The Art of Working
InCommons Collaboration Challenge
The Art of Working
The mission of Upstream Arts is to enhance the lives of adults and youth with disabilities by fostering creative communication and social independence through the power of arts education. We integrate individuals with cognitive, developmental, emotional, behavioral and physical disabilities in arts programs designed to develop social and communication skills. Our programs are taught by teams of local professional artists — including actors, dancers, musicians, visual artists, writers and directors — that have been trained to teach to individuals of all abilities. In 2009 we began a collaboration with Lifeworks, a local nonprofit whose mission is "to serve our community and people with disabilities as we live and work together." With Lifeworks, we created “The Art of Working,” interactive arts programming for adults with disabilities that have been unable to obtain or maintain employment because of social and communication skill deficits.
There are many obstacles to employment for individuals with disabilities. The biggest barrier is often not lack of education or work skills, but a lack of soft skills. Soft skills include, for example, attentiveness and focus, cooperativeness, the ability to be flexible, to receive feedback, to be a team player and to communicate effectively and appropriately. "The Art of Working" uses theatre, as well as other art mediums, to develop and grow these soft skills.
About You
About You
First Name
Gillian
Last Name
Spence
Country
United States, MN, Hennepin County
About Your Organization
Organization
Upstream Arts, Inc
Organization Website
Organization Phone
612-331-4584
Organization Address
3501 Chicago Ave S
Organization Country
United States, MN, Hennepin County
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Your Story
Collaboration Title
The Art of Working
Country your work focuses on
United States, MN
Describe your locally-based collaboration and the problem it sought to address
The mission of Upstream Arts is to enhance the lives of adults and youth with disabilities by fostering creative communication and social independence through the power of arts education. We integrate individuals with cognitive, developmental, emotional, behavioral and physical disabilities in arts programs designed to develop social and communication skills. Our programs are taught by teams of local professional artists — including actors, dancers, musicians, visual artists, writers and directors — that have been trained to teach to individuals of all abilities. In 2009 we began a collaboration with Lifeworks, a local nonprofit whose mission is "to serve our community and people with disabilities as we live and work together." With Lifeworks, we created “The Art of Working,” interactive arts programming for adults with disabilities that have been unable to obtain or maintain employment because of social and communication skill deficits.
There are many obstacles to employment for individuals with disabilities. The biggest barrier is often not lack of education or work skills, but a lack of soft skills. Soft skills include, for example, attentiveness and focus, cooperativeness, the ability to be flexible, to receive feedback, to be a team player and to communicate effectively and appropriately. "The Art of Working" uses theatre, as well as other art mediums, to develop and grow these soft skills.
Tell us about the community in which this collaboration took place
“The Art of Working” takes place in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. We carry out 12-week residencies at each of the 8 Lifeworks locations.
Issue Selector
n/a
Partnership
Who was involved in co-creating or implementing your collaboration (other organizations, leaders, community members, etc.)?
Upstream Arts staff met with Lifeworks’ Director of Career Development, and Director of Service Innovation to outline plans for a vocational training program that adapted Upstream Arts’ approach to impact soft skills central to work readiness. The Upstream Arts Program Director and Teaching Artists adapt curricula to target the specific career goals of individuals at each Lifeworks site.
To what extent does your collaboration involve partnerships that are outside or cross traditional organizational or sector boundaries?
This collaboration brings together the arts and social services to create a program that is unparalleled. We know of no other vocational training program that uses the arts in this way.
Innovation
What makes your locally-based collaboration innovative and unique?
This program represents a new and innovative approach to addressing soft skills, one of the root causes of the unemployment and employment retention of adults with disabilities. Though career development staff agree that soft skills are essential to obtain and crucially, maintain employment, most vocational training programs for adults with disabilities focus on hard skill sets that are irrelevant without the interpersonal skills needed in the workplace. Those programs that do focus on soft skills often use workbooks or written tests, methods that do not address the experiential way that individuals with disabilities learn. A growing number of approaches, including art therapy, use interaction with and through the arts to build the social skill sets of people with disabilities. Though research shows the specific benefits arts based approaches have for individuals with disabilities, we know of no vocationally focused programs that use these approaches to work on soft skills. Developing a vocational training program that utilizes arts based approaches offers individuals with disabilities a new and innovative avenue to work readiness.
Did you take risks in establishing this collaboration? Explain
“The Art of Working” is not a traditional vocational training program. We took a deliberate risk in creating this collaboration, because there was no precedent for our program or research that proved the effectiveness of our curricula.
How did this collaboration differ from the normal way of doing your work?
Upstream Arts’ curriculum focuses on the teaching of social and communication skills through the arts. This collaboration led us to develop a robust vocational curriculum, because we are not only focusing on everyday social and communication skills, but also the specific skills that allow an individual to obtain and retain employment.
Impact
How do you know your collaboration has been effective?
Our criteria for success is that the majority of the participants in the program will more frequently exhibit soft skills during and after the program than previous to the program and that we will have data that shows the positive impact of the program on work readiness. Long-term success will mean that participants in the program obtain and maintain employment, and that this approach to enhancing work readiness is more widely used and available in the metro area.
What progress or impact has been made?
We received this feedback from Lifeworks staff after a previous program, "After only six sessions, these adults have gained self confidence and self awareness. There is nowhere else they are able to rehearse these interactions and learn workplace behavior in such a hands on way." These comments reinforce that our collaboration is making a positive impact on the individuals we serve.
Next Steps
How would you go about continuing, expanding, or replicating this collaboration?
Upstream Arts and Lifeworks have carried out 4 "Art of Working" programs since our collaboration began. With every new residency, our program evolves and grows, creating a better experience for our participants and increasing their work readiness. This support would allow us to continue to grow this program and bring the collaboration to more people. By empowering our participants with these vocational skills, we help to strengthen the community with a more work ready group of individuals who can now realize their full potential. The momentum we have achieved is inspiring us to do this great work. We know there is a need and that we have an impact. We believe that the arts strengthen and enrich communities and the disability community is no exception. Your support would give us the opportunity to bring the arts to this important sector of our population.
Describe the current stage of implementation and desired next steps
Upstream Arts and Lifeworks have carried out 4 "Art of Working" programs since our collaboration began. With every new residency, our program evolves and grows, creating a better experience for our participants and increasing their work readiness. This support would allow us to continue to grow this program and bring the collaboration to more people. By empowering our participants with these vocational skills, we helping to strengthen the community with a more work ready group of individuals who can now realize their full potential. We are dependent on support like this to continue this work and achieve these goals.
| 133 weeks ago Gillian Spence updated this Competition Entry. | |
| 134 weeks ago Gillian Spence submitted this idea. |
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