VSA arts Awards Fellowships for Teaching Artists With Disabilities

    WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 /EMWNews/ -- VSA arts announces its

2008 Teaching Artist Fellows: Fran Sillau of Council Bluffs, Iowa; Kong Ho

of Bradford, Pennsylvania; Shaqe Kalaj of Livonia, Michigan; Derek Mortland

of Columbus, Ohio; and Glenn McClure of Geneseo, New York. The premier

fellowship for teaching artists with disabilities in the country, the award

provides support for the artists in pursuit of their careers, as well as

additional networking and professional development opportunities, including

a retreat in Washington, D.C., from Aug. 18-22.



    "VSA arts believes teaching artists connect creativity to learning,"

said Soula Antoniou, president of VSA arts. "The Teaching Artist Fellowship

program provides opportunities for professional artists to enhance their

classroom practice while supporting their teaching goals."



    VSA arts' Teaching Artist Fellows were selected for their artistic

merit and prior artistic and educational experience:



    -- Sillau, a theater artist with cerebral palsy, has served as a

teacher, writer, director, actor, and producer. He has conducted workshops

specifically for youth with physical and developmental disabilities.



    -- Ho is an associate professor of visual art and program director at

the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. Ho, who has polio, founded the

Hong Kong Mural Society, a nonprofit art organization promoting mural art

in Hong Kong.



    -- Kalaj is a painter and mixed-media artist. Kalaj uses her experience

with bipolar disorder to express herself in her artwork.



    -- Mortland is a musician, teacher, artist, writer, and disability

advocate who was paralyzed in a semi-pro motorcycle accident in 1997.

Mortland decided to relearn guitar and pursue a career in music and

teaching.



    -- McClure is a composer and a teaching artist with a severe stutter.

McClure found music as a way to communicate without the emotional and

physical fatigue of speaking.



    VSA arts' Teaching Artist Fellowship program seeks to identify, engage,

and support teaching artists with disabilities in the visual and performing

arts. VSA arts recognizes that teaching artists provide the creativity,

guidance, and motivation necessary to introduce the arts to all learners.

The program, now in its second year, is supported in part by the U.S.

Department of Education and the Dana Foundation. The fellowship will

support the fellows' personal teaching goals, enhance classroom practice,

and share the fellows' knowledge of issues specific to teaching artists

with disabilities with the larger arts education community. For more

information about the Teaching Artist Fellowship program, please visit

http://www.vsarts.org or call (202) 628-2800.



    VSA arts is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1974 by

Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith to create a society where people with

disabilities learn through, participate in, and enjoy the arts. VSA arts

provides educators, parents, and artists with resources and the tools to

support arts programming in schools and communities. VSA arts showcases the

accomplishments of artists with disabilities and promotes increased access

to the arts for people with disabilities. Each year millions of people

participate in VSA arts programs through a nationwide network of affiliates

and in 55 countries around the world. VSA arts is an affiliate of the John

F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. For more information, please

visit http://www.vsarts.org.