Careers in the Arts

The Arts Endowment seeks to address barriers and advance training and career opportunities in the arts for individuals with disabilities-- in the strong belief that inclusion must be ever present in our vision and that all Americans have the opportunity to create and participate fully in the arts.

Resources

National Forum on Careers in the Arts for People With Disabilities
The June 14-16, 1998 conference was the first-ever of its kind.

Organizations that Assist Artists with Disabilities
Educational, artistic, employment, and financial resources for artists with disabilities.

Integrated Dance Resource List
A listing of dance organizations, resources, and programming for individuals with and without disabilities.

Articles

The Secret Community: Disability and the American Theater
Victoria Ann-Lewis, actor and writer, talks about her experiences in not-for-profit theater.

The Non-Traditional Casting Project
Sharon Jensen, Executive Director of NTCP, gives an overview of the organization's work for diversity in theater.

Notes in memoriam—John Belluso 1969-2006
Memorial piece about playwright John Belluso written by Victoria Lewis.

Links

Artists' Health Insurance Resource Center
Information about individual and small business group health insurance options available in each state. A project of the Actors' Fund.

National Arts and Disability Center
A resource, information and training center dedicated to promoting the full inclusion of persons with disabilities into the visual-, performing-, literary-, and media-arts communities.

The National Disability Arts Forum
Established in 1990 to foster equality of opportunity for disabled people in all aspects of the arts.

The Non-Traditional Casting Project
The Non-Traditional Casting Project (NTCP) is a not-for-profit advocacy organization established in 1986 to address and seek solutions to the problems of racism and exclusion in theater, film and television.

VSA arts State Organization List
Formerly Very Special Arts, VSA arts is a private, non-profit, international organization that provides programs in creative writing, dance, drama, literature, music and visual arts for individuals with physical or mental disabilities. Contact your state's VSA arts organization to request reference materials, bibliographies, and people you can contact within your state or community.

Ticket to Work
The Social Security Administration’s Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program is an employment program for people with disabilities who are interested in employment. The Ticket Program is part of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 – legislation designed to remove many of the barriers that previously influenced people’s decisions about going to work because of the concerns over losing health care coverage. The goal of the Ticket Program is to increase opportunities and choices for Social Security disability beneficiaries to obtain employment, vocational rehabilitation, and other support services from public and private providers, employers, and other organizations.

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National Endowment for the Arts · an independent federal agency
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20506