Art Spark TX Radio Hour Show
2024-02-12 14:00 - 15:00, 2024-02-19 14:00 - 15:00, 2024-02-26 14:00 - 15:00, 2024-03-04 14:00 - 15:00, 2024-03-11 14:00 - 15:00, 2024-03-18 14:00 - 15:00, 2024-03-25 14:00 - 15:00, 2024-04-01 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago) | TX
Tune in every Monday at 2:00 PM CT to the Art Spark TX Radio Hour live on the Austin airwaves at KOOP 91.7 FM or streaming at https://koop.org/program/art-spark-tx-radio-hour/
Bringing inclusive discussion of topics important to the disability community & beyond!

Beetlejuice (Audio Described)
2024-02-13 19:30 - 22:30, 2024-02-18 13:00 - 16:00 | Majestic Theatre, 224 E. Houston Street, San Antonio, TX, 78205, United States
It’s showtime! Based on Tim Burton’s dearly beloved film, this hilarious musical tells the story of Lydia Deetz, a strange and unusual teenager whose whole life changes when she meets a recently deceased couple and a demon with a thing for stripes.
View event details and get tickets here.
Call the Majestic Theatre Box Office at 210-226-3333 and indicate you want audio description.

Image Description: Beetlejuice, dressed in a shabby black and white striped suit and with wild green-dyed hair and green stubble, makes a claw with his hand and laughs exuberantly. Off-kilter text appears against a black and white striped background, “It’s Showtime! Beetlejuice, The Musical. The Musical. The Musical.”

Virtual Speaking Advocates Training
2024-02-17 13:00 - 14:30, 2024-02-24 13:00 - 14:30, 2024-03-02 13:00 - 14:30 | TX
Interested in writing, public speaking, or acting? Art Spark Texas would like to invite you to share your story on the Art Spark podcast. The Virtual Speaking Advocates classes are an updated online version of our Opening Minds, Opening Doors (OMOD) public speaker training program for adults with disabilities. We combine the art of storytelling with public speaking skills, so our speakers can bring their stories to the general public and challenge misconceptions about what it means to live with a disability. Class members will have their final story included in future episodes of our Speaking Advocates podcast, True Tales by Disability Advocates.
Register for the class here.

Image Description: Screenshot of a Zoom meeting shows 20 men and women smiling for a photo. They represent a diversity of age groups and disabilities. Below the screenshot is the Art Spark Texas logo along with the text, “Speaking Advocates Virtual class.”

Call for Art- Community Exhibition Spaces
2024-02-20 10:00 - 10:30, 2024-03-05 10:00 - 10:30, 2024-03-19 10:00 - 10:30, 2024-04-02 10:00 - 10:30 | Art Spark Texas, 1152 San Bernard Street, Austin, TX, 78702, United States
Deadline: Ongoing
This call for art is open to all Texas artists with a disability, Texas veteran or current military member artists, and any senior artist 55 and over.
Art Spark Texas curates solo and group exhibitions at a few locations around Austin. These spaces are suitable for framed work with wire across the back for hanging.

Austin Bergstrom International Airport Accessibility Lounge
We can hang around 15-20 pieces (depending on size) at this space on a six-month rotation. Larger works preferred.
Austin Lighthouse for the Blind – Southeast Austin
We can hang around 15-20 pieces (depending on size) at this space on a two-month rotation.

Download the Entry Form
Or contact April at april@artsparktx.org or 512-454-9912

Conversation on Audio Description with Thomas Reid and Colleen Connor
2024-02-22 13:00 - 14:00 | TX
Join us for an informative and lively virtual conversation as we talk about Audio Description for Dance and other topics through the lens of narrators and trainers who are Blind. We are thrilled to have this month’s conversation with Thomas Reid and Colleen Connor! Read more about our guests below.
Registrations are limited, so sign up today! Register here to receive the Zoom link.
Note: All conversations are presented with Real Time Captioning.
Thomas Reid is the host and producer of Reid My Mind Radio, a podcast featuring compelling people impacted by all degrees of blindness and disability. Through his annual season, “Flipping the Script on Audio Description” Reid explores the art and examines its implications on the community. A member of the Social Audio Description Collective and a freelance Audio Description Narrator, Thomas has appeared on projects for Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, PBS and more. He provides consultations for independent film makers, film festivals, co-facilitates workshops and serves as moderator or panelist for discussions on audio description and content accessibility.
Colleen Connor is the co-founder and Director of Audio Description Training Retreats and is based in Los Angeles, CA. Colleen earned a Bachelor’s in Music Theatre from The Catholic University of America and attended The London Dramatic Academy in the UK. As a blind expert in the Audio Description (AD) industry, Colleen provides valuable insight and feedback to those training in Audio Description. Their ongoing work and outreach in the AD field include performing Quality Control for several studios, voice narration, teaching the various roles within the scope of description, and cultivating a network of diverse professionals. Guided by their Seeing Eye Dog Joplin, Colleen advocates for informed, equal, and culturally competent AD wherever they go!
If you missed it or just want to watch them again, our entire series of conversations are archived on the Art Spark Texas YouTube Channel on the Audio Description Playlist.
Questions? Contact the Art Spark office at 512-454-9912 or info@artsparktx.org

Image Description: Side-by-side photos of this conversation’s guests, Thomas Reid and Colleen Connor. On the left, Thomas, a brown-skinned Black man with a smooth-shaven bald head and a full, neat, salt-and-pepper beard, smiles into the camera. He wears dark shades and a gray and black sweater with a black turtleneck. On the right, Colleen, a non-binary, white person with pixie-cut, pink hair, smiles while speaking into a microphone with a pop filter.

Makers Meet-up
2024-02-25 13:00 - 16:00 | Art Spark Texas, 1152 San Bernard Street, Austin, TX, 78702, United States
Join Art Spark Texas staff April Sullivan and board member/veteran Judith Estrada Garcia, for our monthly Makers Meet-up, a creative in-person gathering, taking place the last Sunday of the month 1-4:00 PM CT. All types of Makers are welcome! We’ll hang out, try a new art method and/or do a creative prompt or two, and share our work. You are always welcome to bring your choice of media, or your latest creative project to share. All supplies provided for the project of the month.

VIRTUAL OPEN MIC: THE LION & PIRATE
2024-03-03 13:00 - 14:30 | TX
The Lion & Pirate invites you to our virtual inclusive open mic for writers, performers, and musicians! As always, we’re open to work in any genre: music, spoken word, improv, skits, storytelling, dance, poems or prose… Anything you can perform!
Featured performers to be announced; then, it will be your time to shine! There will be 10 sign-up slots. We ask that you sign up ahead of time. Any sign-ups after 10 will be held on a backup list.
Join us on Zoom:
Use this Link to attend our virtual open mic.
Stay tuned to our Facebook Group for event updates, signup sheets, and links, and invite your friends, too. You can tune in just to connect with your community and give us those “clap” reactions.
Questions? Please email MsBoye.

ARTISTIC VISION - A Spring Break Photography Internship
2024-03-11 10:00 - 14:00, 2024-03-12 10:00 - 14:00, 2024-03-13 10:00 - 14:00, 2024-03-14 10:00 - 14:00 | Art Spark Texas, 1152 San Bernard Street, Austin, TX, 78702, United States
Art Spark Texas is looking for young adults with disabilities interested in our photography internship!
Participants MUST apply by March 1st. See eligibility requirements below. Once chosen, participants who complete the entire 20-hour internship will receive a $50 stipend. Space is limited! Apply here for the internship.
Join instructor Anthony Maddaloni to take your photography to the next level this Spring Break. Lessons include Photographing Strangers, Capturing Nature, Digital Photo Tools Made Easy, and tips on editing for social media platforms.
Schedule: The internship will be Monday-Friday, March 11-15th, from 10:00am-2:00pm at the Art Spark Office, 1152 San Bernard Street, Austin, Texas 78702 and will include a studio visit to Anthony’s studio, Eastside Silver Prints. Participants are expected to attend the full week. Reasonable absences due to illness, family emergency, etc. will be excused.
Participant Requirements:

Have a developmental disability* (see below for definition)
Must be between the ages of 16 and 23
Demonstrate an interest in photography
Turn in completed application form
Turn in a resume of work and volunteer experience
Turn in two letters of recommendation (can be from teachers, employers, friends, or family)
Turn in a sample of your photographic work (Optional)

*Definition from the Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities website: “A Developmental Disability is a severe, chronic disability that begins before the person reaches age 22 and is likely to continue throughout one’s life.”
Apply here.
About the Instructor: Local photographer Anthony Maddaloni began making photographs when he was 15 years old and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art in 1996 from the State University of New York at Purchase. He was a staff photographer for both the Texas Senate and Texas House of Representatives during various sessions from 2001-2006 and a staff photographer at the Harry Ransom Center of the University of Texas from 2006-2010. Currently, Anthony owns and teaches at his darkroom studio in Austin, Eastside Silver Prints.

Image Description: A young woman develops photos in a photo lab. Thin blue, green, purple, and yellow streaks adorn the edges of the image.

Texas Veterans Strong Creative Network
2024-03-14 10:30 - 11:30 | Virtual
Join us for this monthly virtual creative network that connects Arts Organization, Veteran Organizations, and Creative Veterans to share ideas, network, and collaborate to elevate and support or creative Texas Veterans. Together, we are strong!
Register to receive the meeting link: tps://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMrdOmgpzMsHNYYU-Wv-UyUGYxf7d6OvDrU

Women Veterans Strong
2024-03-14 12:30 - 13:30 | TX
A virtual group for women vets to connect, create, and converse. Register in advance for this meeting at: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcsceGurDstGdGUBQk_1QdFZoHxuchPLwZs
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Wicked (Audio Described)
2024-03-14 19:30 - 22:30 | Bass Concert Hall, 2350 Robert Dedman Drive, Austin, TX, 78712, United States
So much happened before Dorothy dropped in. WICKED, the Broadway sensation, looks at what happened in the Land of Oz…but from a different angle. Long before Dorothy arrives, there is another girl, born with emerald-green skin—smart, fiery, misunderstood, and possessing an extraordinary talent. When she meets a bubbly blonde who is exceptionally popular, their initial rivalry turns into the unlikeliest of friendships…until the world decides to call one “good,” and the other one “wicked.”
View event details and get tickets here.
Ticket Office:
email: tickets@texasperformingarts.org or call: 512.471.1444
Monday–Friday: 10 am–5 pm
Accessibility Information for Texas Performing Arts

Image Description: Elphaba smiles slyly as Glinda whispers in her ear. Elphaba is dressed in black and has green skin. Glinda is dressed in white and has pale pink skin. Flying monkeys appear against a green background. Text reads, “The untold true story of the Witches of Oz, Wicked.”

East Austin Arts District's Third Thursday
2024-03-21 18:00 - 21:00 | Art Spark Texas, 1152 San Bernard Street, Austin, TX, 78702, United States
We are open every Third Thursday 6-9:00 PM as part of the East Austin Arts District’s monthly self-guided tour of 25+ visual arts and gallery venues. Each month we will feature two of our artists showing and selling their work.
This Thursday we are featuring Matthew Lieber, John Castillo, and Viktor Paul Scot Burke.

Makers Meet-up
2024-03-24 13:00 - 16:00 | Art Spark Texas, 1152 San Bernard Street, Austin, TX, 78702, United States
Join Art Spark Texas staff April Sullivan and board member/veteran Judith Estrada Garcia, for our monthly Makers Meet-up, a creative in-person gathering. All types of Makers are welcome! We’ll hang out, try a new art method and/or do a creative prompt or two, and share our work. You are always welcome to bring your choice of media, or your latest creative project to share. All supplies provided for the project of the month.

The Lion & Pirate Open Mic IN PERSON
2024-04-06 15:00 - 17:00 | Art Spark Texas, 1152 San Bernard Street, Austin, TX, 78702, United States
Enjoy the spring weather and celebrate National Poetry Month with your friends from The Lion & Pirate in Art Spark’s backyard!
At this inclusive open mic, we’re open to work in any genre: music, spoken word, improv, skits, storytelling, dance, poems or prose… Anything you can perform!
Join us to hear work by featured Austin poets Bijan Rahnamai and Sueitko Zamorano-Chavez; then, it will be your time to shine! Sign up at the event. Contact us if you have questions about our sound set up.
What to Expect:

The performer sign-up opens at 2:30 PM.
This is a disability-inclusive open mic, so all performers are welcome, regardless of their abilities. It’s a supportive and welcoming environment where everyone is encouraged to share their gifts.
The Lion & Pirate Open Mic is a great way to showcase your talents and connect with other artists.
We encourage a variety of performers, including musicians, poets, comedians, storytellers, and more to join us.
We will have amplification.
Both the office and the backyard are accessible, please email MsBoye for individual accessibility questions or requirements.
The event is free and open to the public. All ages are welcome.

Image Description: A lion statue wearing an eye patch and a pirate’s skull-and-bones do-rag grips a microphone cable in its jaws. Text reads, “Join us in person! The Lion & The Pirate, an inclusive open mic for writers, performers, and musicians. 3 PM to 5 PM, Saturday, April 6, 2024. Art Spark Texas, 1152 San Bernard St., Austin, TX.” Logos for Art Spark Texas and the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities appear at the bottom.
