LTAC to Host Sensory Friendly Summit

Nearly 100 representatives from fifty different arts, cultural, scientific, and educational organizations as well as libraries and museums from across the state gathered at the Lone Tree Arts Center (LTAC) on June 16th to learn how to make their work "sensory friendly". Sensory friendly performances cater to those with intellectual or developmental disabilities, autism, sensory processing disorder, and other conditions.

Attendees heard Keynote Speaker Benjamin Endsley Klein (Associate Director of the 2015 Tony Award winner for Best Play, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) discuss how relatively simple it is to make sensory friendly adaptations for audience, sharing video and photos from the Broadway play's December 2014 Autism Friendly performance. Other speakers included Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, the Founder of the Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation and the Clinical Director of Greenwood Village-based STAR Center; Sarah Metsch, Director of Programs and Policies at the Autism Society of Colorado; and Barb Komdat, Director of Community Outreach for Arapahoe County based Developmental Pathways.

Lone Tree Arts Center Executive Director, Lisa Rigsby Peterson, and Phamaly Theatre Company's Artistic Director, Bryce Alexander, welcomed participants with information about their respective sensory friendly initiatives. LTAC has offered 23 different sensory friendly programs since 2012. Phamaly Theatre Company began their initiative earlier this year with a sensory friendly performance of The Fantasticks, followed this summer by a similar performance of their summer musical, Cabaret, and a commitment to include sensory friendly performances of all their work moving forward. Both speakers confirmed the ease with which each of their organizations had made simple adaptations, such as bringing sound levels down, keeping house lights up, and removing startling movements or light cues, in order to make their performances sensory friendly.

"Sensory friendly work has been part of the Arts Center's programming practically from the moment we opened," said Rigsby Peterson. "Our programs are designed to invite and welcome those in our community who have been excluded from arts and cultural experiences, either because there are elements of a production that are simply too overwhelming, or because they fear the reaction that other audience members might have to their unconventional behaviors. At the Lone Tree Arts Center, we believe the arts are for everyone, not just those who can sit quietly in their chairs."

The Summit was the culmination of a year of strategizing by the LTAC staff, who were determined to involve as many of their colleagues as possible in a metro-wide movement to make sensory friendly programs available year-round at multiple organizations. In January of this year, LTAC partnered with Phamaly Theatre Company to make a presentation at "Art Tank," a grant competition conceived by the Arts Affinity Group, an affinity group of The Denver Foundation. Phamaly and LTAC were awarded $14,000 for their joint commitment to sensory friendly programming, including the convening of the first Sensory Friendly Summit. "Phamaly was the logical choice when we knew we needed a 'co-conspirator' to begin more regional efforts," according to Rigsby Peterson. "Over the past 26 years, Phamaly has broken down boundaries and helped all of us look at disabilities in a radically different light. We couldn't have found a more perfect partner."

The Summit has already delivered tangible results. Nearly every organization in attendance agreed to sign onto what will be known as the Sensory Friendly Network - Denver (SFN-Denver). This organizing framework will allow cross-training with colleagues, sharing of innovative ideas, facilitating of new partnerships, and the creation of a centralized resource for families and individuals to learn about all of the opportunities available to them. Many organizations are already providing sensory friendly programming and by consolidating information and efforts, the SFN-Denver can serve as a catalyst for rapid program awareness and growth. According to Rigsby Peterson, "The ultimate goal is to make Denver the most sensory friendly community in America. We believe we can also create a sustainable framework and operational model that can eventually be replicated in communities across the country."

Sensory Friendly Network Information

For more information about the SFN-Denver, or to join the Network, please contact Lisa Rigsby Peterson at lisa.peterson@cityoflonetree.com or at 720-509-1010. Initial goals include creating a directory of sensory friendly programs by fall of 2015.