Upstream Arts

We're changing mindsets about ability and disability.

OUR MISSION: Upstream Arts uses the power of the creative arts to activate and amplify the voice and choice of individuals with disabilities.

OUR VISION: We will change mindsets about ability and disability and promote more connected and engaged communities by increasing intentional opportunities for shared creative experiences.

The Year of Confluence:

Upstream Arts brings people together, converging around intentional shared arts experiences to practice being in community. Together, we create a confluence of community, coalition, and care, merging our efforts to reshape the landscape around us into a world where each person, regardless of ability or disability, can thrive.

What your investment supports:

• Through residencies in schools, adult day programs, and community settings, our teams of highly skilled Teaching Artists meet individuals with disabilities of all ages, everywhere they live, work, and play, to practice and create together. 
• By offering robust professional development, we share our 19 years of expertise with other organizations and educators, partnering across disability, education, arts, and other sectors. 
• All of our work, and especially our Art of Relationships and Self-Advocacy classes, centers self-advocacy, bodily autonomy, self-determination, and cultivating skills and community to ensure that individuals with disabilities have the opportunity to dream, work, play, practice, and live their fullest lives.

Art of Prevention Focus:

The disability community continues to face an epidemic of sexual violence- individuals with disabilities are seven times more likely to experience sexual violence. Since launching our Art of Relationships programming in 2014, which offers accessible sex education and information on healthy relationships, we have continued to explore ways we can engender a culture of prevention. 

As part of the Year of Confluence, we are carrying out Art of Prevention work with partner organizations, including convening leadership and Direct Support Professionals, sharing our training video, and leading companion curriculum to engage with these necessary topics in accessible and meaningful ways. 

Your Part in this Story:

A confluence occurs when two rivers meet and merge, flowing together to add power and depth as they move downstream, reshaping the landscape. Our confluence of community embraces our ability to move mountains when we come together. We cannot carry out this vital work without you. Every time you invest in our programming, participate in a class or event, share our mission and work, or gather with us to learn, you are advocating for a more connected, more inclusive world.  

This year, it will take $127,000 to fund our innovative arts programming for students learning about healthy relationships, adults practicing self-advocacy, and individuals with disabilities at every stage of life fully embracing their human right to learn, to grow and change over time, and to creatively mold the lives they want. 

We invite you to invest in this work in any amount meaningful to you. With every dollar, you are sustaining a creative community. Together, we reshape the world.   

In community,

All of us at Upstream Arts

Mission
Upstream Arts uses the power of the creative arts to activate and amplify the voice and choice of individuals with disabilities.

Vision

We will change mindsets about ability and disability and promote more connected and engaged communities by increasing intentional opportunities for shared creative experiences.

History

Upstream Arts was founded in 2006 by parents that witnessed first-hand the positive impact of the arts education on their son, Caleb. Caleb, who is non-verbal, was born with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome, which affects his physical and cognitive development. Caleb’s father, a professional theatre artist and educator in the Twin Cities, exposed Caleb to theatre and dance at a young age. Caleb, who previously had few tools to communicate, began to use the physical movements, body language, and facial expressions he learned through the arts to communicate and engage with those around him. Out of this spirit and determination, Upstream Arts was born.

Learn more about us and see what we're up to at  www.upstreamarts.org