Vsa Minnesota

“The board of directors has the sole authority to elect additional directors to the governing body.”

“The draft form 990 is reviewed by the executive director and the board treasurer upon receipt from the firm compiling the report. The e.d. And treasurer approve the draft for release by the compiling firm. The finalized report is then submitted to the full board of directors for approval and submission.”

“The vsa minnesota board of directors adopted a conflict of interest policy on march 6, 2012. Since then, each year at the annual meeting held in october, each board and staff member read that policy and sign off on their understanding and agreement to abide by that policy. In general, board members are not eligible to apply for grants offered by the organization.”

“The president of the board of directors does an annual review of the executive director which includes compensation. This review is circulated through all other board members. A recommendation for salary adjustment is made based on the review and input from the board. The executive director has on occasion, over the years, accepted less than the full percentage recommended by the board. This did not take place during this year although there were no salary increases for the e.d. This year.”

“The organization makes its governing documents (including by-laws financial audit, 990, conflict of interest policies, ada access plan and personnel policies) available for public inspection upon request. Requested materials can be viewed on-site at the organization's office.”

“Vsa minnesota, a member of the vsa affiliate network, a program of the john f. Kennedy center for the performing arts, is a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to providing, promoting and creating quality art opportunities and avenues for people with disabilities in the areas of visual and media art, music, dance, theater, storytelling, and creative writing. The arts play an essential role in enriching lives and enhancing the learning skills, creativity, responsiveness, and social itneraction of persons with disabilities, as well as provide for the exchange of information and ideas.”

“Disabilities, including employment opportunities, calls for art, accessible performance listings, and announcements of happenings by and for artists with disabilities. Finally, this program also includes the emerging artists grant program which supports minnesota artists with disabilities in creating new work. Six 2,000 grants were awarded this year to writers, performing and visual artists.”

“This program/service area also continues to include access to performing arts which is a long-standing program that provides technical assistance to arts organizations in the areas of american sign language interpretation, audio description and captioning for individuals who are deaf or blind who attend arts performances offering these accommodations. Technical assistance includes marketing to deaf/hard of hearing and blind/low vision communities and building performance organizations capabilities to meet the needs of audience members from these communities. Vsa minnesota has a captioning display unit that it offers out to organizations wishing to provide open captioning for their live arts performances. The organizations accessible arts calendar promotes all performances in the state featuring asl interpretation, audio description and captioning. This calendar is found on the organizations website at www.vsamn.org/calendar.”

“Public awareness and outreach other awareness work includes ongoing visual art exhibits showing work by minnesota artists with disabilities. Work was shown during the year at vision loss resources and park state bank, both in minneapolis and at mra, a human resources business in plymouth. Vsa minnesotas web site (www.vsamn.org) is accessible to people with a range of abilities (including people who are blind or have low vision) and includes current and pertinent information about the organization and its programs. Additional information about the organization can be found on the vsa minnesota facebook page. Organizational affiliation relationships vsa minnesota has a formal affiliation agreement with the john f. Kennedy center in washington, d.c. Specifically, vsa minnesota is a member of the vsa affiliate network, a program of the john f. Kennedy center for the performing arts. This affiliation allows us to participate in annual gatherings of vsa state affiliates, to serve as state outposts for programs conducted by the vsa & accessibility office at the kennedy center and to compete for funding opportunities offered by the kennedy center.”