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The West Virginia Commission on the Arts (WVCA) of the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History will conduct a workshop “Building for Accessibility: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Cultural Facilities and Capital Resources Grant Program (CFACRGP)” at three sites across the state in January and February of 2005. The workshops are designed to familiarize West Virginia arts organizations and agencies of municipal or county governments, including county school boards and other interested parties, with grant program requirements for ADA compliance.
The workshops, which are free and open to the public, will be held from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 30, at Shepherdstown College, Shepherdstown; Tuesday, Feb. 6, at Fairmont State College, Fairmont; and Wednesday, Feb. 7, at the Cultural Center, State Capitol Complex, Charleston. Boxed lunches will be provided.
The sessions also will cover the new CFACRGP, encourage grant applications with accessibility components, increase awareness and sensitivity to artists and audiences with disabilities, provide information for evaluating barriers to participation in the Division’s Arts in Education program and demonstrate examples of assistive devices for the arts.
Barbara Judy, ADA coordinator for West Virginia University (WVU) and the State of West Virginia will serve as facilitator. Participants include Colleen Reed, coordinator of the Southern Resource Center for West Virginia Assistive Technology System at WVU and Genny Zbach, West Virginia glassmaker. Zebach also will demonstrate her craft at the Fairmont session. In addition, at the Shepherdstown session, Paul Terry, AccessAbility office coordinator for the National Endowment for the Arts, will provide the keynote speech and Seize the Day, a mixed-ability performance group will present a movement and dance program. The Charleston workshop will include Donald Barrett from the U.S. Department of Education, who will present a session on planning websites for the blind and visually-impaired computer user and West Virginia potter Marcia Springston, who will demonstrate wheel-thrown pottery.
For more information about the “Building for Accessibility” workshop or to register for one of the regional meetings, contact Martha Collins, arts in education coordinator for the Division, at her e-mail address martha.collins@wvculture.org or by phone at (304) 558-0220, ext. 145. The TDD number is (304) 558-3562
The West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, an agency of the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, brings together the state’s past, present and future through programs and services in the areas of archives and history, the arts, historic preservation and museums. The Cultural Center is West Virginia’s official showcase for the arts. Visit the Division’s website at www.wvculture.org for more information about programs of the Division. The Department of Arts, Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
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