COCA Conversations 2016: Accessibility in the Arts

Accessibility in the Arts will be lead by William Coleman, Director of Education, VSA Florida

This workshop will discuss the different ways that artists and organizations can make themselves more accessible to anyone with a disability. Many discussions about accessibility focus on the physical aspects. This workshop will discuss accessible programming and how organizations can be more proactive.

Free for all COCA members and $5 for non-members.

To become a COCA member click here.

Speaker’s Bio:

William Coleman, CDE, has over 20 years of professional experiences as an artist, arts administrator, educator and public servant.  His background includes over 10 years of class room teaching in elementary, secondary and post-secondary settings teaching: choir, music theory, private lessons, class piano, collaborative piano, and music appreciation. Recently, he served as the Director of Arts Access for the Tennessee Arts Commission, where he: administered a grant program for organizations of color, artists of color, organizations who serve people with disabilities, and artists with disabilities. He also provided statewide technical assistance to arts organizations on accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities including: program development, training and implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and modeling best practices.

Currently, William serves as the Director of Education for VSA Florida.  William provides oversight and administration of VSA Florida’s artist in residence programs including My Art My Way and Hand n Hand.  William is excited about the opportunity to support, collaborate and partner with VSA’s incredible teaching artist, schools, classroom teachers, and administrators to help make the arts universally accessible to students across the state of Florida.  Additional responsibilities include the development and presentation of Arts and Inclusion resources for organizations and artists.  Mr. Coleman is also a 2015 recipient of the John F. Kennedy Center Leadership Exchange on Arts and Disabilities Leadership award.

Mr. Coleman received a BS in environmental science from Purdue University and a MA in piano performance from Middle Tennessee State University.  He has completed additional post graduate and undergraduate study in piano performance and pedagogy and music education from the University of Oklahoma and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.  William continues to perform and collaborate with Artist and educators.  He is sought after as a coach and collaborative artist across the country and has collaborated with world renowned Soprano, Leona Mitchell for the Langston University Master Class and Concert Series.   He has served on the faculties of Fisk University, Langston University the University of Central Oklahoma, and Middle Tennessee State University and was recently featured as a guest artist at Middle Tennessee State Universities’ guest artist series. William currently resides in the Tampa Bay Area with his husband, beloved animals, and frequent visits from their two daughters.

To view the entire COCA Conversations 2016 schedule click here.

For more information about this series of workshops or any other COCA hosted workshops please click here