June 24, 2013

To whom it may concern: We would like to invite your organization to collaborate with Artists Creating Together on an exciting new opportunity to help make arts and cultural experiences that are offered in our community more accessible to people with disabilities. Art is important. Art not only helps us better understand and express ourselves, but it also helps us connect with world around us. Especially for those with special needs. Research has shown that art breaks down many of the psychological and emotional barriers that hold these individuals back by building self-confidence and personal satisfaction. Last year ACT received tickets from the Grand Rapids Ballet to the Nutcracker Ballet and was able to give Jenny, a woman with a developmental disability, a chance to attend with her sister Kathy. Afterwards, Kathy expressed: She had never seen the Nutcracker or a ballet before, but was fascinated with the performance and loved being able to hum along to the music that she knew. This new cultural experience enriched her mind and inspired an interest in dance that she may not have found otherwise. Today Jenny is a valued participator in ACTs dance class held at the Ballet, where she feels at home expressing herself through creative movement, where she enjoys making new friendships and sharing her enthusiasm for dance with others. ACT is committed to giving others like Jenny this kind of opportunity and breaking down barriers that can make it challenging for a person with disabilities to seek out available resources. As an organization that serves over 8,500 children, youth, and adults with disabilities in our community each year, we would like to also help you better reach these individuals. How? ACT is proposing to be a distributor of tickets/passes to any events, performances, dress rehearsals, that your organization would like to donate to the disability community. Once we receive tickets from you, ACT will be responsible for getting them to interested individuals and/or groups. Tickets will be given away on simply a first-come, first served basis, and we will work to let the people that we serve know about the availability of these tickets through a variety of ways. One of these will be to create a Ticket Hotline Facebook page, where we will announce available tickets as soon as we receive them from you. (Please see the attached document for a more detailed description of this program.) We hope you will consider teaming up with ACT to help connect people with disabilities to the arts in our community. If we can answer any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at #885-5866 or by e-mail at coordinator@artistscreatingtogether.org. Sincerely, Becky Baker, Program Coordinator Katie Brower, Interim Executive Director

Artists Creating Together

1140 Monroe Ave NW Suite 4101 Grand Rapids, MI 49503 616-885-5866 p 616-885-5867 f www.artistscreatingtogether.org

ACCESS! Grand Rapids: Program Description 1. Committing to be a Venue Partner. You can partner with ACT on this program in one of two ways: become an Ongoing Events Partner or a Special Events Partner. Ongoing Events Partners: Museums or exhibits which are available throughout the year in many different fields including visual art, history, nature, science and government. Special Events Partners: Organizations with events that are offered for a limited period of time. Examples of these are theatre productions, music events, dance productions and festivals. To become a partner, you must complete a Venue Partner sign-up form. E-mail ACT Coordinator, Becky, at coordinator@artistscreatingtogether.org with a subject line reading, ACCESS! Grand Rapids: Venue Partner. In your message indicate whether your organization would like to commit as an Ongoing or Special Events partner. You will be sent the appropriate sign-up form, which we ask you to complete and return to ACT by fax (885-5867), e-mail (coordinator@artistscreatingtogether.org) or mail (ACT; 1140 Monroe Ave NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503). 2. Who will receive tickets? Donated tickets/passes will be made available to agencies and non-profit organizations throughout the Grand Rapids area that specifically serve people with disabilities. Agencies may apply for services, and once an agency is approved, the designated primary contact person from that agency may then request tickets on behalf of their consumers or clients. Applications from agencies may be submitted throughout the year, and new agencies will be required to attend an orientation with ACT staff about the program services and requirements. Each year, participating agencies will be required to renew their membership in the program. We will have very specific guidelines that agencies must follow in order for their ticket requests to be granted. These guidelines will address making ticket reservations, getting the tickets, time of arrival, cancelation of tickets, behavior expectations, and consequences of inappropriate behavior. Before we grant a ticket request, we will ALWAYS confirm it with the primary contact person from your organization first. *NOTE*: All ticket requests from agencies will be handled by ACT staff. Agencies will NOT be permitted to contact Venues directly, unless to obtain general information or directions. 3. How will this work? ACT will send a quarterly update to all Venue Partners, asking about any available tickets/passes. Venue Partners are also invited to contact ACT Program Coordinator, Becky, at any time about available tickets/passes. Instructions on how to do so will be provided once the Venue Partner Sign-Up process is completed. ACT will notify agency contacts about available tickets in a few different ways: Special Events Hotline Facebook Page: ACT will post available special events tickets on the page and will update 1-2 times a week
Artists Creating Together
1140 Monroe Ave NW Suite 4101 Grand Rapids, MI 49503 616-885-5866 p 616-885-5867 f www.artistscreatingtogether.org

Special Events Calendar: ACT will post available special events tickets on an online calendar, which will be accessible through ACTs website and the Hotline Facebook Page. On the ACT website and Special Events Hotline, we will provide a listing of Special Events Venue Partners and their websites. On the ACT website we will provide a listing of Ongoing Venue partners and information about each venue (i.e. website, description, hours, tours, accessibility). Agency contacts can submit ticket requests if there is an event that their clients would like to see or a venue they would like to visit. Once ACT approves a ticket request, we will notify the primary contact person from your organization for final confirmation. For Ongoing events, we will arrange to have tickets be distributed at the venue box office. For Special Events, tickets will be distributed in one of two ways: the day-of at the venue box office, or ahead of time at ACTs office.

We hope you consider partnering with ACT on this exciting new program. If you have any questions, please contact Becky at coordinator@artistscreatingtogether.org or call #616-885-5866.

Artists Creating Together

1140 Monroe Ave NW Suite 4101 Grand Rapids, MI 49503 616-885-5866 p 616-885-5867 f www.artistscreatingtogether.org