info packet - Community Access to the Arts

2013-2014
Photo: Christina Lane
INFO PACKET
40 Railroad Street • Suite 6 • Great Barrington, MA 01230
413-528-5485 / (fax) 413-528-3286 • communityaccesstotheARTS.org
Summary
Founding Director, Sandra Newman, with CATA participant, David Gardner.
Mission
Board of Directors
Community Access to the Arts nurtures and celebrates
the creativity of people with disabilities through shared
experiences in the visual and performing arts.
The 18 members of the Board of Directors are handson volunteers whose involvement includes fiscal
stewardship, long-range planning and fundraising. Their
diverse interests and skills are united by their passion
for the mission and commitment to CATA’s success.
Each year one faculty member and one artist serve as
representatives on the board.
History
Founder Sandra Newman was working as a dance
therapist with adults with disabilities when she was
moved to create community through the use of the fine
and performing arts. In 1993, she founded Community
Access to the Arts (CATA), a non-profit arts organization,
with the goal of using the arts as common ground to
connect traditionally underserved populations with
the community-at-large. From the first workshop for
12 individuals with disabilities, CATA has grown to over
1,000 workshops annually, actively involving hundreds
of individuals from across Berkshire County.
Partner Organizations
CATA has numerous community partnerships. In addition
to offering workshops in our gallery/studio space,
CATA holds workshops at many therapeutic, healthcare,
cultural, educational, community, and business settings in
Berkshire County. CATA also works in collaboration with
area art galleries, businesses and non-profit agencies in
presenting our artists’ work.
Population
Staff
CATA programs take place in healthcare, therapeutic,
eldercare, educational, community, and cultural settings.
We serve over 560 individuals with developmental,
physical, emotional, and/or mental disabilities
representing 37 different human service and educational
organizations, as well as individuals living at home.
Currently, the majority of our artists reside in Berkshire
County, MA.
CATA currently employs six full-time and two part-time
staff members. Sandra Newman, Founder & Executive
Director, holds a Master’s Degree in Dance Therapy and
has extensive experience working with individuals with
disabilities. Dawn Lane, Program & Artistic Director, an
award-winning choreographer, holds a Master’s of
Education and Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts. Liana
Toscanini, Development & Marketing Director, has 30
years of marketing and non-profit management and
fundraising experience. Katie Clarke, Administrative
Director, previously worked in event services at
the Boston Symphony Orchestra and has a B.A. in
Communications. Jeff Gagnon, Program & Marketing
Associate, recently completed a Bachelor’s Degree in
Arts Management at MCLA. Bobbie Fachini, Program
Coordinator, educator with a B.A. in Studio Arts and an
M.A. in Museum Studies. Susannah Jolly, Development
Associate, holds a B.A. in Theatre Studies from Barnard
College. Anamyn Allen, CATAdirect Studio Manager,
is a graduate of UCLA and designed and manufactured
women’s and children’s clothing for 20 years.
Programs
CATA offers a wide variety of visual and performing arts
workshops in our Great Barrington Studio as well as in
various settings around Berkshire County. CATA also
provides performance and exhibit opportunities for
our artists with disabilities and an opportunity to earn
commission on artwork sold.
Faculty Artists
CATA employs 22 faculty artists who combine expertise
in their medium with intuition and compassion. They are
independent contractors and artists in their own right,
encouraged to draw on each other’s strengths and insights.
Cover Photograph: 20th Anniversary Gala Performance, May 2013
communityaccesstotheARTS.org
Info Packet | 2
Faculty, Settings, Partners
CATA’s Shakespeare’s Players at the Tina Packer Playhouse
Faculty Artists
Current Partners
Anamyn Allen, CATAdirect Studio Manager
Eddie Allen, Actor
Paula Boyajian, Yoga Instructor
Barby Cardillo, Actress, Teaching Artist & Social Worker
Janet Reich Elsbach, Writer
Jeff Gagnon, Visual Artist
Lara Gonzalez, Performing Artist & Educator
Pat Hogan, Visual Artist
Leslie Klein, Ceramic Artist
Dawn Lane, Choreographer, Dancer & Teaching Artist
Bernice Lewis, Singer, Songwriter, Educator
Marlene Marshall, Visual Artist
Sonia Pilcer, Author
Diane Prusha, Actor
Emily Rechnitz, Writer and Actor
Roger Reed, Juggler & Mime
Yael Shacham, Performing Artist & Educator
Janice Shields, Rustic Artist
JoAnne Spies, Singer/Songwriter
Vikki True, Singer & Performing Artist
Stefanie Weber, Dancer Artist
Michael Wolski, Visual Artist & Puppeteer
413 Glassworks
Beacon & Triplex Cinemas
Berkshire Co-op Market
Berkshire Museum
Berkshire South Regional Community Center
Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation
Berkshire Theatre Group
Black Ice Entertainment
Bookloft
College Internship Program (CIP)
CTSB-TV
Fairview Hospital
Frames on Wheels
Full Circle Arts
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival
Lenox Print & Mercantile
LOCAL
Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center
MASS MoCA
Montessori School of the Berkshires
Monument Mountain Regional High School
One Mercantile
Red Lion Inn
Shakespeare & Company
Simon’s Rock College of Bard
Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce
Studio Day Spa
VSA arts Massachusetts
VIM
Williamstown Youth Center
Settings
Ad Lib Inc.
Adult Day Health Center of the Brien Center
Alliance for Special Needs
Berkshire County ARC Crossroads Day Habilitation
Berkshire County ARC Center for Development
Berkshire County ARC Residences
Berkshire Family and Individual Resources
Berkshire Health Systems
Berkshire Hills Regional School District
Berkshire Service Group of the
Department of Developmental Services
Blue Q
Cadmus Lifesharing Association
Individuals living at home
Lee Public Schools
Northern Lights Wellness Center of the Brien Center
Oakdale Foundation
Riverbrook Residence
Southern Berkshire Regional School District
communityaccesstotheARTS.org
Art on Tour Venues
Berkshire Bank, Great Barrington
Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield
Fairview Hospital, Great Barrington
Lamont Gallery at Phillips Exeter Academy, New Hampshire
Lee Bank, Great Barrington
Melbourne Place, Pittsfield
Paradigm Properties, Boston
Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce, Great Barrington
Volunteers in Medicine, Great Barrington
VSA Massachusetts, Boston
Dr. William O’Donnell’s Office, Pittsfield
Williamstown Youth Center, Williamstown
Info Packet | 3
Programs
CATA faculty, JoAnne Spies with Berkshire Health Systems resident
In this core program, CATA artists attend workshops
led by faculty skilled in the visual and performing arts.
Visual arts workshops include drawing, painting, collage,
sculpture, and set and costume design. Performing arts
workshops include singing, drumming, dancing, juggling,
and acting. Other workshops include creative writing
and yoga.
The Art Cart
CATA faculty artist, JoAnne Spies, and a CATA artist
share songs and stories, as well as a colorful mobile
lending library of framed artwork with residents of
Berkshire Health Systems nursing homes.
A.R.T. Workshops
Artistic Realization Technologies is an adaptive painting
system developed by Tim Lefens that provides people
with severe physical disabilities the opportunity to
paint with the assistance of laser pointers and trained
trackers acting as the hands of the artist. This unique
method employs a sophisticated series of yes/no
questions designed to give the artist complete
precision and control.
CATA in the Schools
A partnership with area schools to provide young adults
with disabilities access to visual and performing arts
workshops taught by faculty artists experienced in
working with this population. CATA provides additional
support as students transition out of high school,
working with special education teachers on I.E.P.’s
(Individual Education Plans) and offering continued
access to CATA workshops after graduation. CATA also
provides arts programs for at-risk youth with social and
emotional challenges in the EOS (Educational Options
for Success) program in the Pittsfield and Taconic
High Schools.
high school interns & retirees) to create handcrafted
products. Sales of these products provide income in the
form of commissions to artists, help fund the program
which is offered free to all, and tell the story of CATA’s
mission wherever they are sold.
CATA Art on Tour
CATA’s visual art is exhibited at business, cultural and
community sites throughout Berkshire County and
beyond, including Berkshire Museum, Norman Rockwell
Museum, Ferrin Gallery & VSA Massachusetts, Boston.
Cultural Access Passport
This program aims to lessen the barriers that might
prohibit individuals from participating; namely cost,
companionship and transportation. CATA partners with
area venues to provide free tickets to performances in
Berkshire County.
Special Events
CATA’s annual events include a gala and community
performance at Shakespeare & Company’s Tina Packer
Playhouse and “I Am A Part of Art,” an art show and
poetry reading. In addition to year-round programs,
CATA holds special events that raise public awareness
of CATA’s work including informal performances, art
openings & exhibits.
Photo: Christina Lane
Arts In and Arts Out
CATAdirect Crafts Cooperative
A group of adults with disabilities collaborate with
community volunteers (including school children,
communityaccesstotheARTS.org
The Moving Company performs “bask,” May 2012.
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Key Achievements
CATA Staff
2013 CATA wins the Berkshire Trendsetter Award and the
Masschusetts Cultural Council Commonwealth Award in the
“Access” category.
2007 CATA receives a grant from the National
Endowment for the Arts to expand its Artistic Realization
Technology program.
2013 Founder Sandra Newman wins the Berkshire Museum
Berkshire Award and the Multicultural Bridge Cultural
Competence Award.
2007 Program & Artistic Director Dawn Lane receives the
Distinguished Educator in Dance award from the Massachusetts
Alliance for Arts Education.
2013 CATA publishes “going for a flower,” a 120-page
poetry anthology.
2012 CATA produces YOGABILITIES, an instructional
yoga DVD featuring yoga faculty Paula Boyajian and yogis
with disabilities.
2006 CATA and Black Ice Entertainment screen “Too Much
to Stop,” a film documenting the collaboration between Dawn
Lane and Marisa Yudkin at the National Brain Injury Association
Conference, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival and at the
Berkshire Museum.
2012 CATA shares its work at MASS MoCA in Studio B-10
featuring performing arts faculty and northern Berkshire
County participants.
2006 Nominated by State Representative Smitty Pignatelli,
CATA receives the Outstanding Community Arts Collaborative
award from the Massachusetts Alliance for Arts Education.
2012 CATA’s 90-second film trailer plays at the Triplex and
Beacon Cinemas to increase awareness of the mission.
2006 CATA holds its first public poetry event, featuring
readings by CATA participants, actor Sally-Jane Heit, and
four-time National Poetry Slam winner Taylor Mali.
2011 CATA was rated in the top 50 Disability nonprofits by
“Great Nonprofits” in partnership with Guidestar.
2011 CATA’s Moving Company performed in Dawn Lane’s “one
potato, two potato” at the Doris Duke Theatre in cooperation
with Jacob’s Pillow Community Dance Programs.
2010 The Moving Co. is invited to perform in Washington,
D.C., at the VSA International Arts Festival.
2010 Sandy Newman elected “Citizen of the Year” by the
Great Barrington Rotary Club.
2010 Dawn Lane receives a fellowship from the Massachusetts
Cultural Council for outstanding choreography.
2009 CATA receives $15,000 from the National Endowment
for the Arts for school programs.
2005 CATA and the Berkshire Theatre Festival present “for
heaven’s sake,” a movement event choreographed and directed
by Dawn Lane and featuring five CATA dancers from The Moving
Company.
2005 CATA is named a VSA Massachusetts affiliate.
2004 “CATA on Tour” brings CATA’s performing arts
companies to Berkshire County Public Schools and is selected
by the Massachusetts Cultural Council as a Gold Star Project.
2004 CATA Program & Artistic Director and choreographer
Dawn Lane receives LEF New England grant to create “Mattress
Ticking,” a duet including Ms. Lane and Marisa Yudkin, a dancer
with Huntington’s Disease.
2009 CATA received $10,000 from the William J. and Margery
S. Barrett Fund for a digital photography workshop series.
2003 CATA’s annual performance, CATAlive, celebrates CATA’s
tenth anniversary and includes special guests: actor Tina Packer,
dancer Marge Champion, and journalist John Hockenberry.
2009 Sandy Newman receives the Unsung Heroine Award
from the MA Commission on the Status of Women.
2001 Former Mummenshanz Theatre member Roger Reed
joins the CATA faculty.
2009 CATA artwork travels to ten venues thanks to a grant
from Berkshire Life Charitable Foundation.
1999 CATA stages its first theater performance, introducing
artists and performers with disabilities to an audience of 250
community members at the Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington.
2008 CATA presents The Sprout Film Festival in Great
Barrington featuring films by and about people with disabilities.
2008 CATA expands into Northern Berkshire County adding
154 workshops, 70 participants and 4 new settings.
2007 Pollack-Krasner award winning artist Gordon Sasaki
comes to CATA for a week long residency program that
integrates CATA participants, faculty artists and
community members.
communityaccesstotheARTS.org
1996-1997 CATA receives its first year of operational support
from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
1993 Twelve women with disabilities attend CATA’s first
workshop held at IS183 Art School of the Berkshires and led by
textile artist Wendy Rabinowitz.
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Supporters
Dominic Lydon of Autobahn Service & Board Member, Melissa Lydon of Webb Lydon/RBC Wealth Management.
Business Donors & Collaborators
Acorn Real Estate Agency
Allegrone Construction Company
Alliance for Special Needs
Amy Rudnick, Event Planner
Andrus Power Solutions
Autobahn Service
Barnbrook Realty Corporation
Benchmark Realty
Berkshire Bank
Berkshire Bank Foundation
Berkshire Coop Market
Berkshire Health Systems
Berkshire Hematology Oncology, PC
Berkshire Mountain Distillers
Berkshire Mountain Bakery
Berkshire OB/GYN Associates
Berkshire Property Agents
Berkshire Theatre Group
Blue Q
Bolt Depot
Brainspiral Technologies, Inc.
Cadmus Lifesharing
Cafe Adam
Caligari’s Hardware
Campoli & Monteleone, PC
Canyon Ranch
Carr Hardware
Castle Street Café
Cavalier Management Corp
Central Berkshire Gastroenterology
Childs Studio Arts, LLC
Chocolate Springs
Cohen Kinne Valicenti & Cook
Colebrook Realty
Colt Insurance Agency, Inc.
Comalli Electric
Country Curtains
Cranwell Resort, Spa & Golf Club
Dermatology Center in the Berkshires
Domaney’s Liquors & Fine Wines
Dr. Jay Wise, DDS
Dr. Kathleen Favaloro, DC, PT
Dr. Natalya Yantovsky
Eco-Cell
Elm Street Hardware
Face Haven
communityaccesstotheARTS.org
Fenton, Pinsonnault & Quinn
Fontaine’s Auction Gallery
Goodsearch
Gorham & Norton, Inc.
GRC Capital, LLC
Great American Iron Works
Great Barrington Rotary
Greylock Federal Credit Union
Guido’s Fresh Marketplace
Haddad Dealerships of the Berkshires
Hammertown
Harrisville
High Spirit Community Farm
Hillcrest Educational Centers
Interprint, Inc.
Iredale Mineral Cosmetics
JoAnne Spies
John Fulop Associates, Architects
Kent’s Vacuum Center
Kwik Print
Leander House
Lee Bank
Lifeworks Studio
Linen
Mahaiwe Tent Company
Marafanyi
Martin’s Restaurant
Mary Stuart Collections
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Matrushka Toys & Gifts
Michael Considine, Attorney at Law
Montessori School of the Berkshires
O’Donnell Orthodontics
Our Berkshire Green
Outreach Uganda
Pamela Sandler, AIA
Paul Rich & Sons
Personal Best Fitness
PSPI-Paper With a Purpose
Ray Murray, Inc.
RBC Wealth Management
ReadMedia
Richard Migot
Riverbend Cafe
Riverbrook Residence
Roger the Jester
Rouge Restaurant & Bistro
Salisbury Bank & Trust Company
Seeds & Company
Shatz, Schwartz & Fentin
Stone House Properties
Studio Day Spa
Suzann Ward/Barnbrook Realty Corporation
Tasha Polizzi for T.P. Saddleblanket
The Great Barrington Bagel Company
The Old Mill
Tosk Chiropractic
Troy’s Promotions
Vitality Chiropractic
Vlada Boutique
VIM-Volunteers in Medicine
Ward’s Nursery & Garden Center
Webster
William Caligari Interiors
Wonderful Things
Grants & Foundations
Berkshire Bank Foundation, Inc.
Alford-Egremont Cultural Council
Berkshire Life Charitable Foundation
Coolidge Hill Foundation
Cultural Council of Northern Berkshire
Dr. Robert C. and Tina Sohn Foundation
Great Barrington Cultural Council
Green Foundation
James & Robert Hardman Fund
for North Adams
John Sellon Charitable Residual Trust
Lawrence J. & Anne Rubenstein
Charitable Foundation
Lee Cultural Council
Lee Education Enrichment Fund
Lenox Cultural Council
Massachusetts Cultural Council
New Marlborough Cultural Council
Pittsfield Cultural Council
Price Chopper’s Golub Foundation
RBC Foundation
Sheffield Cultural Council
Stockbridge Cultural Council
Tri-Town Rotary
Info Packet | 6
Board Biographies
CATA Board Members
Officers
Members (continued)
John J. Whalan, President
PO Box 273, West Stockbridge, MA 01262.
Founder/President of Black Ice Entertainment.
Beverly Hosokawa, 41 Berkshire Heights Rd.,
Great Barrington, MA 01230. Retired performing arts
administrator and board member Safi School Project,
supporting secondary education in Tanzania.
Emily Rechnitz, Vice President
PO Box 1955, Lenox, MA 01240. Writer and actor.
Stephen A. Shatz, Vice President
PO Box 1435, Stockbridge, MA 01262. Principal of Law
Firm Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, PC of Springfield,
MA. Board member of Banknorth Massachusetts and
Community Music School of Springfield.
Melissa Lydon, Treasurer
PO Box 335, Housatonic, MA 01236.
Webb Lydon Wealth Management Group/RBC
Wealth Management.
Linda Cooper, Secretary
193 Dawes Ave., Pittsfield, MA 01201. Sales &
Marketing Executive specializing in the
hospitality industry.
Members
Sandra Baron, 140 Riverside Dr., NY, NY 10024
Executive Director, Media Law Resource Center
Deborah Caiola, 206 Old Gale Hill Rd., East
Chatham, NY 12060. Director Center for
Development in Lee, MA, a day-habilitation program
serving adults with developmental disabilties.
Maria Cleary, 129 Hartsville New Marlborough Rd.,
New Marlborough, MA 01230. Makeup Artist
and owner of Studio Day Spa.
Ron Gallagher, 45 Harrison Ave., Williamstown,
MA 01267. Regional Director for the Massachusetts
Commission for the Blind
Heather Wells Heim, 43 Lime Kiln Rd., Lenox, MA
01240. Manages youth education program at Trinity
Church in Lenox.
communityaccesstotheARTS.org
David Hosokawa, 41 Berkshire Heights Rd.,
Great Barrington, MA 01230. Management consultant,
member of the board of trustees at Berkshire
Country Day School and a director of ReadMedia,
Inc., an Albany-based social media software
company and Appvault, Inc., an Atlanta based
software company.
Stephanie Iverson, 49 Old Stockbridge Rd.,
Lenox, MA 01240. Jewelry designer and co-chair of
BCD Parents Association.
Rhee Rita Kasky, 140 Silverbrook Rd.,
Sandisfield, MA 01255. Retired Development Director.
Sandisfield Arts Center board member and Gould
Farm associate board member.
Catherine Mandel, PO Box 1483, Stockbridge,
MA 01262. Educator, theatre professional and
volunteer for numerous Berkshire County
non-profit organizations.
Matthew Mandel, M.D., PO Box 1483, Stockbridge,
MA 01262. Retired Physician. Founding member of
Board, Volunteers In Medicine—Berkshires.
Elaine Radiss, 12 Blue Hill Rd., Great Barrington,
MA 01230. Background in family therapy, specializing
in adolescent behavior.
Ben Silberstein, 95 West Rd., Alford, MA 01266.
President, AJA Risk Management Consultants.
Liz Williams, 475 Fernside Rd., Tyringham, MA
01260. President and Marketing Director of the
Jessica Howard, Ltd., Eliza J, Jessica Simpson, and
private label dress divisions of G-III Apparel Group.
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