arts of Louisiana in partnership with the Louisiana
Department of Education, recruits and contracts with teachers to sustain the arts
component of the Making Connections Project. This project, which is currently under
redesign, is a Web-based resource whose heart is the Louisiana Content Standards. Through
Making Connections, educators and parents access “a one stop shopping center” in
which lesson plans, Internet resources, software products, and assessment tools are all
linked to the state’s content standards.
Conferences
The Special School District #1 Professional Development Conference and the Super
Conference on Special Education are annual, three-day conferences at which VSA arts of
Louisiana sponsors workshops and presentations conducted by artists and art educators
for pre-service teachers, parents, administrators, and other interested participants. VSA
arts of Louisiana also participates in the Louisiana Music Educators Association
Conference and the state Head Start and Department of Education’s Preschool
Conferences to promote disability awareness and illustrate the benefit of VSA arts programs.
Cultural Access and
Inclusive Arts Services
Urban Cultural Access
VSA arts of Louisiana will partner with the Louisiana School For The Deaf Interpretive
Services Department to provide American Sign Language interpretation services and
assistive listening devices for deaf and hard of hearing people at arts and cultural
events in the Greater Baton Rouge Area. Access services include information and referral
for other arts organizations that provide public services for persons with disabilities.
Public Awareness and
Outreach
VSA arts of Louisiana festivals are community-based celebrations that communicate the
power of the arts and the benefits of VSA arts programs by showcasing
participants’ work across the state. These highly organized events feature
performances, art exhibitions, demonstrations, and educational workshops where children,
youth, and adults with disabilities proudly share their artistic accomplishments with the
public.
International Exchange
In 1985 Very Special Arts National laid the foundation for Louisiana's Educational
Exchange by establishing an International Network and pairing each state with a country
where there was a Very Special Arts Program. Louisiana was paired with Italy. The premise
is that an initiative such as this would serve as a catalyst to stimulate the growth of
innovative, comprehensive, quality services to students with disabilities in the state and
the international country. These services would enable students with disabilities to
effectively and successfully access more opportunities to learn and develop into
productive citizens. VSA arts of Louisiana's central aim is that, through the mediums of
free exchange of past and current practices, research and future planning, and regular
on-site visitations, both entities would reap immensely from the vast amount of
information shared.
Key and critical components of Louisiana's program are invaluable opportunities to:
- Conduct first-hand observations,
- Provide on-site consultations with demonstrations and,
- Engage in face to face dialogue on current and emerging trends in the areas of providing
professional and personal service/care to students with disabilities
An equally strong component of the exchanges is the artistic part; for the arts form
the common thread which weaves a pattern of unity between us all. Past events have
included musical groups, students, festivals and sharing of art works. This year VSA arts
of Louisiana hopes to complete a musical exchange with VSA arts of Italy. The visit to
Italy will feature musical demonstrations, consultations, workshops and concerts by a
touring choir from Louisiana.
