The BC Alliance is Proud to Offer FREE Workshops on Reducing Barriers to the Arts

The BC Alliance for Arts + Culture's upcoming workshops, "Lowering Barriers for Blind and Partially Sighted Audience Members" (October 4) and "Deaf Culture Without Borders" (November 1), will be subsidized thanks to support from the Vancity Community Foundation. This means that you're invited to these workshops, free of charge, to make your events and performances more accessible to all audiences.

We are also proud to announce that our other sessions, "Embracing the Social Power of the Arts: How to Create Values-Based Arts Education Programs" (October 18) and "Managing Human Resources" (November 8 & 15), will have ASL interpretation available for those who require it.

Lowering Barriers for Blind and Partially Sighted Audience Members

October 4, 2017 ∙ 9:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

This workshop will define many of the barriers that people who are blind and partially sighted encounter when attending live performances and other public arts and cultural events. VocalEye will share a variety of methods and approaches for lowering these barriers to participation and inclusion. 

The workshop will be led by VocalEye's founder and executive director, Steph Kirkland. Steph has been a member of Vancouver's professional theatre scene for more than 30 years. She is the recipient of several Jessie awards and most recently was honoured with the Achievement Award in Audio Description International from The American Council of the Blind “for outstanding contributions to the establishment and/or continued development of significant audio description programs.”

To get free access to this session, please enter the coupon code ACCESS when prompted by the form.

Deaf Culture Without Borders

November 1, 2017 ∙ 9:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Are you an arts manager who wants to know best practices for including d/Deaf artists and audiences? This workshop highlights the challenges Canadian d/Deaf artists face, reviews common mistakes made by organizations seeking to engage with this population, and offers tools to partner with d/Deaf artists and participants.

Deaf Culture Without Borders is facilitated by Landon Krentz, general manager of Theatre Terrific and the only Deaf arts administrator on the West Coast of Canada. Landon is fluent in both American Sign Language (ASL) and English. He is an advocate for the inclusion of d/Deaf artists within the larger theatre community so that Deafness is looked upon as a reflection of diversity rather than as a disability.

To get free access to this session, please enter the coupon code WELCOME when prompted by the form.

For more information on all of our workshops, visit our Workshops page.