Theatre Access Project to Receive Award at Kennedy Center

Theatre Access Project (TAP), TDF's invitation to the performing arts for theatregoers with physical disabilities, and TAP's director, Lisa Carling, have been named to receive one of this year's 2006 Excellence in Accessibility Leadership Award.

"The award is presented by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Christopher Reeve Foundation. TAP and Carling have been singled out for their sustained efforts to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities in theatre audiences in both the not-for-profit and for-profit theatre communities.  Additionally, Paula Terry, on behalf of the National Endowment of the Arts will also receive a 2006 Excellence in Accessibility Leadership Award for their outstanding efforts to encourage the national arts community to be accessible to people with disabilities.  Ms. Terry is the NEA's Director of AccessAbility," according to press notes.
 
"Both Theatre Development Fund's Theatre Access Project and the National Endowment for the Arts' AccessAbility Program under the guidance of Lisa Carling and Paula Terry, respectively, have changed the lives of thousands who otherwise would not have had the opportunity to participate fully in the cultural arts. TDF's TAP program under Ms. Carling's guidance has organized more than 300 sign language interpreted performances of over 150 Broadway and Off Broadway productions and over 150 performances open captioned performances of over 100 different Broadway, Off Broadway and regional productions, making a significant impact on both the for profit and non-profit theater world and on the lives of people who are deaf and/or hard of hearing. The NEA was the first federal agencies to develop their Rehabilitation Act Section 504 regulations in the 1970's, and ever since then they have, under the guidance of Ms. Terry, made the inclusion of people with disabilities a priority for the United States arts and cultural community.
 
In 2004, with support from the Christopher Reeve Foundation, the Kennedy Center's Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability (LEAD)  network created two annual awards to recognize outstanding individuals and institutions whose leadership and work furthers the field of accessibility to the cultural arts.  LEAD's specific goal in granting these awards is to increase awareness and focus on the importance of accessibility in artistic venues and cultural institutions.
 
The LEAD awards are unique in that they recognize a full body of work and concentrate on addressing the needs of the disability community as a whole.  Recipients are selected for having sustained accessibility efforts over a significant period of time, demonstrating either an individual or institutional commitment to the inclusion of all people with disabilities.  This pertains not only to incorporating accessibility into organizational programs, projects, and environments, but also to including employees, artists, and performers with disabilities.  Other factors considered in selecting award winners are the breadth of impact - local, regional, and national - of an individual or organization's work and how the person or entity has served as a role-model or leader within the cultural community and beyond the arts in areas such as business, social service, and government."
 
The 2006 awards will be presented during LEAD's sixth annual conference at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC on Saturday, August 5, 2006.
 
Past Recipients of The Kennedy Center and Christopher Reeve Foundation Awards for Excellence in Accessibility Leadership are:
 
2005  - Mickey McVey - "for her steadfast advocacy in the creation of accessible cultural programs and facilities for people with disabilities in the Arvada community and Wheelock Family Theatre -  for exemplary leadership in the inclusion of people with disabilities in the performing arts."
 
2004 - John McEwen  - "for dedication and pioneering efforts in the field of cultural accessibility for people with disabilities and The Smithsonian Institution Accessibility Program - for dedication and leadership in providing access for museum visitors and staff with disabilities, creating museum accessibility guidelines that are in use around the world, and establishing a model of institutional change through its policy, guidelines, and practices."
 
To learn more about TDF's Theatre Access Project, go to: www.tdf.org/tap.