Prepared and published by the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and the National Endowment for the Arts. A binder with various design suggestion to make art's facilities accessible for persons with disabilities.

American museums have always had to struggle to raise funds from many sources to survive. This helped them to avoid over-dependence on a single source (as is the case in many European countries where museums are often dependent on government support). Art museums have an uneasy relationship with democracy: according to research in the and France they still attract largely the highly-educated public. (from abstract)

Directory of performing arts companies and organizations in Canada and the U.S. with emphasis on major and medium scale professional companies. It includes some of the more notable smaller scale companies, particularly in dance, because of the international touring opportunities afforded them. (Introduction)

In 1974, Jean Kennedy Smith founded Very Special Arts to provide people with disabilities opportunities for integration and self-expression through drama, dance, music, creative writing and the visual arts. Now, in a series of candid and revealing interviews conducted by Smith and edited by George Plimpton, sixteen artists talk about their lives - and discuss how art has made a difference to them.

Summary of Very Special Arts program activities in the 50 states, New York City, and Washington, D.C. during FY-1993. Includes descriptions of the national programs that each state organization has adapted and replicated in their community as well as innovative state initiated projects. (from abstract)

This book is designed to assist arts organizations in complying with disability access regulations. It details how to include the needs of disabled people into programming efforts and provides information on the NEA's 504 Regulation, which applies to federally funded organizations, and the 1990 American with Disabilities Act (ADA), which extends accessibility provisions to the private sector.

Museums across the country are working to make their collections more available to older adults and people who have various kinds of disabilities. Federal and state laws, including Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act and the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, have accelerated the timetable for the transition in national attitudes and actions. The focus is inclusion: to open up existing programs and services and to reach out to underserved communities in ways that promote human dignity.

The author's essays discusses and defends music and culture in the United States. Of particular importance is the author's emphasis on American music: the problems of maintaining American compositions in the repertory, the fate of orchestras and opera companies, the role of public and private funding, the destinies of performers, the nature of arts administration, and the hunt for the wider audience.

The author analyzes the equity and efficiency of the current distributional policies of public arts agencies toward older adults. Many, he suggests, reflect outmoded myths and limited conceptions of older adults, the author also suggests that public art agencies need to explore policy options directed toward the next generation of older adults: baby boomers. He contends that current analyses of lower arts participation among baby boomers and changing aesthetic preferences are sufficient grounds to stimulate formulation of developmental arts policies, such as adult arts education.

Although the artists' organizations have played an important role in the arts explosion in this country, they have not received the recognition and support they deserve. (from abstract)