04/02/2025
Statement From The Board of Directors
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 link below.
With care and appreciation,
The Inclusive Arts Vermont Board of Directors
Board Letter & FAQ: https://www.inclusiveartsvermont.org/a-message-from-our-board/
Image: 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.
