It's Been a Great Year

Every day, VSA Texas works creatively to bring inclusive arts to thousands of people with and without disabilities because we see how it changes lives. And your generosity has helped us to inspire, entertain, and improve the lives of so many people, in Austin and across the state.

This year we officially launched our Side by Side internship program and are thrilled with the initial results. Sixteen young adults in Austin worked with four professional filmmakers to produced three short films that were the highlight of our July film festival. You can view them at YouTube.com/VSATEXAS. And another young man helped to successfully launch a radio internship, our first partnership with KOOP Community Radio. We are so excited about what the future holds for this exciting new program.

Jorge Reyes, our first radio intern, works on a PSA
with KOOP programmer Greg Ciotti

We also have some other exciting plans for the new year, and everyone is busy making sure that our programs and services are the very best that they can be. Opening Minds, Opening Doors has expanded to Houston, and our speakers have been invited to more conferences than we can almost handle – a nice challenge to face!

OMOD speakers awaiting the start of their workshop
at the We Are Girls Conference

Body Shift continues to bring the joy of dance to new communities of movers and shakers, and we thank Impact Austin for helping us to hire the staff necessary to make this happen in a big way! 

DanceAbility teacher certification training through Body Shift

There are many other programs I could mention, but just drop by our websites (http://www.vsatx.org and http://www.bodyshift.org) or like our Facebook pages, and you too can be thrilled by what a small group of dedicated individuals can accomplish if they join their hearts and minds together.

I look to the future, challenging myself and my staff to offer unique and collaborative programming that ignites excitement and inspires long-lasting creators and lovers of the arts. Our success depends not only on our hard work and dedication, but also on the generosity of individuals such as you. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation in your name or as a gift in a loved one's name, which not only sustains our work but also creates a lasting legacy for years to come. You can make a donation on our website here: http://www.vsatx.org/donate.html.

Leading the charge,

Celia Hughes