Flutter Productions is pleased to announce the completion of a three-year evaluation, conducted in partnership with the University of South Dakota School of Medicine and Center for Disabilities. The evaluation looked at the impact of arts involving people with disabilities on community members, audience members, volunteers, staff, and the performers with disabilities. The evaluation, which included facilitated conversations with casts and audiences, revealed eight outcomes from all-ability performing arts experiences and opportunities. These included but were not limited to, helping people with disabilities find their voice; changing expectations and perceptions about abilities and differences; creating leadership opportunities; and positive ripple effects in the community, such individuals with disabilities finding employment.
The evaluation was made possible in major part by a 2017 Building Humanities Communities Challenge Grant, from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH): Exploring the human endeavor. Flutter Productions was one of twenty-nine projects in sixteen states awarded this grant, and the only organization in South Dakota.
Flutter’s grant award was considered an NEH milestone. According to NEH, this evaluation “will shape what happens at the NEH with individuals with disabilities moving forward.”
All materials relating to this first-of-its-kind evaluation, including interviews, outcomes and recordings of performances are on record at the NEH in Washington, D.C.
Flutter will be launching its first virtual performance on April 9 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale now! Get yours today.
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Black Hills Works is a 501(c)3 non-profit agency serving nearly 600 adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Rapid City, South Dakota. As a full-service support provider, Black Hills Works offers residential, employment, and health and wellness supports.
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