Geneva, NY – The Collaborative of the Finger Lakes and Hobart and William Smith Colleges invite the community to experience a showcase of talent in Geneva, NY on April 27^th, 2012 in the HWS Scandling Center from 5 to 8pm.  The finale arts event, “The Gala” is the culmination of a two-week long series of workshops, discussions, and performances that make up the Arts Experience Festival devoted to celebrating inclusion in the arts. 

The Gala will include an art exhibition, showing work from local artists and pieces created in art workshops, and a live performance by FLAME, a nationally known band made up of individuals with developmental or physical disabilities. The Arts Experience Festival is hosted by the Collaborative of the Finger Lakes - eleven regional New York agencies supporting people with disabilities and their families - and Hobart and William Smith Colleges.  On hand for the evening’s festivities will be President of HWS Colleges Mark Gearan, Executive Director of Wayne ARC and President of the Collaborative David Calhoun.  Sponsors of the Festival include The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), HWS Offices of the President and the Provost, HWS Center for Learning and Teaching, and the HWS Education Department, along with the Collaborative of the Finger Lakes.

“The festival has provided an amazing opportunity for so many of us to explore the arts.  The Gala will be the culminating finale to a festival that we anticipating bringing in more than 1,000 participants to enjoy art workshops, performances, and speakers,” explains festival co-director, Mary Kelly, HWS Assistant Professor of Education.  Kelly, along with Jean Jensen of the Collaborative of the Finger Lakes’ Community Inclusion Team and the Arc of Steuben in Bath served jointly as directors of this year’s festival and worked with several design teams with representatives from both the HWS community and the ARC/Arc member agencies of the Collaborative of the Finger Lakes.  The design teams developed workshops and performances from three different artistic disciplines –film making, dance, and studio art. Jensen notes, “The success of these events was not due to any particular individual but to this year’s incredible collaboration between Hobart and William Smith Colleges and the Collaborative agencies making up diverse design teams which resulted in a variety of entertaining events and opportunities for experiential learning.”

The aim of the festival is to provide an opportunity for participants, including people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities, the college community, and the general public to explore various means of expression through the arts. The Arts Experience strives to cultivate and embrace the spirit of inclusion through participation in the arts, artistic performance and celebration. For more information about the Arts Experience festival events, please see our website at http://www.hws.edu/festival or follow us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/events/196016730496507/ or Twitter (@ArtsExperience).  

The Collaborative of the Finger Lakes, Inc. is a not-for-profit regional association of eleven New York State ARC/Arc (NYSARC) human service agencies serving nearly 9,000 individuals with developmental disabilities, and their families, in thirteen central upstate New York counties.  Collaborative agencies individually provide services in residential day treatment programs, family support, pre-school education, service coordination, and job training and placement. Member agencies associate to enhance individual and collective effectiveness.  For more information: www.collabfl.org