Schedule

AGENDA AT A GLANCE
FULL AGENDA


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Agenda at a Glance

Please see full agenda for complete details.
 

Sunday, July 31 - Capacity Building Workshops
9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. - Developing Audio Description Skills

Monday, August 1 - Capacity Building Workshops
9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. - Developing Audio Description Skills
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. - Developing Multisensory Strategies to Engage All Audiences
 
Tuesday, August 2 - Pre-Conference and Capacity Building Workshops
Full Day Workshops:
8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. - Audio Description for Dance
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. - Sensory Friendly Pittsburgh: A Sample Pack of Accommodation Strategies
10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. - Programming for People with Dementia and their Caregivers: Theory and Practice

Half Day Workshops:
8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. – ADA and the Cultural Arts
12:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. – Lunch on your own
1:30 p.m to 5:30 p.m. – Accessibility Planning: The Key to Successful Inclusion (August Wilson Center)
1:30 p.m to 5:30 p.m. – State Arts Agency Accessibility Coordinator Peer Session (Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Education Center)
1:30 p.m to 5:30 p.m. – Universal Design Initiative in the Arts (August Wilson Center)

Wednesday, August 3 - FULL CONFERENCE
8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. – Full Conference (Westin Pittsburgh)
7:00 p.m. – Opening Night Party (The Andy Warhol Museum)
 
Thursday, August 4 - FULL CONFERENCE
8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. – Full Conference (Westin Pittsburgh)
 
Friday, August 5 - FULL CONFERENCE
8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. – Full Conference (Westin Pittsburgh)
7:00 p.m. – LEAD Awards Night (Children's Museum of Pittsburgh)
 
Saturday, August 6 - Capacity Building Workshop
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. - Innovation: Accommodating Artists with Disabilities

Full Agenda

Subject to Change
 

Sunday, July 31 - Capacity Building Workshops

Developing Audio Description Skills

9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Registration Fee: $425.00
Workshop continues on Monday, August 1 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

This fast-paced, 2-day interactive workshop allows participants both new to the service and those currently describing, the opportunity to learn and apply the “3 Core Skills” to the process of audio description for museum/exhibits (visual arts, zoos/aquariums) and live performances (theatre/dance) in extended practice sessions. Training is provided by Deborah B. Lewis, President of Audio Description Solutions (ADS) and Ruth M. Feldman, Senior Writer, ADS, two of Audio Description Coalition’s founders. Together they have more than 45 years of professional audio description experience and training across the country.

Day 1 begins at the beginning for those both new to audio description as well as those looking to refresh and expand their basic skills. Working in small groups, participants will learn the practical application of the core skills through participatory exercises, lectures, and demonstrations in a shared setting.

Day 2, participants will be divided according to their primary discipline interest (museum/exhibit and live performance) and spend the day applying both the “3 Core Skills” and lessons learned from day one, through active audio description and shared feedback in extended practice sessions. At the conclusion of these 2 days, new describers will be ready to further develop their skills and those with more experience will approach their work with refreshed and enhanced skills. As part of the training, workshop leaders will provide individual guidance to help participants take the next steps in their development by being available for follow-up calls and emails throughout the following year. Top of page

 

Monday, August 1 - Capacity Building Workshops

Developing Audio Description Skills

9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. 
Workshop continued from Sunday, July 31. See full description above.
 

Developing Multisensory Strategies to Engage All Audiences

9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Registration Fee: $275.00
This full-day capacity-building workshop will guide participants through a series of experiential activities, each engaging a specific sense or modality. After much discussion and hands-on experience, participants will leave equipped with tools and strategies to implement multi-sensory elements in the galleries and the classroom that will benefit all learners. Workshop participants should come prepared for an intensive but fun day. Handouts will be provided, along with useful reference material in digital format. However, we recommended you bring a notebook, iPad, recorder, sketchbook or whatever your preferred method for making notes, brainstorming, and working through problems as we experiment with various multi-sensory strategies and learn how they might be used with diverse audiences. Top of page

 

Tuesday, August 2 - Pre-Conference and Capacity Building Workshops

Full Day Workshops:


Audio Description for Dance

8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Registration Fee: $190.00
This unique opportunity focuses on strengthening one’s ability to perceive and relay the elements of dance/movement's visual imagery through demonstration and hands-on participation, and is for audio describers and all who value inclusive practice in presenting, as well as fostering education and engagement in, the art form of dance. Audio description can help build dance audiences, enhance instruction in and about dance, and generate enriched connections and access to dance for an expanded population base. In an energizing and highly experiential training, participants will examine best-practice strategies for audio describing dance, practice describing genres of dance (including in musical theatre and opera) as well as related movement forms (such as physical theatre), explore application of audio description in pre-performance sensory seminars and dance education or workshops, and integrate consumer, trainer, and peer feedback into the learning process. The training leaders will also describe different dance samples and offer suggestions and resources for ongoing skill development and utilization.
Participants will be given a break to get lunch on their own.

Sensory Friendly Pittsburgh: A Sample Pack of Accommodation Strategies

9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 
Registration Fee: $190.00
Various locations. Starts at Heinz Hall.  Accessible transportation will be provided from Heinz Hall to all other sites. A boxed lunch is included.

This full-day capacity-building workshop will provide strategies and examples of sensory-friendly programs in four Pittsburgh cultural institutions, focusing on strategies common to both performing and visual arts. The day will include visits to each of the four venues, featuring presentations from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Andy Warhol Museum, and Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh.

Theory and Practice of Programming for People with Dementia and their Caregiver

10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 
Registration Fee: $190.00
The Carnegie Museum of Art
Participants will be given an hour to get lunch on their own.

This session will explore the theory and practice of museum education for people with dementia and their caregivers through experiential activities at the Carnegie Museum.  During this full-day workshop, participants will learn about how museum teaching through dialogue may foster improved mood and reduced apathy in people with dementia and their caregivers (indeed, in all people!) Participants will practice active listening in the context of art-centered dialogues in the galleries. Collectively, we will look at, respond to, and interpret a work of art in the museum’s collection.  There will be plenty of time for discussion of both the theoretical and practical aspects of welcoming people with dementia and their caregivers to your museum or adapting this approach to theaters and other arts venues.  Novice and experienced practitioners are welcome.
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Half Day Workshops:


ADA and the Cultural Arts

8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Registration Fee: $100
Start your LEAD experience with a comprehensive introduction to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Discover how the ADA applies to cultural arts organizations in the areas of employment, participation in programs and services, effective communication, and facility access. Learn about ADA compliance and creative ways to leverage compliance to draw in new visitors and patrons. This session will include a lot of question and answer segments and small group work.
  • Marian Vessels, Director, Mid-Atlantic ADA Center

Accessibility Planning: The Key to Successful Inclusion

1:30 p.m to 5:30 p.m.
Registration Fee: $100
August Wilson Center

In this ½ day session, participants will have the opportunity to understand the need for and how to develop a comprehensive ADA/Accessibility plan. Accessibility begins with policies and organizational buy-in from every department – from the Board of Directions to the house staff and ushers. Without a comprehensive plan, true accessibility is disjointed and difficult to achieve. This session will ask participants to look at each department of their organization and how those departments impact the access efforts of the organization. Sample plans will be provided, these will serve as framework and outline for developing a comprehensive plan.

State Arts Agency Accessibility Coordinator Peer Session

1:30 p.m to 5:30 p.m. 
This event is by invitation only
The National Endowment for the Arts invites State Arts Agency (SAA) and Regional Arts Organization (RAO) Accessibility Coordinators (ACs) to attend a peer session to share ideas with each other and learn from experts. You will also learn about resources and build connections to help you facilitate access to cultural events, programs, and activities for all audiences throughout your state. Open to SAA and RAO Accessibility Coordinators.

Universal Design Initiative in the Arts

1:30 p.m to 5:30 p.m. 
This event is by invitation only
A working group to establish a “community of practice” to develop, maintain and encourage adoption of universal design by agencies and organizations in the visual and performing arts.

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Wednesday, August 3 - FULL CONFERENCE

All events take place at the Westin Pittsburgh unless otherwise noted.

8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. - Registration 


8:00 a.m. - Continental Breakfast


9:00 to 10:45 a.m. - Welcome and A Call to Action 


10:45 to 11:05 a.m. – Break


11:05 to 12:15 p.m. – Snapshot Sessions

Snapshots are 15-minute informal small group presentations.  There will be a variety of topics to choose from and each will be offered at all three rounds. Snapshots are a great way to get a lot of info in a short period of time, get a sampling of upcoming sessions, and meet new people!
 
Round 1: 11:05 to 11:20 a.m.
Switch! 11:20 to 11:30 a.m.
Round 2: 11:30 to 11:45 am
Switch! 11:45 to 11:55 p.m.
Round 3: 12:00 to 12:15 p.m.

Topics include:
  1. Accessibility Through Collaboration, John Orr
  2. Audio Description Basics, Michael Mooney
  3. Balancing Historic Preservation and Accessibility, Peter Huitzacua
  4. Beam me Up! Telepresence Tours, Rebecca Granados
  5. Building Capacity and Access for Autism Programming at the Walnut Street Theatre, Roger Ideishi and Adrian Andersen
  6. Counter Intelligence: Customizing Customer Service, Marian Vessels
  7. Insipring an accessibility work-culture, Tirzah DeCaria and Gabriel McMorland
  8. Developing museum programs for visually and hearing impaired visitors at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Maria Sarycheva
  9. Digita11y, Nancy Proctor
  10. Game of Thrones: Restrooms and Restroom Signage, Betty Siegel
  11. How to incorporate Deaf and Hard of Hearing actors/shadow interpreters in your theatre productions, Bonnie Kaplan
  12. Internships for People with Disabilities, Ashely Terrell-Rea
  13. Learning to Listen: Including the Community in Program Assessment, Vivienne Shaffer and Marybeth Lauderdale
  14. Marketing Accessibility Services, Carol Krueger 
  15. Massachusetts. Instilling a Commonwealth Vision for Universal Participation, Charles Baldwin
  16. Overview of a recent online dialogue on careers in the arts for people with disabilities, Beth Bienvenu
  17. Service Animals and the Arts, Eileen Bagnall
  18. Strategies & Activities towards Creating a Culture of Inclusion, Dawn Koceja
  19. Supporting Transitions: Creating Opportunities for Adults with Autism, Miranda Appelbaum
  20. Tactile Accessibility: Maps, Models, and Objects, Ray Bloomer
  21. The Art of Care: Medical Professionals and the National Gallery of Art, Lorena Baines
  22. VSA Contractor Meetup, Stephanie Litvak
  23. Web Accessibility Tips, Sharron Rush
  24. Working with Aging Volunteers, Garry Novick

12:15 to 1:00 p.m. – Lunch


1:00 to 1:20 p.m. Break


1:20 to 2:35 p.m. – Concurrent Sessions:

Basics: Accessibility Law
Content Area: Basics
Experience Level: Beginner
This session will provide an overview of the various laws that impact accessibility, discuss which apply to cultural arts organizations, and how to find more information.
  • Marian Vessels, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic ADA Center
The Face of Your Organization: Does it Include People with Disabilities?
Content Area: Accessibility Policy
Experience Level: Advanced
Explore the status of addressing the diversity and inclusion of people with disabilities in the workforces of museums and other cultural organizations. Through a highly interactive discussion of panelist case studies and audience member experiences, we will look at best practices with volunteers, interns, and employees with disabilities.
  • Emmanuel von Schack, Coordinator of Access Programs, National September 11 Memorial & Museum
  • Ashley Terrell-Rea,  Program Specialist (Project SEARCH), Accessibility Program, Smithsonian Institution
  • Nora Nagle, ADA and 504 Accessibility Coordinator,  Museum of Science
  • Beth Ziebarth, Director, Smithsonian Institution, Accessibility Program
3D-Printing and Multi-sensory Engagement in an Art Museum
Content Area: Accessibility Services and Programs
Experience Level: Beginner
How can the innovative technology of 3D-printing and a multi-sensory approach enhance the museum experience for audiences who may not rely on traditional approaches to learning? Get hands on, explore lessons learned, discuss best practices, and learn evaluation outcomes of a recent Art Institute of Chicago study on the efficacy of 3D-printed objects in museum learning. This discussion will concentrate on serving guests with blindness, low vision, and Alzheimer's disease.
  • Lucas Livingston, Art Institute of Chicago
Updates from the NEA and State Arts Agencies: Funding opportunities and resources for accessibility
State and federal arts agencies have long been supporters of accessible and inclusive cultural programming through funding and technical assistance. This workshop will highlight the work of the National Endowment for the Art and state arts agencies to support accessibility and inclusive programming. You will learn about a) the types of accessibility projects that are being funded across the country, b) examples and best practices from funded projects to help you with your own program development and grant applications, and c) ways to get creative in making your own project ideas more inclusive and accessible.
  • Beth Bienvenu, Director, Office of Accessibility, National Endowment for the Arts
  • Lauren Tuzzolino,  Accessibility Specialist, National Endowment for the Arts
  • Amy Gabrielle, Deputy Director for Administration, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts
  • Anne Mulgrave, Manager of Grants and Accessibility, Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council
  • Allison Ballard, Director, Jesters Program, University of Saint Francis
Staff Training for Front of House Staff - and Everyone Else
Content Area: Customer Service and Staff Training
Experience Level: Beginner
Brand new to Staff Development and Volunteer Training,? or been doing Training for a while and Staff keeps falling asleep during your presentations? This might be the Session for you. Beginning with the How to Basics on organizing and developing a training program, this Session includes suggestions to keep the program progressing, provide staff development, and opportunities for community involvement.
  • Lee Brown, Mesa Arts Center
Empowering our Local Cultural Community: Spotlight on ADA 25 Chicago's "25 for 25" Project
Content Area: Marketing, Outreach and Community Engagement
Experience Level: Beginner
Learn more about how the ADA 25 Chicago Initiative's "ADA 25 for 25 Cultural Arts Project" brought together over 25 Chicago-area cultural organizations that committed to furthering accessibility in their institution in one concrete, specific way in 2015. The 25 for 25 Project publicly united organizations at varying stages of accessibility efforts, permitting these organizations to learn from each other, connect with resources, receive positive press, and join an access network. Such a project could be replicated to advance accessibility in your community.
  • Christena Gunther, Manager of Public Programs. Chicago Architecture Foundation
  • Rachel Arfa, Staff Attorney, PABSS Project Manager, Equip for Equality

2:35 to 2:55 p.m. – Break


2:55 to 4:10 p.m. – Concurrent Sessions:

Basics: Planning for Accessibility
Content Area: Basics
Experience Level: Beginner
If you are starting an access program but are unsure of where to begin, this is the session for you! Presenters will take you step by step through the process of developing an access plan and provide you with tools to assess what you do and don’t have, methods for developing sound policies, and ways to get buy-in from the disability community and your colleagues.
  • Robin Jones, Executive Director, Great Lakes ADA Center
Moving Beyond Audience: Integrating Disability Content and Artists on Stage, Screen and Gallery
Content Area: Universal Design
Experience Level: Intermediate
Accessibility administrators and educators often focus on how to engage disability communities as audience members through innovative programs at museums and theaters. There is a growing movement to look beyond the audience and integrate people with disabilities into the workforce and presenting programs. This topic will be explored by a panel, representing a variety of art forms and disabilities, addressing how to challenge arts organizations to increase inclusion. Participants will hear from arts administrators and working artists with disabilities and will have the opportunity to ask questions, share experiences, and collectively spark ideas for new collaborations so that our stages, screens, and galleries can better reflect the diversity that we strive for in our audiences.
  • Miranda Appelbaum, Lincoln Center
  • Annie Leist, Special Projects Lead, Art Beyond Sight
  • Ravit Turjeman, Festival Director, Reelabilities
  • Alice Sheppard, Dance NYC
Making Connections Across the Organization and Beyond
Content Area: Cultivating Institutional Buy-In
Experience Level: Intermediate
How can we position accessibility as a priority across an institution? In this panel, we present strategies for working with colleagues across the museum to build awareness, empower staff and stakeholders, and inspire action in a joint effort to make the museum accessible at all levels. Museum educators from the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, The Museum of Modern Art, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum share case studies aimed at cultivating institutional buy-in at their respective museums with a focus on interdepartmental and community collaborations. Case studies include a museum-wide Accessibility Task Force, interdepartmental collaboration on accessible online content, an external Autism Advisory Council, and accessible public programs. This panel will close with breakout sessions to encourage an exchange of ideas. Participants will identify challenges and brainstorm strategies to make their respective institutions more accessible.
  • Lara Schweller,  The Museum of Modern Art
  • Maya Jeffereis,  Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
  • Charlotte Martin,  Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
The Universal Design in the Arts Initiative
Content Area: Universal Design
Experience Level: Advanced
This presentation will describe a proposed new initiative to encourage the implementation of universal design in the arts and ways to provide recognition to programs that demonstrate achievement of  universal design goals.  Attendees will be invited to join the initial working group to plan and implement the initiative.
  • Edward Steinfeld, Arch. D., AIA, Distinguished SUNY Professor, Department of Architecture
I would like this play to be accessible
Content Area: Accessibility Services and Programs
Experience Level: Beginner
How many plays, concerts and other arts events can you attend each week? If you have a vision or hearing loss, how many are accessible to you? In Minnesota, you'll average 3 audio described shows, 5 ASL-interpreted shows, 2.5 captioned shows, 1 show featuring artists with disabilities, and even a sensory-friendly show for kids. Each & every week. Hear how arts-hungry patrons with vision or hearing loss worked with administrators, funders and a VSA office to build an Accessible Arts Calendar that responds to their requests. You'll learn ways to make your arts more accessible, too.
  • Jon Skaalen, VSA Minnesota
An overview of the NASA and NEA Section 504 Requirements for Museums, Science Centers and Arts Organizations
Join representatives from NASA and the National Endowment for the Arts to learn what obligations you may have under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Whether or not your organization receives federal or state grants, this workshop will provide you with useful information including requirements under the recently-implemented NASA 504 regulations, solutions to compliance issues, model grievance procedures, self-evaluation guides, and valuable resources. This workshop will be useful for cultural organizations, science centers, and museums of all types.
  • Bob Cosgrove, External Compliance Manager, National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA), Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity
  • Beth Bienvenu, Director, Office of Accessibility, National Endowment for the Arts
  • Sarah Weingast, Assistant General Counsel, National Endowment for the Arts
  • Marisa Marinos, Civil Rights/EEO Specialist, National Endowment for the Arts

4:10 to 4:30 p.m. – Break


4:30 to 5:30 p.m. – Affinity Groups

Wrap up the day with a facilitated small group discussion! This is a great opportunity to digest all of the information you’ve picked up throughout the day and bounce questions, concerns, and ideas off of colleagues who work in similar environments.
 

6:30 p.m. - Shuttle Service to the Opening Night Party Begins

Accessible shuttle service will be provided between the Westin Convention Center, Pittsburgh and The Andy Warhol Museum.
 

7:00 p.m. – Opening Night Party 

Free with full conference registration. Guest tickets are $30.00 each.
Join us for the LEAD® Opening Night Party where you can network and mingle with fellow conference attendees.  This year’s reception will be held at The Andy Warhol Museum, one of the most comprehensive single-artist museums in the world. Come explore the entire collection which includes 900 paintings; approximately 100 sculptures; nearly 2,000 works on paper, more than 1,000 published and unique prints; and 4,000 photographs - all ranging from the 1940s to the 1980s!
Cash bar and light fare will be provided.  Transportation will be provided from the Westin Hotel.

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Thursday, August 4 - FULL CONFERENCE

All events take place at the Westin Pittsburgh unless otherwise noted.

8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.  – Registration 


8:00 to 9:00 a.m. – Breakfast 


9:00 to 10:15 a.m. – Concurrent Sessions:

Basics: Access for people with Vision Loss
Content Area: Basics
Experience Level: Beginner
This session will introduce you to the ins and outs of providing effective communication for patrons and visitors who are blind or have low vision. Discover how cultural organizations can make exhibitions and performances accessible using audio description, accessible labels, alternative formats for print materials, and more.
  • Annie Leist, Special Projects Lead, Art Beyond Sight
  • Michael T. Mooney, Independent Arts Consultant
Forging Alliances: The Creation of Access and Advisory Committees
Content Area: Accessibility Services and Programs
Experience Level: Beginner
You do not have to tackle accessibility alone! Your colleagues and community members are invaluable resources. Internal access committees and external advisory committees can help your organization and support and further your accessibility initiatives. Learn about existing models, their impact, and how other institutions have set up access and advisory committees. Join us to share your personal experiences and explore how you can form an advisory committee at your home institution.
  • Rebecca Granados
  • Evan Hatfield, Director of Audience Experience, Steppenwolf Theatre Company
  • Hannah Goodwin, Manager of Accessibility, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
  • Marissa Clark, Accessible Programs Coordinator, Philadelphia Museum of Art
  • Christena Gunther, Manager of Public Programs. Chicago Architecture Foundation, Moderator
Evaluating Access: Lessons from the New Whitney
Content Area: Program Evaluation or Research
Experience Level: Intermediate
In May 2015 the Whitney Museum of American Art opened an expanded new museum building in downtown Manhattan's Meatpacking District. Designed by architect Renzo Piano, the 220,000 square foot building includes a sheltered plaza, flexible indoor exhibition spaces, outdoor terrace galleries facing the High Line park, a 150 seat theater, research facilities, and an Education Center. In the year following the Museum's opening, the Whitney launched a broad accessibility review, inviting dozens of user-experts, artists, and members of the disability community to visit the building and share feedback about their experiences. Learn about how the Whitney structured this user-testing process, what they learned, and how evaluation is changing the museum. Using the Whitney as a case study, attendees will gain tools for implementing accessible evaluation processes at their own institutions.
  • Danielle Linzer, Curator of Education and Interpretation, The Andy Warhol Museum
When the DOJ Comes Knocking
Content Area: Accessibility Services and Programs
Experience Level: Intermediate
What do you do when the Department of Justice comes to your organization to discuss your accessibility issues? This can be a daunting challenge or an opportunity to expand the services provided for your patrons. Participants will hear how the Newseum used this experience as an opportunity. They will be able to participate in a question and answer session that will give them some of the same tools to use in their organizations-before the DOJ comes knocking!
  • Donna Baker, Senior Director of Operations, Newseum
  • Deborah Lewis, President, Audio Description Solutions
  • Ruth Feldman, Moderator

Living with Mental Illness: The person, the patron and the experience
Content Area: Customer Service and Staff Training
Experience Level: Beginner

The artistic experience can be transformative, therapeutic and challenging for individuals living with mental illness. This panel discussion will explore the artistic experience for the customer from several viewpoints: the individual as artist, the individual as patron and the individual’s experience of their illness. The panel will also discuss the experience of the provider in the following ways: managing disruptive or upsetting behaviors, managing our feelings of those behaviors and strategies to assist the patron/ourselves. Finally, the group will strategize techniques to welcome and accommodate individuals living with mental illness and to enhance their experience, the venues experience and the experience of other patrons.
  • Brandi Harrison, Community Human Services
  • Breanna Jay, Community Human Services
  • Michael Yonas, Pittsburgh Foundation

Adapting Makerspaces for a Wide Range of Abilities
Content Area: Customer Service and Staff Training
Experience Level: Beginner
Makerspaces engage guests with a wide variety of tools, materials and processes in a hands-on, learner-driven setting. What modifications can be made to the tools, program structures, and facilitation approaches to best serve a wide range of visitors? MAKESHOP at Children's Museum of Pittsburgh discusses how a "maker mindset" can help set you on a path towards positive, empowering interactions.
  • Rebecca Grabman, Pittsburgh Children's Museum
  • Katie Koffler, Pittsburgh Children's Museums
  • Derek Werderitch, Pittsburgh Children's Museum

10:15 to 10:35 a.m. – Break


10:30 to 11:00 a.m. – DIY Access Lab: Captioning Video (Session 1)

Content Area: Technology
A mini training session to learn how to caption videos yourself! 
Space is limited. Advance registration required.  Participants will be notified of their session in advance of the conference.

10:35 a.m. to 12:10 p.m. – Concurrent Sessions:

Basics: Social, Learning and Cognitive Disabilities
Content Area: Basics
Experience Level: Beginner
This session is designed as an introduction to autism and the various challenges that individuals and families experience when visiting cultural institutions. Presenters will provide information and tips that can be applied to the design of sensory- and autism friendly programming as well as make programs and facilities more accessible on an everyday basis.
  • Roger Ideishi, JD, OT/L, FAOTA, Program Director & Associate Professor, Temple University 
Conversations with Stakeholders: How do we develop Policy?
Content Area: Accessibility Policy
Experience Level: Beginner
Last year we addressed the audiences’ experiences of service provision and attitudinal barriers faced while attending cultural events. This workshop invites additional stakeholders to the table to share their perspectives on the importance of developing a responsive and inclusive accessibility policy.
Conversations will center around questions such as: how do we define reasonable accommodation; how do we determine who to invite to the table when shaping policy; how do we develop policy that is respectful and meaningful to all involved while also considering the constraints of limited financial and human resources.  Through a series of video interviews and guided conversations with arts administrators, marketing directors, audience members and service providers, participants will be presented with multiple perspectives about how to design a responsive policy
Interactive Gallery Tour Workshop
Content Area: Accessibility Services and Programs
Experience Level: Intermediate
Put together your own interactive toolkit! This session will use hands-on activities and discussion to explore various ways of engaging visitors in gallery settings. Improvisation, Storytelling, Tactile materials and Visual cards are some of the areas we will explore. While a multisensory approach is beneficial to all visitors, we will discuss strategies for using them with visitors with cognitive disabilities, (including both congenital cognitive disabilities, and acquired, such as memory loss and dementia). Activities will include large and small groups, and end with participants linking back to their own institutions.
The Evolution of Audio Description: Live and Automated
Content Area: Accessibility Services and Programs
Experience Level: Intermediate
Technology is changing the way persons with disabilities access programs and services. In the case of Audio Description, funding may no longer be the barrier for some venues and performing arts centers. Join us for a lively conversation about how automated audio description and its connection to, but not replacement for, live audio description is making a difference both in New York and around the country.
Accessibility at Festivals and Multi-Venue Events
Content Area: Accessibility Services and Programs
Experience Level: Beginner
This conference session will help event organizers understand how to better welcome people with disabilities to festivals and multi-venue events. Attendees will see examples of festival websites, accessibility guides, staff/volunteer training documents. Presenters will give a list of items to consider, how to communicate about accessibility, and how to best provide customer service to individuals in a large crowd setting.
Tips and Tricks for Inclusively Designed Social Media
Content Area: Marketing, Outreach and Community Engagement
Experience Level: Intermediate

This session will show you how to use your social media skills to reach the widest possible audience, including persons with disabilities. We will explore several ways that users with disabilities interact with Facebook and Twitter and demonstrate best practices for posting images and other visual content so that it doesn’t unintentionally exclude users.

11:20 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. – Website Consultations

Content Area: Technology
Meet one-on-one with an expert on accessible web design and get practical, useful recommendations on how to make your website more accessible. Not the web developer for your organization? No problem! During your customized 15-minute consult, you'll receive a detailed report that you can take back to your IT department! 
Space is limited. Advance registration required. $35 registration fee. Participants will be notified of their time slot in advance of the conference.

12:10 to 1:10 p.m. – Lunch 


1:10 to 1:30 p.m. – Pecha Kucha 


1:30 to 2:00 p.m. – DIY Access Lab: Captioning Video (Session 2)

Content Area: Technology
A mini training session to learn how to caption videos yourself! 
Space is limited. Advance registration required.  Participants will be notified of their session in advance of the conference.

1:30 to 1:50 p.m. - Break


1:50 to 3:05 p.m. – Concurrent Sessions:

Basics: Access for people with hearing loss
Content Area: Basics
Experience Level: Beginner
This session provides an introduction to the accommodations that make cultural arts organizations accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing, including sign language interpreters, captioning, and assistive listening devices.
  • Bonnie Kaplan, VSA Massachusetts
  • Betty Siegel, Director, VSA & Accessibility, The Kennedy Center

International Perspectives on Museum Programming for Older Adults: Focus on People with Dementia and their Caregivers
Content Area: Accessibility Services and Programs
Experience Level: Intermediate
In this panel presentation with participant input, all will consider the global perspective that can help us develop our work in creative aging most effectively. Cultural attitudes towards older adults and in particular towards people with dementia are distinct in Asia, Europe and the Americas. What are these attitudes and how can museums help create an age- and dementia-friendly world? Museum practitioners from Taiwan, the UK, Mexico and the US offer perspectives on a range of issues that impact programming.
Accessing the Arts: Making Your Website and Documents More Accessible to Patrons with Disabilities
Content Area: Technology
Experience Level: Beginner
Technology moves pretty quickly—how are you and others accessing your organization’s information? Do you think a person with a disability can access it too? Find out how people with disabilities use assistive technology to read and interact with websites and documents. After you learn more about their experience, take back some easy-to-implement tips that can help increase the accessibility of your online material and documents to grow your audience to people of all abilities.  The training has been tailored to provide valid recommendations to developers on any level, as well as those who are just getting introduced to the fundamentals of accessibility

We Built It! Now What?: The Next Phase in Sensory-Friendly Programming
Experience Level: Intermediate
Content Area: Accessibility Services and Programs

Many cultural arts organizations offer programming designed specifically for individuals with autism or others with sensory sensitivities but what are the next steps to take as they advance deeper into the process? Discover how three organizations use collaboration and feedback to provide increasingly rich, vibrant, and meaningful sensory friendly experiences and continue to cultivate and develop relationships with the community.  Presenters will share lessons learned and engage participants in a discussion about using sensory friendly events as an entry point to influence more inclusive organizational practices and policies.
  • Gloria Mou, Director of Musician & Community Engagement Programs, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
  • Jessica Ryan, Manager of Education and Community Programs, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
  • Carina Kooiman, Art Studio Coordinator, Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
  • Vivienne Shaffer, Accessibility & Inclusion Coordinator, Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
  • Diane Nutting, Director of Access and Inclusion, Imagination Stage
  • Katie Keddell, Access Services Coordinator, Imagination Stage
  • Moderator: Roger Ideishi, JD, OT/L, FAOTA, Program Director & Associate Professor, Temple University 

Building a Movement by Starting Small
Content Area: Cultivating Institutional Buy-In
Experience Level: Beginner
Lack of resources, lack of support from organizational leadership and isolation are the most common issues that dog accessibility coordinators in the arts. Come learn how two arts funders partnered to develop a peer cohort for a small group of nine accessibility coordinators in Raleigh, North Carolina. The initiative addressed those issues while sparking a larger accessibility movement across the local arts community. Takeaways from this session include: techniques to get a peer cohort up and running; how to find funding partners to help move the work forward; how to increase institutional buy-in within your own organization using funding and peer pressure; how to use workshops and educational events to strategically grow a small group into a larger movement.
Marketing Accessible Services: A Group Discussion  
Content Area: Marketing, Outreach, and Community Engagement
Experience Level: Beginner

BRING YOUR MARKETING MATERIALS & IDEAS! Join a group discussion about the best practices to market Accessibility Services and Programs within your community. See how other organizations include accessible services information in brochures, rack cards, newsletters, etc. Discuss what local organizations have helped to cultivate audiences for ASL, Audio Description, Open Captioning, Assistive Listening Devices, Braille Print and Large Print. Bring extra materials to share.
Incorporating Tactile Experiences
Content Area: Universal design
Experience Level: Beginner
Join staff from Shedd Aquarium and Touch Graphics to explore some of the ways that our team has been incorporating more robust and accessible tactile experiences into our offerings. We will discuss: tactile tours, tactile exhibit elements, including talking tactile models, and other tactics we have been experimenting with, as well as do a touch and tell of some of what we've developed.

2:30 to 3:00 p.m. – DIY Access Lab: Captioning Video (Session 3)

Content Area: Technology
A mini training session to learn how to caption videos yourself! 
Space is limited. Advance registration required.  Participants will be notified of their session in advance of the conference.

3:05 to 3:25 p.m. – Break


3:25 to 4:40 p.m. – Concurrent Sessions:

Basics: Physical Access
Content Area: Basics
Experience Level: Beginner
Venues and businesses that are open to the public must provide their goods and services to people with disabilities on an equal basis with the rest of the public. Physical access into your facility is a top priority. This session will provide an overview of the physical accessibility requirements for common visitor-use areas and discuss the tools needed to evaluate and survey your facility.
International Perspectives on Access to Culture
Content Area: Accessibility Policy
Experience Level: Intermediate
As society – and LEAD – becomes increasingly globalized, it is easier for us to share ideas with and learn from colleagues working towards cultural accessibility across the world. By broadening awareness of the different factors mediating the development and innovation of accessibility policies across the globe, we can facilitate collaboration among diverse cultural and regional contexts. In this session, a panel of museum professionals from three continents will consider the intersections of museums, accessibility and disability in different cultural contexts. They will discuss the implications for developing accessible and inclusive programs and practices, the role of cultural institutions as agents of social change, and the impact of funding structures on these processes.

Just Do It
Content Area: Accessibility Services and Programs
Experience Level: Beginner
Putting together a comprehensive accessibility program from scratch at your institution/historic site can often seem like a daunting task. This session will show you, using the Wagner Special Needs Program at the Historic House Trust of NYC as an example, how to use existing resources and create new ones, assess your site/s, find partners, engage stakeholders, and begin to plan programming. Also, come and see how such a program can fit together with other initiatives at your institution.

Sensory Friendly Working Group
Content Area: Marketing Outreach and Community Engagement
Experience Level: Intermediate
More and more organizations have started the process of facilitating Sensory Friendly programming. This working group discussion will provide the opportunity for participants to share the where their organization is in the process or creating programming to serve those with sensory sensitivities. Facilitators will guide the discussion to allow for questions and open sharing of processes and discoveries from cultural arts institutions around the country. Discussion topics will be dependent on participants interest but could include: community outreach, using a consultant, marketing strategies, artistic/aesthetic adjustments to the experience, creating wrap around environments, and possible next steps.
  • Katie Keddell, Imagination Stage
  • Roger Ideishi, JD, OT/L, FAOTA, Program Director & Associate Professor, Temple University 

Audio Description “Unwrapped”
Content Area: Accessibility Services and Programs
Experience Level: Beginner
Want to learn about audio description from the inside, out? In this session, participants will learn how audio description and its foundational skills are applied to a variety of disciplines: from theatre, to dance, and museums; zoos, aquariums and yes, lions, and tigers, and bears. Experience a “taste” of the training process and the “3 Core Skills,” by engaging in some basic audio description exercises. After this session, participants will leave not only with a better understanding of this service, but also what’s involved in bringing it to your organization and your patrons.

Touch Tours as a Gateway to the Harder Stuff
Content Area: Cultivating Institutional Buy-In
Experience Level: Intermediate

Touch Tours as a Gateway Drug: How pre-performance experiences for people who are blind or have low vision can lead to the harder stuff
In 2010, looking for ways to invigorate a stagnant accessibility program with a non-existent budget, Steppenwolf Theatre Company learned about Touch Tours – pre-performance experiences for people who are blind or have low vision that rely on time, creativity and goodwill instead of money. Over the course of six years and more than 50 touch tours, Steppenwolf has applied the lessons and momentum generated by this fun, simple and free service to the growth of an accessibility program that has gone from welcoming 33 visitors who identified as attending because of a service (such as ASL Interpretation or Audio Description) in 2008-09 to over 500 in 2014-15.  In this session, learn the fundamentals of the Steppenwolf approach to presenting a touch tour, as well as how they led to institutional buy-in, increased funding and the provision of more services.
  • Evan Hatfield, Director of Audience Experience, Steppenwolf Theatre

3:40 to 5:45 p.m. – Website Consultations

Content Area: Technology
Meet one-on-one with an expert on accessible web design and get practical, useful recommendations on how to make your website more accessible. Not the web developer for your organization? No problem! During your customized 15-minute consult, you'll receive a detailed report that you can take back to your IT department! 
Space is limited. Advance registration required. $35 registration fee. Participants will be notified of their time slot in advance of the conference.

4:40 to 5:00 p.m. – Break


5:00 to 6:00 p.m. – Affinity Groups 

Wrap up the day with a facilitated small group discussion! This is a great opportunity to digest all of the information you’ve picked up throughout the day and bounce questions, concerns, and ideas off of colleagues who work in similar environments.  Top of page


 

Friday, August 5 - FULL CONFERENCE

All events take place at the Westin Pittsburgh unless otherwise noted.

8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. – Registration 


8:00 to 9:00 a.m. - Breakfast 


9:00 to 10:15 a.m. – Concurrent Sessions:

Beginning a Local Access Knowledge Network: Chicago Cultural Accessibility Consortium (CCAC)
Content Area: Marketing Outreach and Community Engagement
Experience Level: Beginner
Creating a local knowledge network is a critical strategy to improve accessibility of cultural organizations in your area. Since it began in 2013, Chicago Cultural Accessibility Consortium (CCAC) has provided professional development opportunities on topics of accessibility and inclusion to cultural administrators. CCAC’s two co-chairs will share their perspective and tips of how to start a local access knowledge network in your region, including an ample question and answer session. CCAC received the LEAD Emerging Leader Award in 2015.
Reconsidering description
Content Area: Accessibility Services and Programs
Experience Level: Intermediate
We are all familiar with description as a tool to make visual and performing arts accessible to people who are blind or have low vision. This session proposes new roles for description and reflects on what describers with different backgrounds might bring to the experience.  Panelists are involved in the description process in various ways, as describers, consumers of description, programmers, trainers and facilitators. Together with the audience, they will explore how the techniques used to describe objects and events to people with visual disabilities can also be employed to great effect to engage other audiences, and in a variety of context and formats. They'll discuss what makes a good description and consider the benefits of the “non-traditional” describer, for example a describer who is blind or who draws on the rich visual vocabulary of American Sign Language.
Accessible Evaluation Techniques for the Arts: Strategies for Inclusion
Many populations are hard-to-reach with standard evaluation instruments and designs; therefore, making it difficult to use evaluation results for program improvement, funding support, and guarantee results are valid for all participants.  Universal Design is one essential to ensure that all arts participants have a chance at fair representation and inclusion in the evaluation process.  Whether you’re starting from square one or looking to develop your existing practices, come learn tips and techniques for implementing accessible approaches to program evaluation. Participants will walk away with new resources that highlight information about practices discussed throughout the session.

Performance Accessibility – Considerations for Patrons Who Are Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing
Content Area: Accessibility Services and Programs
Experience Level: Beginner
Join us for this engaging workshop to learn about best practices for accommodating performing arts patrons with hearing loss. Topics covered include an introduction to hearing loss; the rights and responsibilities of the part of the patron and the performing arts venue; challenging listening situations and communication strategies to address them; and the role of assistive devices, services, and technology in making live performance accessible. The 75-minute workshop will wrap up with a facilitated Q&A session.

Transitioning Volunteers
Content Area: Customer Service and Staff Training
Experience Level: Intermediate
Transitioning Volunteers is a vital skill for anyone working with volunteers. Transitioning volunteers into and out of positions requires finesse, organization and clear communication. Fine tune your skills and share your wisdom with others.

10:15 to 10:35 a.m. – Break


10:30 to 11:00 a.m. – DIY Access Lab: Captioning Video (Session 4)

Content Area: Technology
A mini training session to learn how to caption videos yourself! 
Space is limited. Advance registration required.  Participants will be notified of their session in advance of the conference.

10:35 a.m. to 12:10 p.m. – Concurrent Sessions:

Engaging Veterans through Creative Expression
Content Area: Accessibility Services and Programs
Experience Level: Beginner
Across the nation, arts and cultural programs are playing a transformative role in the health and well-being of veterans, their families, and caregivers. Hear about the Oklahoma Arts and the Military Initiative Pilot Arts Program and the Military Experience & the Arts Symposium. Then learn how to connect with veteran populations in your communities to build collaborative arts programs and discover ideas for training teaching artists to engage service members through creative self-expression. Specific topics to be presented include building investment from community partners, identifying programs goals and setting curriculum objectives unique to your population, as well as training your lead staff and volunteers.
Tactile Accessibility: Maps, Models and Objects - How and Why
Content Area: Universal Design
Experience Level: Beginner
This session will demonstrate the importance of tactile accessibility for people who are blind or who have low vision. Participants will learn about the need for and how to include tactile experiences in the decision making process for all areas of programs and design. There will be discussion of types of tactile elements and the methods and materials used to develop accessible and effective tactile experiences. Discuss the need to scale up, scale down or use full size to achieve the purpose effective maps, models and objects.
Arts & Autism in Ohio Initiative: From Constituent Call to Statewide Actions to Tangible Results
Content Area: Accessibility Services and Programs
Experience Level: Intermediate
This session will discuss a statewide initiative to make the arts and arts education more accessible for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Attendees will learn the “who-what-where-when-how-why” that has led the Arts & Autism in Ohio Initiative to make significant strides in accomplishing its objectives. Content will include how the Initiative began, what the early stages of statewide research revealed, how cross-disciplinary partnerships have formed throughout the state, direct outcomes of the Initiative to date, and future plans for collaboration and impact. The Arts & Autism in Ohio Initiative began with a state arts agency investment and partnership, and is creating opportunities for individuals on the spectrum, families, administrators, service providers, and stakeholders.
Going the Extra Mile
Content Area: Accessibility Services and Programs
Experience Level: Beginner
Theater accessibility for people who are deaf often revolves around questions on the art of interpretation and its purpose. This workshop is designed to delve into the steps of marketing, funding, coordinating interpreted shows, and how to develop a partnership with the Deaf/Hard of Hearing communities.

Access on the Go: A Mobile Accessibility Sampler Session
The title says it all! During this session, three representatives will demonstrate and describe new tools designed to allow patrons with disabilities access content using a mobile device or an app. 
  • Infiniteach – a mobile experience designed to support inclusion for people with autism
  • Williams Sound – Wifi Streaming Audio for public environments
  • Digita11y – A collaborative project to develop a reusable toolkit that can be easily adopted by a wide range of museums and cultural organizations to build their own accessible apps

Write-In Session
You decide the topic for this session! Suggest a topic at registration but beware…if you suggest it, you present it! Attendees will be able to vote for your favorite.
 

11:20 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. – Website Consultations

Content Area: Technology
Meet one-on-one with an expert on accessible web design and get practical, useful recommendations on how to make your website more accessible. Not the web developer for your organization? No problem! During your customized 15-minute consult, you'll receive a detailed report that you can take back to your IT department! 
Space is limited. Advance registration required. $35 registration fee. Participants will be notified of their time slot in advance of the conference.

12:10 to 1:10 p.m. – Lunch 


1:10 to 1:30 p.m. – Pecha Kucha 


1:30 to 1:50 p.m. - DIY Access Lab: Captioning Video (Session 5)

Content Area: Technology
A mini training session to learn how to caption videos yourself! 
Space is limited. Advance registration required.  Participants will be notified of their session in advance of the conference.

1:30 to 1:50 p.m. - Break


1:50 to 3:05 p.m. – Concurrent Sessions:

The Basics of Accessible Ticketing
Content Area: Accessibility Policy
Experience Level: Beginner
When the 2010 Regulations went into effect, cultural arts organizations rolled out new policies to match but some questions still remain. What can you do to make sure that people who need accessible seats get them online? What are the things you need to think about when crafting your release policy for accessible locations? Join us for a facilitated discussion to examine creative solutions, unique challenges, and lingering questions.
  • Betty Siegel, Director, VSA & Accessibility, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Creating engaging opportunities for cultural tourism for people with disabilities
Content Area: Accessibility Services and Programs
Experience Level: Beginner
Accessibility and inclusion in museums and other cultural institutions often takes the form of education programming, but this approach is often best suited to building an audience or repeat visitors from the local community. How can we extend some of the qualities of this approach to enhance the experience of one-time visitors? How can we go beyond basic accessibility - providing accommodations with advance notice – to create rich experiences and foster engagement with our collections and exhibitions that will lead to lasting bonds with the institution or the subject? This session will explore these questions and consider a framework for enriching cultural tourism for people with disabilities. Through case studies and lively group discussion, we will consider all stages of the touristic encounter: outreach, planning a visit, the visit, and continuing the connection post-visit. Participants will discover ideas that they can apply in their own organizations, to help them develop their approach to accessibility and inclusion for tourists.
Crowdsourcing Verbal Descriptions: Does it work?
Content Area: Marketing Outreach and Community Engagement
Experience Level: Intermediate
This session will present representative verbal descriptions that have been crowdsourced through recent initiatives in a “blind listening” test that will be structured as a game engaging both people with low vision and sighted participants. Attendees will be invited to respond to the content and discuss its value, alongside feedback from professional evaluators, blind and partially-sighted visitors, and museum staff. For each sample description, the context of its creation and the training resources provided to the volunteer describer will be discussed. Led by Sina Bahram, Beth Ziebarth, and Nancy Proctor, who have been involved in several of the first crowdsourcing projects for accessibility, the session aims to give attendees a sense of the range and quality of verbal descriptions that have been crowdsourced under varying conditions in these early trials, what training resources are available for volunteer describers, and what has worked best. We also hope to gain input from attendees on additional volunteer training and community engagement resources, as well as attendees’ participation in these initiatives as they move forward.
Running A Volunteer Caption Theater and Audio Description Program – Creating a high quality accessibility service using your own people.
Content Area: Accessibility Services and Programs
Experience Level: Beginner
The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts runs a successful volunteer driven Audio Description and Caption Theater program that utilizes highly skilled, qualified and trained volunteers to deliver accessibility services to hundreds of individuals yearly.  This session will explore the components of setting up ‘in-house’ programs,including training, equipment, and staffing.
The Power of Co-Creating Accessible Museum Programs with your Community
Content Area: Marketing Outreach and Community Engagement
Experience Level: Beginner
As museums across the county work toward becoming more accessible, inclusive institutions in their communities, it has become increasingly vital for museums to develop local and regional community partnerships to support this work. This session will present accessible program offerings or exhibitions developed at two large public art museums, the Portland Art Museum and the Denver Art Museum, as ways of co-creating programs that integrate community expertise, knowledge, and experience. Panelists and session participants will discuss the key elements of this co-creation model, openly explore the process of planning programs through this model, and examine ways in which this co-creation process can lead to more sustainable community partnerships in promoting accessible and inclusive museum practices.

2:30 to 3:30 p.m. – Website Consultations

Content Area: Technology
Meet one-on-one with an expert on accessible web design and get practical, useful recommendations on how to make your website more accessible. Not the web developer for your organization? No problem! During your customized 15-minute consult, you'll receive a detailed report that you can take back to your IT department! 
Space is limited. Advance registration required. $35 registration fee. Participants will be notified of their time slot in advance of the conference.

3:05 to 3:25 p.m. – Break


3:25 to 4:40 p.m. – Concurrent Sessions: 

Doing Access Justice: The Basics
Experience Level: Beginner
Bring your question for a frank and open conversation about accessibility and how to interpret the law.
  • Jim Pecht, U.S. Access Board
  • Robin Jones, Executive Director, Great Lakes ADA Center
Doing Access Justices: Advanced Topics
Experience Level: Advanced
This session is designed for accessibility coordinators with many years of experience. Bring your more challenging questions for a frank and open conversation.
U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
This presentation will give an overview of what the Convention is, what it means if your country is a States Party, and how can it impact arts and cultural organizations.

4:40 to 5:00 p.m. – Break


5:00 to 6:00 p.m. – Affinity Groups 

Wrap up the day with a facilitated small group discussion! This is a great opportunity to digest all of the information you’ve picked up throughout the day and bounce questions, concerns, and ideas off of colleagues who work in similar environments.
  • Performing Arts Organizations
  • Museums, Galleries, and Zoos
  • State Arts Agencies
  • Arts Service Organizations

7:00 to 10:00 p.m. – LEAD Awards Night

Join us for a fun evening to close the 2016 conference and to recognize the achievements and contributions of colleagues as leaders in the field of cultural arts accessibility!  Enjoy hors d’oeuvres, drinks and a chance to explore the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh.

Open bar and light fare will be provided.  Transportation will be provided from the Westin Hotel.  Awards presentation with be sign-interpreted and open captioned.  Assistive Listening Devices and Braille and Large Print programs will be available.
 
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Saturday, August 6 - Capacity Building Workshop

Innovation: Accommodating Artists with Disabilities

9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Arts Education Center - 805 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA

Registration Fee: $75.00 
Contact
[email protected] if cost is a barrier.
Includes breakfast and lunch. 
A post-conference capacity building workshop of the Kennedy Center’s Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability Conference
 
Hosted by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council
in partnership with The Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts and City Theatre
 
FEATURING A KEYNOTE CONVERSATION WITH:
DJ Kurs, Artistic Director of Deaf West
 
This multidisciplinary workshop (theatre, visual art, and dance) will address both the artistic and practical concerns of small-, mid-, and mega-sized arts organizations incorporating artists with disabilities in their work and teach skills  to work effectively with artists with disabilities.
 
Five relaxed interviews with artists with disabilities and the people in arts organizations who collaborate with them will share lessons learned, barriers faced, and how to bring those barriers down. The day will end with a final full group discussion pulling together themes of the day and suggestions for future work.

We are so pleased that our luncheon keynote will be DJ Kurs, artistic director of Deaf West  interviewed by Beth Bienvenu, Accessibility Director of the National Endowment for the Arts.  Beth and DJ will explore his experiences on Broadway and beyond.

Christine Bruno and David Harrell of the Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts will facilitate interviews with:


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