Very Special Arts California at Sacramento

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Programs and events

VSA arts of California at Sacramento (VSAS) brings the I Can Do That! Artists-in-the-Schools program to over 3,000 children of all abilities within four county-wide school districts including Sacramento City Unified, San Juan Unified, Elk Grove Unified and Natomas Unified. VSAS hires professional artists from the community to provide students with learning opportunities and growth experiences through the Arts - a service provided by no other community agency. In the program, regular and special education children work together throughout the school year to create a high-quality performance or visual artshow under the direction of a professional artist. Their creations are showcased at the annual Very Special Festival of the Arts, where the general public is invited to share in the accomplishments of the children. Once at the Festival, children are encouraged to continue their learning by participating in hands-on workshops in the Arts (Funshops). In addition to sharing their artistic skills at the Festival, very special artists also present their artwork and perform for the general public at over 60 Community Art Shows and Performances.

Additionally, youth with disablitities benefit from Open Eyes...Open Hearts, a program that builds awareness and acceptance of children within the schools and community through training sessions offered to teachers, professional artists, and community members participating in I Can Do That! activities.

As in the I Can Do That! program, VSAS integrates children with special needs into the Sacramento community through two projects of the Arts Alive program: Very Special Arts Days and Theatre Camp.

VSAS also reaches out to young patients at local children's hospitals through Artshift, a program designed to promote healing and minimize fear of the hospital environment. The goals of Artshift are twofold: 1) to humanize environments that may seems isolating and frightening, and 2) to assist children in creating artwork which will promote a sense of individual accomplishment and feeling of community. Currently, patients at Children's Center, at Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento are participating in a pilot Artshift project, creating artwork under the direction of Artis-in-Residence Maggie Jimenez.