Wednesday, November 10, 2010

We've moved!

AAAWD is active on Facebook now, so please click this link to visit us there. This blog will remain online as an archive and history of AAAWD. Thanks for your interest and support of our group.

To contact us by email, write to us at: aaawdmail (at) gmail (dot) com. Be sure to replace "at" with "@" and "dot" with "." before emailing us. We look forward to hearing from you!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

AAAWD Meeting Notice for May

Calling All Artists With Disabilities in the Twin Ports and the Arrowhead region of Minnesota! You are cordially invited to attend the next meeting of AAAWD: 

When: Wednesday, May 12 from 5-6:30 pm. 

Where: DRCC - Soft Hands is located at: 1902 East Superior St. in Duluth (1 block East of HDC's CSP offices). Look for the building resembling a convenience store on the South side of the street. If you need directions, call Todd at 728-4621. Soft Hands is located on busline: DTA Route 6 - 7 East Mainline UMD - Lakeside. 

What: Come prepared to discuss and plan some events, outings, projects, etc. for the next 12 months. 

Remember to bring a friend with you, if possible - someone you feel may be interested in joining our group.

Please feel free to bring a snack or beverage to share with the group.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Strategic Planning Meeting (Phase I) Notes

We completed the first phase of our strategic planning on March 24, 2010.

Our goals for the next few years are:

Growing - gaining new members and creating more opportunities
Connecting - utilizing state and regional resources like VSA arts of Minnesota
Representing - artists with disabilities in our region
Funding - securing grants and other funding sources to help us achieve our goals.

Thanks to all our members who were able to participate in this phase of the planning!

Be sure to join us for phase two at our next meeting:

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 from 5 - 6:30 pm at Soft Hands, 1902 East Superior St. in Duluth, Minnesota

All artists with disabilities
in the Arrowhead, as well as the people who support them, are invited!
Contact us at: aaawdmail@gmail.com

Monday, March 1, 2010

Wednesday, March 24, 2010 Meeting Notice

When: Wednesday, March 24 from 5-6:30 pm.

Where: DRCC - Soft Hands is located at: 1902 East Superior St. in Duluth (1 block East of HDC's CSP offices). Look for the building resembling a convenience store on the South side of the street. If you need directions, call Todd Reed at 728-4621. Soft Hands is located on busline: DTA Route 6 - 7 East Mainline UMD - Lakeside.
What: Strategic Planning: Our group has been meeting for over two years and we've had five successful group exhibitions, so now we'd like to do some visualizing and planning to help guide us over the next few years.

Please come prepared to discuss the following
(thank you to Christina for providing the following structure and input, with a few minor additions by Bridget and Roald):
1.  Who are we and what do we want to become?
2.  What type of organization do we wish to be?  A membership? A nonprofit organization with officers? A part of another organization who will support, house and manage us? 
3.  What are our funding goals for the next 3 years, which would involve:  Members, Community Presence and Networking, Revenue and Grants, Expenditures, Equipment, Publicity...
4. What group activities and benefits of membership should we plan and strive for?


Tips to guide us through the process:
We will take at least 1 1/2 hours to sketch an outline and set the next steps. The outline then should be taken by a committee or person(s) to follow-up in each to get more input from, not only our current members, but also the community and other organizations that could be interested. Then we'll follow up in another month at another all-member strategic planning session to go over information gathered and set our goals.

Since we are such a new group, we should keep it simple acknowledging that with more community recognition we will grow, and these 4 general areas could revise into something quite different over time. We need to know what we want to be, and this could be changed as members come and go - so item #1 is vital for any group as it defines and brings in members, opportunities and funding.

We don't have to organize as a non profit with all of its requirements. A 3-year strategic plan could be just growth and opportunity - not buying and storing equipment and such.  Duluth has many resources of opportunities for us on some calendar/event websites.

Please feel free to bring a snack or beverage to share with the group.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

We all had an excellent time at our art opening at UMD yesterday. The students seem to love our art. And if you didnt get a chance to catch it, dont worry. It will be up at the Multicultural Center at umd untill the 15th of next month.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

A.A.A.W.D is now on Facebook

Join A.A.A.W.D. on Facebook. See videos from A.A.A.W.D. as well as discussions and much more.

A.A.A.W.D on Facebook

More stuff to come!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

New AAAWD Art Exhibit at UMD

We've been invited by the Access For All student organization to exhibit our artwork in the Multicultural Center at UMD. Hope you'll stop by to see our work and learn more about AAAWD. Be sure to join us at our opening reception!

Bloom Under the Snow

“In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.” ~William Blake

Come enjoy vivid expressions of the resilience that lies beneath the snow in winter – a diverse collection of work by the Arrowhead Alliance of Artists With Disabilities (AAAWD). This inaugural art exhibit is sponsored by Access for All, a student organization dedicated to promoting disability awareness on campus and around the community.

February 15 – March 15, 2010
The Multicultural Center
Kirby Student Union, University of Minnesota, Duluth
270 Kirby Student Center
1120 Kirby Drive, Duluth, MN

Opening Reception:
Wednesday, February 17: 4 – 6 p.m.

For more information, contact:

Penny Cragun
Director
Office of Disability Resources
241 Kirby Student Center
1120 Kirby Drive
Duluth, MN 55812-3085
(218) 726-8727
(218) 726-6706 FAX

What’s AAAWD about…

The underlying inspiration for AAAWD (and their logo) is the stone soup fable wherein a few stones placed in a pot of boiling water become both pretext and catalyst for creating something from nothing, and revealing nothing to be something after all. Our acronym, AAAWD, sounds like “odd” and “awed” – words that echo what it’s like being an artist with a disability in America. The trajectory of our group is from odd to awed via artwork, humor, friendship and open minds.

The current core membership includes these visual artists, actors, writers, directors, musicians and filmmakers: Peter Barnett, Christina Cotruvo, Ben Giesen, David Hoffman, Ryan Iallonardo, Julie Jeatran, Cecilia Lieder, Bill Lyth, Roald Molberg (co-founder), Karl Mulligan, Justin Powers, Todd Reed, Bridget Riversmith (co-founder) Annie Roseen, Mark Schuman, and Jim VanDruten.