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Disability in the Arts

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Websites to Promote Your Artwork:

Websites for Marketing your Artwork:

Art As Business Websites:

  • Artist Help Network - is a free information service designed to help artists take control of their careers. The network helps artists locate information, resources, guidance, and advice on a comprehensive range of career related topics. The network focuses primarily on subjects of interest to fine artists. People working in the applied arts, arts administration, and arts-related fields will also find this site useful. www.ArtistHelpNetwork.com
  • Living the Artist's Life. Paul Dorrell's guidebook for artists, Living the Artist's Life, is now in its 2nd printing. Dorrell is a gallery owner and novelist known for his hard-won success  and his compassion toward artists.  His book has been endorsed by the RISD, the Penn Academy of Fine Art, and many other schools. For more, go to www.livingtheartistslife.com.
  • The Art of the Start - Venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki shares his tips for “starting anything.” This chapter is useful for strategic planning, program development, and assisting grantees. For more information, please visit: http://guykawasaki.com/books/.
  • Self Employment in the Arts, http://sea.noctrl.edu/index.php
  • “Putting Creativity to Work: Careers in the Arts for People with Disabilities." Whether you are a visual, literary or performing artist with a disability, this publication provides valuable information to help you pursue not just a job, but a career that is creative and challenging. Describing more than 110 arts-related careers, Putting Creativity to Work contains sections on job searching skills, locating assistive technology, navigating the social services system, and finding affordable health insurance. The full text version is available at www.kennedy-center.org/education/vsa/resources/creativity_work.cfm.

Additional Resources:

  • VSA arts offers a large selection of publications, guides, and other resources dealing with a wide variety of subject matter in arts, education, and disabilities. www.kennedy-center.org/accessibility

Art=Work Follow-up Grant Presentation to Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors is available via this link.

National Summit on Careers in the Arts for People with Disabilities
VSA arts co-presented the second National Summit on Careers in the Arts for People with Disabilities at the Kennedy Center the summer of 2009. The summit featured career panels, presentations of new research, working groups, and Millennium Stage Performances from artists with disabilities. As a rare and important networking opportunity for artists and arts administrators across the country, the summit brought together professionals from the arts, education, government, and disability fields to evaluate progress concerning arts education and career opportunities and develop a strategic plan. The National Endowment for the Arts, the National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Education, the Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy, the Administration on Developmental Disabilities of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Social Security Administration joined VSA arts to organize the summit. Materials from the summit are available at http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/2009NEASummit/papers.html.

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month
October marks National Disability Employment Awareness Month, which focuses on promoting employment opportunities for people with disabilities. In observance of the month, President Barack Obama issued a proclamation calling on "all Americans to celebrate the contributions of individuals with disabilities to our workplaces and communities, and to promote the employment of individuals with disabilities to create a better, more inclusive America." Increasing employment opportunities and career development is one of VSA arts' guiding principles. Please take a moment to view the Campaign for Disability Employment’s “I Can” public service announcement (PSA). It features seven real people – not actors – with hidden and obvious disabilities, demonstrating what they “can do” on the job when given the opportunity. Campaign “I can” PSA: www.whatcanyoudocampaign.org/blog/index.php/video.

North Dakota Council on the Arts

It is our mission to promote, preserve and perpetuate the arts in North Dakota.

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