VSAI School Based Programs


VSAI Artist in Residence Program

Program Purpose: VSAI Residencies are provided to support and enhance student learning.

Program Description: The VSA arts of Indiana Artist in Residence Program places a VSAI Teaching Artist at a school for 5, 10 or 15 days or visits to work with students with identified disabilities and their non-disabled peers on projects in visual arts, music, dance/movement, and drama. Repeated visits by the Teaching Artist allow for an in-depth learning experience for a segment of the school’s students and teachers. VSAI does not offer school-wide residencies. A VSAI Residency should complement the efforts of the on-site visual art, music, and physical education teachers.

VSAI Teaching Artists are professional artists with expertise in one or more arts disciplines and skills in working with children, youth, and teachers in school settings. In addition, VSAI Teaching Artists are familiar with various disabilities and effective methods for adapting techniques and differentiating instruction to reach all learners. The Teaching Artist and the classroom teacher(s) team teach during the residency.
VSAI staff is available to offer guidance and clarification in preparing your application. Please contact Gayle Holtman at 317-974-4123 or 800-484-8055 (code 1605) or at gholtman@vsai.org.


Application

Download registration form with this link

Applications should be mailed to:
(faxed and emailed applications will not be accepted)

Gayle M. Holtman
VSA arts of Indiana
1505 North Delaware
Indianapolis, IN 46202

What Happens Next:When your application is received, you will be notified. If your application is approved, you will be contacted in order to schedule a Planning Meeting. All teachers involved in the residency must attend this meeting where we will finalize the specific goals, lessons, and timeframe of your residency. The VSAI Teaching Artist attends this meeting as well. Prior to the start of the residency, the Teaching Artist will return for an “observation day” in order to get to know the students, confirm details with the teacher(s), and finalize an outline of the lesson plans for the residency. During the residency, VSAI staff will visit in order to observe the Teaching Artist. At the completion of the residency, we will reconvene for an Assessment Meeting. The school submits to VSAI final report materials which are provided by VSAI.

About VSA arts of Indiana: For thirty years, VSA arts of Indiana (formerly Very Special Arts of Indiana) has been serving children, youth, and adults with disabilities through quality arts experiences. Based in Indianapolis, VSAI serves Indiana as the state affiliate for VSA arts, an international organization affiliated with The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. VSAI is a nonprofit organization funded in part by the Indiana Department of Education, Center for Exceptional Learners.

VSAI provides projects and programs for people with disabilities to support learning and encourage creative self-expression. In addition to the Artist in Residence Program, we offer festivals, community classes, vocational training, equipment for audio description, and services such as professional development for pre-service and in-service teachers.

For more information: contact us at 317-974-4123 or 800-484-8055 (1605).

School Based Program
Collaboration Example:

"Outdoor Sculpture Project" at the
Indiana School for the Deaf

ISD kids

ISD student with tile

ISD’s website - http://deafhoosiers.org/

The Outdoor Sculpture Project is a collaboration of VSAI teaching artist Barbara Zech, ISD art teacher Scotty Zwicker, and ISD art students – They are working to create a public sculpture on the grounds of the Indiana School for the Deaf. Barb has been a teaching artist in Scotty’s classroom for several years. While working together in the Spring of 2006, Scotty and Barb came up with the idea for an outdoor sculpture project that would involve ISD students and exhibit visual communication through ASL and art. After considering various design ideas, they decided on columns and archway, as a form for conveying the message, and allowing many students to contribute a piece that makes up one large sculpture. From that point the project began.

The sculpture will be made up of two columns that are covered with American Sign Language and decorative clay tiles created by the students, and topped with an architectural peak or arch. The sculpture design reflects the architecture of the historic buildings of ISD and the rich history of Deaf Culture.

EXPECTED Dedication and Opening: September 25, 2009.

The sculpture will be located on the west edge of the ISD campus along the Monon Trail, north of 42nd St., across from the State Fairgrounds. The sculpture area will connect to the Monon Trail via a paved or brick pathway; with benches, Monon map, and plaque describing the arch and the history about the Indiana Deaf School.

For up-to-date information, visit- http://deafsculpture.blogspot.com/

or http://deafhoosiers.org/Superintendent/SuptNL/documents/SuptNLOct09.pdf

For a video about VSA arts of Indiana's 2007 Day of the Arts at the Indiana Deaf School, visit- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzi0yn6OsZU

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