Celebrating the restorative power of the arts in our community.
June 2020 – Replay
GRAND RAPIDS, MI (June 5 – 6, 2020) While we are not yet able to gather for concerts, go to the ballet, or walk through art galleries, Festival of the Arts and the other 20 cultural organizations that make up the Grand Rapids Arts Working Group are working together to host a Virtual Arts Festival.
The Arts Working Group of Grand Rapids is committed to making the experience of art, in all its forms, accessible and inviting for a diverse audience. This commitment has influenced all of the production efforts being put into the Virtual Arts Festival.
Key Access Considerations:
- Accessibility is a process rather than a product. DisArt initiated and led the accessibility efforts of the Virtual Arts Festival. These efforts should not be considered perfect, complete, or without fault. Our hope has been to create a recognizably different online experience, one that signals the beginning of a new moment of accessibility and the arts within Grand Rapids.
- Diversity includes disability. The Arts Working Group has identified diversity, equity, and inclusion as its primary motivation. Additionally, we are aware of the fact that disability is rarely placed within those sorts of conversations. We wish to change that. The accessibility efforts of this production are a step towards making that happen.
- Accounting for everyone. DisArt is showing the arts and cultural organizations the importance of accounting for the disability community in all of our cultural programs. When we rely on the active participation of disabled people, we are motivated to create opportunities for audiences to participate in ways that are most comfortable and meaningful to them.
Who’s Included:
Grand Rapids Symphony, ArtPrize, Grand Rapids Ballet, Opera Grand Rapids, Artists Creating Together, Grand Rapids Children’s Museum, DisArt, Festival, and many others community members will showcase music, dance, poetry, demonstrations, visual arts, kids activities, and many other elements for the entire family to enjoy.
About Grand Rapids Arts Working Group
The Grand Rapids Arts Working Group represents a collaborative and community-facing collective of 20 arts and culture organizations. Founded in 2019 to serve West Michigan and beyond, the collective provides organizations with a framework in which to connect, identify common objectives, engage in shared learning, encourage and support each other, and work in common purpose to ensure the vibrancy of arts and culture in West Michigan, now and in the future.
The Virtual Arts Festival Sponsors
- City of Grand Rapids
- County of Kent, Michigan
- Michigan Council for Arts & Cultural Affairs
- National Endowment for the Arts
- Downtown Grand Rapids, Inc.
- Mobile GR & Parking Services
- Metro Health, University of Michigan Health
- Pioneer Construction
- Warner Norcross + Judd
- SideCar Studio
- ARTPEERS
- Grand Rapids Jazz
- Well
- Blue Lake Public Radio
- WGVU
- Dita
- Kennari Consulting
- 3PlayMedia
- Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services
- Cheryl Green
- Cakabakery
- Mercury Head Galleries
- Presto Print
Media Streaming Partner
- WoodTV8
Arts Working Group Sponsor
- Steelcase