October 13, 2009 AAAWD Meeting Notice

Calling All Artists With Disabilities in the Twin Ports and the Arrowhead region of Minnesota! You are cordially invited to attend the next meeting of AAAWD:

When: Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 5 pm

Where: DRCC - Soft Hands is located at: 1902 East Superior St. in Duluth (1 block East of HDC's CSP offices). Look for the building resembling a convenience store on the South side of the street. If you have any questions, email Todd Reed. Soft Hands is located on busline: DTA Route 6 - 7 East Mainline UMD - Lakeside.

What: Art Pickup - be on hand to pick up your artwork from our exhibits at the Depot and the DECC. Also, we will watch a PBS TV series called "EGG" - a TV show about people making art across America. There'll be popcorn and pop, and the opportunity to brainstorm about creating our own version of "EGG" for PACT.

AAAWD Art Exhibit Oct. 12 & 13, 2009

AAAWD has been invited by VSA arts of Minnesota to display our artwork as part of National Disability Mentoring Day 10th Anniversary Celebration and Launch:

Anniversary Celebration: October 12, 2009 from 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Located at Duluth’s Historical Center: The Depot
An evening reception at Duluth’s Historical Center: The Depot, welcoming national corporate sponsors, industry executives, local employers and community supporters of individuals with disabilities.
&
National Launch & Career Fair: October 13, 2009 from 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Located at The Duluth Convention Center (DECC)
A national career fair featuring national speakers and national employer exhibits. The event will welcome an estimated 1,000 students with disabilities, job seekers with disabilities, as well as national and local employers.

To learn more about the DMD 10th Anniversary Celebration and National Launch, contact the Disability Mentoring Day team at 1-800-840-8844 or via email at dmd@aapd.com, or visit the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) website.

October 2009 AAAWD Meeting Notice

Calling All Artists With Disabilities in the Twin Ports and the Arrowhead region of Minnesota! You are cordially invited to attend the next meeting of AAAWD:

When: Tuesday, Oct. 6 at 5 pm

Where: DRCC - Soft Hands is located at: 1902 East Superior St. in Duluth (1 block East of HDC's CSP offices). Look for the building resembling a convenience store on the South side of the street. If you have any questions, email Todd Reed. Soft Hands is located on busline: DTA Route 6 - 7 East Mainline UMD - Lakeside.

What: We will be discussing the following questions (see below). Craig Dunn from VSA arts of Minnesota will be up to facilitate and videotape our discussion of these questions. The videotape will be included as part of “Changing Landscapes: Symposium on the Arts & Disability” an engaging symposium focusing on strengthening opportunities for children, youth and adults with disabilities to participate in the arts to be held at the University of Minnesota’s Weisman Art Museum on October 30. Craig will bring light refreshments and also fill us in about an upcoming opportunity for us to exhibit our artwork at the DECC in October.

Here are the questions:

1. How did you get started in making art? (suggestions: on your own, parent or sibling got me started, took a class after school, took art class in school)

2. Has your disability shaped your art? Do you see it as separate from your art? Is it part of the art work that you create?

3. In terms of marketing your art, do you want people to know that you are an artist with a disability or doesn’t it matter? Why or why not.

4. What does success as an artist mean to you? What keeps you going?

5. When you were a child, did you get to make art or take art classes? What kinds of opportunities did you have? (suggestions: make art on own, take classes, go to galleries)

6. What role does your art have in your life? How has your life changed on account of creating art now, as opposed to before when you did not create art?

7. Think about experiences you have had. Have these experiences influenced your art?

8. Who would you like to see your art?

9. What kind of supports do you find helpful in creating and/or promoting your art? And what kinds of supports are not so helpful to you?

10. What other opportunities out in the world (to exhibit and/or sell your work, to learn new artistic techniques and/or new approaches to the creative process, etc.) would you like to see available to you to grow as an artist?

September 2009 AAAWD Meeting Notice

Calling All Artists With Disabilities in the Twin Ports and the Arrowhead region of Minnesota! You are cordially invited to attend the next meeting of AAAWD:

When: Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 6:30 pm

Where: DRCC - Soft Hands is located at: 1902 East Superior St. in Duluth (1 block East of HDC's CSP offices). Look for the building resembling a convenience store on the South side of the street. If you have any questions, email Todd Reed. Soft Hands is located on busline: DTA Route 6 - 7 East Mainline UMD - Lakeside.

What: We will be discussing some questions (see below) in preparation for our upcoming October 6 meeting when Craig Dunn from VSA arts of Minnesota will be up to facilitate and videotape our discussion of these questions. The videotape will be included as part of “Changing Landscapes: Symposium on the Arts & Disability” an engaging symposium focusing on strengthening opportunities for children, youth and adults with disabilities to participate in the arts to be held at the University of Minnesota’s Weisman Art Museum on October 30. Craig will bring light refreshments and also fill us in about an upcoming opportunity for us to exhibit our artwork at the DECC in October.

Here are the questions:

1. How did you get started in making art? (suggestions: on your own, parent or sibling got me started, took a class after school, took art class in school)

2. Has your disability shaped your art? Do you see it as separate from your art? Is it part of the art work that you create?

3. In terms of marketing your art, do you want people to know that you are an artist with a disability or doesn’t it matter? Why or why not.

4. What does success as an artist mean to you? What keeps you going?

5. When you were a child, did you get to make art or take art classes? What kinds of opportunities did you have? (suggestions: make art on own, take classes, go to galleries)

6. What role does your art have in your life? How has your life changed on account of creating art now, as opposed to before when you did not create art?

7. Think about experiences you have had. Have these experiences influenced your art?

8. Who would you like to see your art?

9. What kind of supports do you find helpful in creating and/or promoting your art? And what kinds of supports are not so helpful to you?

10. What other opportunities out in the world (to exhibit and/or sell your work, to learn new artistic techniques and/or new approaches to the creative process, etc.) would you like to see available to you to grow as an artist?

Thought For The Day

"We all have handicaps. The difference is that some of us must reveal ours, while others must conceal theirs, to be treated with mercy."

-Yahia Lababidi, author (b. 1973)

The Mad Sweet Dancer

Video of the CHOICE Dancers performing at "An AAAWD Evening"!

Prepare to be AAAWD...at Cinema Lounge Duluth!

AAAWD's promo video has been selected for screening at IFP MN's Cinema Lounge Duluth!

Here's the schedule:

Indie Film Night in Duluth

Friday December 5, 2008

6pm - McKnight How-to-Apply Workshop

If you're a filmmaker and live in MN, you might want to catch
this informational session about the McKnight Artist Fellowships
worth $25,000.

7pm - Cinema Lounge!

Intro - Paul/Lu/Zeppa Foundation "Return to Duluth" intro by Mark Ryan

• Paul Creager "Resonance" project description

• Bridget Riversmith, Todd Reed, and Ben Giesen – "Prepare To Be AAAWD..."
• Tim Massett – "Waiting for Akiko," "The Fruit Man," "It Could Be Anything"

• Chani Becker – "Early Adopter" Doc Trailer

• Mike Scholtz - "The Jig Is Up"

• Mark Ryan – "North Shore November", "Harbor Fog", "Day at the Deeps"
• Jason Page – "White Man’s World" trailer

• Lisa Wagner – "Taste of the Gunflint Trail"
• Max Becker – "That Old Feeling"

8:30pm - After Party at the Duluth Sheraton Hotel!

Thanks to the Zeppa Family Foundation, Zeitgeist Arts, VisitDuluth, and the Sheraton Duluth, we'll be toasting the filmmakers' work and getting to know one another at a swinging after-party.

A note about parking: if you’re driving, parking ramp is off of 1st Street: take the green ticket with you, park on the 2nd level, go through the skyway, and they’ll validate the ticket at the party. That means free parking!

Contacts:

IFP Minnesota: 651.644.1912

Duluth Play Ground: 218-733-7555 (11 E. Superior St)

Sheraton Duluth: (218) 733- 5660 (301 E. Superior St)