ARTSEDGE, the National Arts and Education Information Network, is proud to host the online component of the first-ever National Forum on Careers in the Arts for People with Disabilities, which took place June 14-16, 1998 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.

In addition to hundreds of Forum participants who convened at the Kennedy Center, members of the online community from around the world interested in the arts and employment in the arts for people with disabilities were able to participate in the Forum's events through this ARTSEDGE-hosted site. Online participants may still access the Forum's Agenda, Daily Updates, Concept Papers, Keynote Addresses (many of which, along with panel discussions, have been audio- and video-streamed at this site), People (biographies of the presenters and authors) and Final Recommendations.

Although the forum has come to a conclusion, online participants may still continue the dialogue on issues relating to the Forum's three focal areas (training, funding, jobs) via the Forum listserv. The listserv conversations, in addition to the ideas presented in the keynote addresses and the issues raised in panel discussions, will be woven into the final recommendations report.

In addition, transcripts from all of the breakout sessions, panel discussions, and meetings are continually being posted on this Web site; all transcripts should be formatted and available online by mid-August.

Forum speakers included:

• Phyllis Frelich, award-winning actress;
• John Kemp, President and CEO, Very Special Arts;
• Bob Lynch, President and CEO, Americans for the Arts;
• Ron Mace, architectural consultant for renovation of the Kennedy Center Concert Hall; and
• William Ivey, former director of the Country Music Foundation and newly-confirmed Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Panel participants included representatives from:

• Non-Traditional Casting Project,
• U.S. Department of Education,
• Social Security Administration, and
• Florida Division of Vocation Rehabilitation.

The Cleveland Ballet Dancing Wheels, jazz musicians Valerie Capers and Lisa Thorson, and actress Michelle Banks also performed during the three-day forum.

Convened and supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as the Kennedy Center, the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Social Security Administration, this working Forum on Careers in the Arts for People with Disabilities was designed to accomplish three goals:

1. to assess the state of education and career opportunities in the arts for people with disabilities;
2. to identify strategies to overcome obstacles; and
3. to find ways to advance arts careers for people with disabilities.

During the Forum, keynote speakers, panel discussions, and concept papers included such topics as:

• development obstacles for careers in the arts for disabled youth
• financial support for disability and the arts
• what can be learned from varied training models
• what it takes, what the obstacles are, and how the obstacles can be overcome in order to pursue a career in the arts

Forum Coordination was provided by Quest: arts for everyone.