Missouri: Facilitating Local Accessibility Networks

In November, the Missouri Arts Council (MAC) kicked off an effort to convene arts institutions, arts organizations and teaching artists committed to making facilities, programming and educational offerings accessible to all people, including those with disabilities. MAC’s vision is to establish local accessibility networks throughout Missouri, and its November meeting, which gathered groups based in the St. Louis area, was the beginning of the initiative’s pilot phase. The meeting’s participants included the Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis Symphony, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, the Governor’s Council on Disability, VSA Missouri, the Great Plains ADA Center and other nonprofits. It also included individual artists who are involved in MAC’s Creative Aging program. Participants shared their experiences and discussed possible goals for their new fellowship, such as information sharing, learning and networking. MAC sees its role as establishing and supporting local accessibility networks and plans to leave content and structure decisions to participating members. MAC’s overarching goal for this effort, which was inspired in part by The Kennedy Center’s 2014 LEAD Conference and the work of the Chicago Cultural Accessibility Consortium, is to make understanding of and adaptation to issues of accessibility second nature to Missouri’s arts organizations and institutions. For more information, contact MAC Accessibility Coordinator Virginia Sanders.