Upstream Arts presents
The Art of We: Are Still Celebrating
Annual Community Celebration & Fundraiser
Tuesday, May 21, 2024
Event Schedule
6:00pm – 7:00pm: Socialize, Celebrate, and enjoy Upstream Arts Activities, Art, and Artists
Mingle, appreciate the art, enjoy complimentary hors d’oeuvres, or visit the cash bar. Use the Social Skills Scavenger Hunt card on the back of your program to guide your path, or just go with the flow as you choose.
7:00pm, Last chance to submit Social Skills Scavenger Hunt Card
Be sure to drop your (partially or fully) completed Social Skills Scavenger Hunt card into the prize box of your choice for a chance to win one of the exciting prize packages.
7:00pm-8:00pm: Program
- Welcome by Tabitha Montgomery, Upstream Arts Board
- Introduction by Julie Guidry, Upstream Arts Co-Founder and Executive Director
- Performance with Matt Guidry, Upstream Arts Co-Founder and Artistic Director, and the Teaching Artists of Upstream Arts
- Testimonial from Christine Denoman, Case Manager, Roosevelt High School
- Fund-A-Need with Stacey McCurnin, Fladeboe Advancement
- Announce Social Skills Scavenger Hunt Winners
8:00pm – 9:00pm, Celebration
Continue to celebrate and enjoy the company of our community.
About tonight’s event: We Are Still Celebrating
As Upstream Arts moves through our 18th year of programming, we celebrate the power, beauty, and persistence of individuals with disabilities. We continue to tap into the power of creativity and play to advocate for a world where each person is seen, heard, acknowledged. A world where each person can access their own voice and choice and tell their own stories. A world where each person has power over their own bodies, lives, and dreams. From our Art of Social Skills residencies to our Art of Relationships programming to our Self-Advocacy classes, we are cultivating and celebrating this vision.
Despite a world that too often seeks to separate and diminish individuals with disabilities, we are surviving and thriving. We are still here, still dancing, still singing, still creating, still advocating, and still finding ways to show up for ourselves and each other, with playfulness, with creativity, and with joy.
ASL Interpreted by
Phyllis Genest-Stein
Sarah Brown
Nancy B (online)
Audio Described by
Laurie Pape Hadley
Photographer
Jason W. Bucklin Photography
Please note: Jason W. Bucklin Photography will be documenting the evening. Images from this event may appear on social media, the Upstream Arts website, and in other Upstream Arts online and print materials.
Use #ArtofWe24 and @UpstreamArts to share your own images, experiences, and memories from this event on social media!
Ways to Celebrate
Artists and Arts Activities
Celebrate the many ways we are still connecting, advocating, creating and playing. In addition to enjoying complimentary hors d’oeuvres and a beverage from the cash bar, you can participate in several Upstream Arts activities between 6-7pm, including listening to our Teaching Artists share stories and poems from our programs, painting your idea of Self-Advocacy, and exploring the Gear Petting Zoo.
Social Skills Scavenger Hunt
The Social Skills Scavenger Hunt can direct you through the event, and give you a chance to win prizes! On the back of your program is a card with activities on it, including some of the arts activities listed above. Complete the activities in each square and enter your (partially or fully) finished Social Skills Scavenger Hunt card in one of the boxes by the Social Skills Scavenger Hunt sign. Stick around for the end of the program to find out if you’ve won!
Sponsors and Supporters
Huge thanks to our Sponsors, whose generosity ensures that this event is free and fully accessible.
About Upstream Arts
Our Story:
Upstream Arts was founded in 2006 by Julie and Matt Guidry, who witnessed firsthand the positive impact of the arts on their son. Caleb, who is non-verbal, was born with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome, which affects his physical and cognitive development. When Matt exposed Caleb to theater and dance at a young age, Caleb began to use the physical movements, body language, and facial expressions he learned through the arts to communicate with those around him. Since then, Upstream Arts has grown exponentially, emerging as a leader in creating dynamic, inclusive arts programming for individuals of all ages and abilities. We partner across sectors to bring professional artists to the places where people with disabilities are already learning, working, and socializing.
Our Mission:
Upstream Arts uses the power of the creative arts to activate and amplify the voice and choice of individuals with disabilities.
Our vision:
We will change mindsets about ability and disability and promote more connected and engaged communities by increasing intentional opportunities for shared creative experiences.
Our people:
View our incredible team of Teaching Artists and Staff here.
Special Thanks
To our community: artists, participants, partners, and supporters… YOU are the reason Upstream Arts perseveres. Without your ongoing support and commitment to this work, we could not exist. Thank you!
Our Teaching Artists – your incredible artistry combines advocacy, play, curiosity, and creativity. Your dedication and expertise move us forward towards a more inclusive, creative world. Thank you.
Our Board of Directors – for continually believing in our work, for supporting our dreams, and keeping us focused. Thank you.
Aaron, Nicki, Meagan, Andrew, Theresa, and Nora – our superb office staff members that keep us moving upstream every day.
Justin Ayd – for generously sharing your captioning knowledge and system with us.
MANY THANKS to all of the businesses and organizations that donated goods and services as prizes for the event!
Land Acknowledgment
Minnesota Opera and Upstream Arts acknowledge that though we have arrived at this location in a multiplicity of ways, the Luminary occupies land that is of great historical, spiritual, and cultural significance to the Dakota people and that was unjustly seized.
Upstream Arts, Inc.
3501 Chicago Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55407
(612) 331-4584
[email protected]
Upstream Arts uses the power of the creative arts to activate and amplify the voice and choice of individuals with disabilities.
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