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Where are the Artists with Disabilities?
While many of this nation's arts organizations have implemented accessibility
plans for their patrons to attend performances, exhibits, and public programs,
few have considered access to the stage, exhibit hall walls, and offices
for individuals with disabilities. Conversely, most arts organizations
have developed strategies for presenting and employing diverse ethnicities
and cultures in their work or providing equal access to women. Our arts
organizations have not considered people with disabilities as part of
their diversity programming or hiring strategies. This lack of understanding
of the true concept of accessibility and diversity represents a major
barrier to the employment in the arts for people with disabilities. If
our nation's gatekeepers for employment in the arts have not considered
that people with disabilities should and need be a part of their artistic
and employment plan, then little headway in this arena can be made until
the mindset is changed.
--Tim McCarty, president of Quest: Arts for Everyone
[see related article at Theatre Communications Group,
http://www.tcg.org, American Theatre
Magazine, On-line Article Archives, April 01]
What is a Career in the Arts?
The average person has a traditional view of a career in the arts ---
dancer or painter. However, there is a much broader range of "careers"
in the arts that many people with disabilities could pursue and have a
successful livelihood. Like other careers such as teaching or accounting
or nursing, a career in the arts offers a range of work options, different
levels of education and training, and numerous employers.
Is a Career in the Arts an Employment Outcome?
Careers in the arts will provide opportunities for individuals with disabilities
to be hired in jobs at which they will: receive minimum wage or higher,
with benefits; have opportunities for advancement; work on a full-time
basis, or as close to full-time as possible; work in an integrated setting;
and obtain employment that is consistent with the individual's abilities
and interests. Careers in the arts are good employment outcomes.
What Fields are Available in Careers
in the Arts?
Careers in the arts can be classified under four main fields: literary
arts, performing arts, visual arts and design, and arts administration.
Each field has various career tracks that can be pursued leading to a
variety of job opportunities.
What are the Literary Arts?
The literary arts encompass a broad range of jobs related to the spoken,
written, and visual media. These jobs can be found with organizations
such as advertising agencies, book publishers, government agencies, magazine
and newspaper publishers, software companies, and television studios.
Types of Jobs Available:
· Advertising copywriter
· Journalist/Reporter
· Newspaper Editor
· Technical Writer
· Web Site Text Developer
· Public Relations Officer
What are the Performing Arts?
The performing arts include film, theater, dance, music and the other
recording arts, and television. Job opportunities can be found in a variety
of settings, including ballet companies, churches, circuses, dance companies,
film companies, law firms, opera companies, orchestras, radio stations,
recording studios, schools, social service organizations, symphony orchestras,
television studios, and theaters. Freelancing is an option, too.
Types of Jobs Available:
· Television/radio broadcaster
· Theater membership or Visitor services coordinator
· Dance/movement therapist
· Production manager
· Recording engineer
· Orchestra music librarian
· Stage manager
· Costume designer
· Special effects artist
· Music educator
· Set decorator
What are the Visual Arts?
The visual arts offer a range of job opportunities with a variety of
organizations including advertising agencies, antique galleries, auction
houses, architectural firms, book publishers, art galleries, florists,
government agencies, film and animation companies, landscaping companies,
greeting card companies, museums, newspapers, printing companies, retail
stores, schools, law firms, magazines, manufacturers such as clothing
and household goods, and Web and e-zine publishers.
Types of Jobs Available:
· Cartoonist
· Illustrator
· Photographer
· Floral designer
· Graphic designer
· Multimedia designer
· Framer
· Architect
· Appraiser
· Archivist
· Education director, assistant, or associate
· Librarian
· Retailer/Buyer
· Art therapist
· Animator
· Display designer
· Medical illustrator
· Museum administrator
· Sign maker
· Urban designer
What is Arts Administration?
The arts administration field is for those individuals interested in
the arts in general and can work with a variety of organizations, including
dance companies, nonprofit organizations, museums, government agencies,
schools, symphony orchestras.
Types of Jobs Available:
· Fund raiser
· Public relations specialist
· Researcher
· Grants writer
· Program manager or assistant of local arts council
What is the Role of Technology
and the Internet?
Assistive technology is allowing more people with disabilities to pursue
careers in many fields including the arts. It is this technology such
as voice recognition software, that has made the internet accessible to
people with disabilities. This is opening up new work opportunities in
the arts for people with disabilities. With the federal government being
required to make electronic information technology accessible and usable
by people with disabilities under section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act,
competition between manufacturers will result in new products and devices
that will continue to expand the boundaries of the internet and new areas
of employment in the arts for people with disabilities.
Resources on Assistive Technology
What
Resources are available?
National Art Service Organizations
State Arts Agencies
See http://www.nasaa-arts.org/aoa/saadir.shtml
State 504/ADA Coordinators
See http://www.nea.gov/partner/Accessibility/504.html
Regional Arts Organizations
See http://www.nasaa-arts.org/aoa/saadir.shtml
Internships
and Fellowship Programs (this is not inclusive)
General Scholarship sources on the web:
Disability related scholarships:
http://www.gripvision.com/scholarship.html?#section1
(cited from The Kennedy Center, "Opening Stages", Issue
No. 2, March 2002- May 2002)
Internships:
See VSA Arts, "Putting Creativity to Work", appendix E
at: http://www.vsarts.org/resources/publications/careerguide/appendices.pdf
Other
National Resources
VSA Arts
http://www.vsarts.org/
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
http://www.kennedy-center.org/accessibility
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/forum/index.html
The National Endowment of the Arts AccessAbility Office
http://www.nea.gov/learn/NEAGuide/Access.html
The National Arts and Disability Center
http://nadc.ucla.edu
Quest: Arts for Everyone
http://www.quest4arts.org
Meet Some Artists with Disabilities
Michael A. Naranjo, sculptor
Michael’s love of working with his hands started as a
child while growing up
in New Mexico. His mother was a potter and while helping her prepare the
clay, he began to explore the medium himself and realized that sculpting
was
his dream.
Now a critically acclaimed artist who “sees with his hands,”
Michael’s work
has been exhibited in shows across the country and is included in many
private collections. Creating three-dimensional works that range in size
from small to life size and larger, Michael has impressed critics and
art
enthusiasts with his amazing talent in the visual arts.
Michael lost his sight and partial use of his right hand as a result
of an
injury he sustained from a grenade explosion during the Vietnam War. After
receiving rehabilitation services, he returned home and began his career
as
a sculptor. Everywhere his work is displayed, Michael invites people to
touch his sculptures. “Through touch, a whole other dimension of
experience is added,” explains Michael.
His advice to others, “You have to follow your heart and soul. Love
your
work and nourish it. With time, effort, and energy, you’ll get there.”
Lydia LaBouliere, writer-director
Lydia is an associate show writer and director with Walt Disney
Company,
where she works with Walt Disney Creative Entertainment and Imagineering,
the division behind the development of Disney’s stories and theme
parks.
Lydia began her education in theater with an emphasis on performance,
until
a writing professor recommended that she consider other options that would
not be directly impacted by her disability which is lupus. In her search
for other venues for her creativity, she discovered her talent for
playwriting. Her current position allows her the benefit of working from
home if her condition requires her to rest.
While studying at the University of New Mexico, she was encouraged to
try
her hand at a drama, and the result was “Lagniappe,” a play
set in her
native New Orleans about an adopted young woman who seeks out her birth
family in order to ensure her survival from systemic lupus. The play won
her the 1997 VSA Arts Playwright Discovery Award for outstanding playwrights
and was produced and performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts in Washington, DC.
Lydia attributes much of her success to the writing skills she developed
under the guidance of her mentors, including the University of New Mexico
professors and Disney Creative Entertainment and Imagineering staff.
Joseph A. DelVecchio, architect
Combining his love of the arts and his creative side, John pursued
a career
in architecture after sustaining an injury in the armed services. Now
an
accomplished architect with his own practice, Access Development
Corporation, Joseph uses his degree from Rhode Island School of Design,
artistic talents, and eye for detail to create the largest of visual arts
masterpieces.
He chose architecture because it allowed him to “both build and
design.”
When he first pursued employment he found no accessible practices in the
area so he decided to create his own. Now Joseph combines his creative
talents with his knowledge and awareness of accessibility issues to produce
works of architecture that are not only beautiful, but functional for
all
people.
When offering advice to aspiring architects, Joseph says that determination,
stamina, broad shoulders, and a great big sense of humor are of vital
importance.
*The above biographies were reprinted with permission from
VSA Arts, “Putting Creativity to Work,” Washington, DC, 2001.
Information on the various art career fields was cited
from this publication as well.
**This information was compiled by Pat Laird for Quest
under a contract from the U.S. Department of Education/Rehabilitation
Services Administration.
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