Photo credit: Jason W. Bucklin Photography.
The process of saying goodbye after 20 years of building deep relationships and an expansive community takes many different forms. Longtime Participant and Self-Advocate Brynn Sexton recently reached out with some words about what Upstream Arts has meant to her and what she will miss. Brynn gave us permission to share her words with our wider community. Take a look below.
We’re honored to hear from her, and welcome others’ reflections of what this last 20 years of acting, dancing, writing, singing, creating, practicing, playing, and advocating has meant. We’ll have more opportunities to share reflections at our farewell party, The Art of You: Carrying it Forward. On September 25, we’ll gather at The Whim from 6-9pm to say goodbye, celebrate our community, and reflect on our work together.
Be sure to register for a free ticket today!
Hi My Name is Brynn and I am a participant in Upstream Arts’ Self-Advocacy classes.
I want to share my experience that I had with Upstream Arts.
They came to Transition Plus and Lake Harriet and Southwest. And they do really fun activities like acting in a scenario, like how to advocate and speak up for yourself, and how to paint the music, and multiple conversations, and paint the movement as well.
We also have guidelines as well in Upstream Arts as well. Support, Choice and Risk of trying something new everyday, and when I found out about closing this chapter of 20 years of arts and disability and education impact, I was really disappointed and really upset to let go of this, and I need to get used it.
And it is just not me- there is more people out there that this is coming to a close, and this will be really hard for everyone as well. We will miss Upstream Arts and the Teaching Artists as well. I want to thank Julie Guidry and Matt Guidry and Dylan and Uchenna and Evie and Dupree and Aaron and Phyllis and Avery and Akiko and Heather and Pedra and Matt Sciple and Kiyoko to be a big part of Upstream Arts classes.
Upstream Arts is about Advocating and speaking up for yourself and others.
And it is all about with and without disabilities, as well, to join a class with Upstream Arts as well.
My last thing to put out there is that I will miss doing fun activities, and they do Studio Access videos as well, and I watch them as well. I will always think about Upstream Arts, and that it was really fun program as well.
The Studio Access videos that Brynn mentions were created in 2020 as a way to stay connected during the isolation of the early pandemic. They feature Teaching Artists leading various Upstream Arts dance, music, movement, and rhythm activities in a format where you can follow along and participate with the video. These resources have continue to live on our website, giving access to our curriculum and a sense of connection even after our residencies have ended. You can find the Studio Access videos here.
