Arts Funders Roundtable: Building Access to the Arts for People with Disabilities

Speakers:  Dee Delaney, FISA Foundation
                Terri Blanchette, Senator John Heinz History Center 
                Lucy Spruill, United Cerebral Palsy of Pittsburgh

Many funders are encouraging arts organizations to focus on audience development and diversification as a sustainability strategy. An often overlooked and underserved market segment is people with physical and sensory disabilities. A number of local cultural organizations have taken steps to be more inclusive (improving wayfinding signs, providing assistive listening devices, offering audio description for those who are blind, developing accessible websites and offering disability awareness trainings for staff). Besides being the right thing to do, there is a smart business case for promoting better access to the arts: In SWPA 18.6% of the population has a disability, and nationally people with disabilities control $175 billion in annual discretionary spending.

This conversation will be led by Dee Delaney, Executive Director, FISA Foundation, who will be joined by Terri Blanchette, Director of School and Public Programs, Senator John Heinz History Center, and Lucy Spruill, Director of Public Policy and Community Relations, United Cerebral Palsy of Pittsburgh. They will share best grantmaking practices for making the arts more inclusive and offer tangible, cost-effective ways to partner with your grantees to help them improve physical and programmatic accessibility of theaters and museums. Grantmakers of all levels of experience are encouraged to attend.

Please bring a brown bag lunch.  Beverages and dessert will be provided.