A Message From Our Board

A photo of a sunset with pink and orange skies at the bottom. The top is a blueish purple. Purple and white clouds are scattered. White text " A Message From Our Board." The IAV logo is in the top left corner.
A photo of a sunset with pink and orange skies at the bottom. The top is a blueish purple. Purple and white clouds are scattered throughout. White text: “A Message From Our Board.” The IAV logo is in the top left corner.

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Dear IAV Community,

After nearly 40 years of increasing access to the arts for Vermonters with disabilities, with heavy hearts, Inclusive Arts Vermont will sunset operations and programming, effective June 30, 2025. This date allows IAV to honor all commitments for our current program year and ensures a thoughtfully executed closure.

In 1986, Inclusive Arts Vermont began its creative journey as Very Special Arts of Vermont, later VSA Vermont, and a proud member of the national VSA network, a program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. While that network has since dissolved, our mission has remained the same: to use the magic of the arts to engage the capabilities and enhance the confidence of children and adults with disabilities.

Guided by this vision, Inclusive Arts Vermont has served thousands of Vermonters for nearly 40 years with the goal of sparking opportunities for expression, joy, and inclusion through creativity. The incredible impact IAV has had throughout this time is vast. In the words of one of our recent exhibiting artists, “I credit IAV for being the opportunity that opened up my world and gave me the confidence in myself to pursue artistic and professional opportunities.” 

While the Board and staff leadership have worked tirelessly to recover from many years of challenging financial circumstances, elements beyond our control in the present environment, including federal funding shifts, increased competition and changing priorities across the philanthropic landscape, rising costs of operation, and a lack of endowment or investments to sustain us in times of resource scarcity have led us to this tough, but necessary choice. With such continuing uncertainty, we felt this was the most respectful and caring path to ultimately take for our dedicated staff, as well as our mission, the fulfillment of which faces increasing constraints.

While this decision fills us with grief, we are confident that the organization’s positive impact will continue to live on. Throughout Inclusive Arts Vermont’s 39 years of work, we have advocated for a Vermont where any person with a disability can enter any arts organization or learning environment and fully participate to the extent that they desire. Though there is still much work to be done, we are confident that the practices and approaches we have instilled in the community will continue to ripple out and bring about meaningful change beyond our tenure.

We extend our deepest gratitude to the IAV community for your belief in our mission, support, and partnership over the years. We convey our profound appreciation for the steadfast funders, donors, contract partners, program sites, community partners, and exhibiting artists who placed faith and trust in us to deliver this work, collaborating with us in making a more accessible Vermont.

We also want to express our infinite gratitude to the remarkable staff of IAV. Their dedication, tireless effort, and passion for arts access have been the driving force behind our incredible impact. Each member of our Management Team and Teaching Artists, both present and past, have advanced our mission exponentially, leaving a lasting mark on our state and community.

Our commitment to accessibility does not end here. We are determined to honor IAV’s legacy. We will ensure that all of our commitments for this program year are fulfilled. Beyond the program year, each of us will live out the values IAV has stood for in our own individual lives going forward, carrying all that we have learned from this work into each role that we hold in the future. 

For further details on this decision, next steps, available resources, or who to contact with questions, please see our FAQ below.

With care and appreciation,
The Inclusive Arts Vermont Board of Directors

Closure FAQ

Why is Inclusive Arts Vermont sunsetting? 

IAV has worked tirelessly to recover from many years of challenging financial circumstances and deficits. Despite many successes and positive strides toward greater sustainability, elements beyond our control in the present environment, including but not limited to federal funding shifts, increased competition and changing priorities across the philanthropic landscape as a whole, rising costs of operation, and a lack of endowment or investments to sustain us in times of resource scarcity have led us to this tough but necessary choice.

With such continuing uncertainty, we felt this was the most respectful and caring path to ultimately take for our dedicated staff, as well as our mission, the fulfillment of which faces increasing constraints. June 30, 2025, has intentionally been selected as the effective date of our dissolution in order to allow IAV to honor all commitments for this program year and ensure a thoughtfully executed closure.

Can IAV continue to exist in another form?

The Executive Director and Board of Directors have explored many options for IAV’s continued work, including but not limited to merging with other entities. However, we ultimately found that these options were not viable and have decided to proceed with sunsetting by June 2025. However, we remain committed to ensuring that our mission and values continue to impact the communities we have served and will remain in dialogue about ways this work can live on beyond the sunset date.

What will happen to IAV’s programs? 

All scheduled IAV programming will continue through June 30, 2025. At that time, our programs will conclude.

How will IAV’s closure impact current contracted partners? 

We will be honoring all program commitments to currently contracted partners through June 30, 2025. All contracted partners have been informed of this decision and we are working with them one-on-one to ensure an organized transition.

What does this mean for me as a program participant? 

All program participants can count on planned programming continuing through June. Please find more details below based on the individual program:

Adult Arts Education
We value the creativity and connection with you! Classes will continue for adult arts through June 2025. If you participate with Champlain Community Services, Families First, or the Howard Center, the coordinator from your organization has details about the spring schedule. You can also contact heidi@inclusiveartsvermont.org or call (802) 556-3668 for more info.

Collaborative Arts Integration Residencies (K-12)
Scheduled residencies will continue for Baird School, I.N.S.P.i.R.E. School for Autism, Missisquoi Valley Union School District, and Winooski School District students through June (or whenever they are complete leading up to the end of the school year). If you are a school administrator or classroom teacher with questions about these residencies, please contact alexandra@inclusiveartsvermont.org or (802) 556-3668.

Exhibitions
The CYCLES exhibition will remain at The University of Vermont Center on Disability and Community Inclusion through early May. You may visit it at UVM’s Mann Hall, 208 Colchester Ave, 3rd Floor, Burlington, VT. We will reach out about art pickup dates later this spring. We will also offer office hours on Zoom for CYCLES artists to connect with IAV staff. For questions not answered above, by Zoom, or in other email communications, please contact exhibitions@inclusiveartsvermont.org. You can also contact Heidi at (802) 556-3668. There is a section with community resources below. These may be of value for other art opportunities.

Professional Development
Scheduled professional development workshops and consulting hours will continue through June. We are considering ways in which some of IAV’s curricula might live on beyond IAV’s ending. If you have questions about remaining professional development work in progress, please contact Heidi at heidi@inclusiveartsvermont.org or (802) 556-3668.

Start With the Arts (Early Childhood)
Scheduled instruction and professional development hours will continue at Start With the Arts sites across the state through June. If you are a participating provider, the Teaching Artist serving your site will continue to be in touch about this work, as will the Program Director (Peggy Rainville). For questions about Start With the Arts work in progress, please contact peggy@inclusiveartsvermont.org or (802) 556-3668.

Why wasn’t this information shared sooner?

As an organization, we have always striven to be transparent about our financial circumstances. Regular practices included publishing our annual reports, annual 990s, and audited financial statements to the Public Documents page of our website, providing accurate data in applications and reports to grant funders, communicating with donors, and more. The decision to sunset was a difficult one, and there were times when the situation felt uncertain. During those times, we did our absolute best to strike a balance between transparency and ensuring our program participants and partners received services with the stability and consistency they deserve.

How can I help during this transition?

To ensure we can successfully fulfill our remaining program commitments through June, along with essential operations, we welcome and greatly appreciate your financial support. Please visit this page for more information on all of the ways you can make a gift.

I recently made a donation. How will my gift be used?

Thank you tremendously for your recent support! Your contribution will ensure our early childhood, K-12, adult arts, exhibitions, and professional development programs can continue to serve Vermonters with disabilities without interruption between now and June. It will also ensure that our core operating expenses can be covered leading up to a thoughtful sunset. Again, we are deeply grateful to you for making this possible. If you would like to make a final gift to ensure our work continues with such intention through the end of June, you may do so at this link through June 15, 2025.

Who can I contact with questions?

What are some other organizations in the community that can serve as a resource in IAV’s absence?

This list is by no means exhaustive, but is offered as a starting place:

Disability Service Organizations

Arts and Humanities Organizations – Vermont

Arts Organizations – New England, National and International