MACA Quarterly Newsletter

Hello MACA members,

We are excited to share our first MACA newsletter with you! In this newsletter, you can learn more about our Executive Board, which includes our two newest Board members - Elena SV Flys, Administrative & Financial Chair, and Jessica Belcoure Marcetti, Communications & Membership Chair. We wish the two people formerly in these positions - Brendan Johnson and Larissa Kunynskyj - all the best in their new endeavors and thank them for all that they have done for MACA since its founding in 2016.

This newsletter also includes other news and notes related to MACA. If you have thoughts about content that you would like to see in future newsletters, please let us know at miculturalaccess@gmail.com.

Caroline Braden,
Executive Chair

Meet Your MACA Board!

Caroline Braden
Executive Chair

Caroline Braden is the Accessibility Coordinator at The Henry Ford, a position that she has held since 2015. In her role at The Henry Ford, Caroline's work includes planning and implementing offerings and programs for people who are blind/have low vision, deaf/hard of hearing, on the autism spectrum, and who have dementia. In 2016, Caroline received the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability (LEAD) Award for Emerging Leaders. She has presented on accessibility at regional and national museum conferences and has published an article for the University of Michigan's Working Papers series entitled, "Welcoming All Visitors: Museums, Accessibility, and Visitors with Disabilities." Caroline holds a MA in Educational Studies, a Museum Studies Graduate Certificate, and a BA in Anthropology from the University of Michigan.

Jenny Angell
Vice Chair

Jenny Angell has been working at the Detroit Institute of Arts since 2010. In her current position as Associate Educator in the Education Programs Department, she organizes the DIA’s educator professional development programs and workshops. She also compiles and reports the audience participation statistics for the Learning & Audience Engagement Division and coordinates all aspects of the annual Detroit Public Schools Community District Student Art Exhibition. A suburban Detroit native, she has a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art and History from St. Lawrence University (Canton, NY) and a Master of Arts in Arts Administration & Policy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where her thesis work focused on increasing accessibility to historic artists’ homes and studios for visitors who are blind or visually impaired.

Elena SV Flys
Administrative & Financial Chair

Dr. SV Flys is an Assistant Professor in Arts & Entertainment Management (Arts Administration) at Eastern Michigan University. She grew up in Madrid, Spain. She has two bachelor degrees, one in Theatre and the other in Advertising & Public Relations. In 2010 she started combining her professional life with her doctoral studies in Audience Reception and Accessibility, earning 4 Master Degrees and a Ph.D. Her belief is that social issues, such as embracing diversity or dealing with economic and environmental crises can be addressed through the arts, fostering community development. Her most recent publication “ADA and Communication Accessibility in Theatre” was published in CultureWork this past May of 2018.

Jessica Belcoure Marcetti
Communications & Membership Chair

Jessica Marcetti is the Education Programs Coordinator at the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores, where she is developing a new virtual tour to enhance the experience for visitors with physical limitations inside this historic house museum. She holds an M.A. in Museum Studies from the University of Florida and a B.S. in Anthropology and Museum Studies from Central Michigan University. Jessica has also held positions in archives management, volunteer management, and education at the University of Florida's George A. Smathers Libraries - Special and Area Studies Collections, The Cade Museum for Creativity + Invention, The Florida Museum of Natural History, and the Michigan Historical Museum. She also enjoys baking, barre, and true crime documentaries.

Ameera Chaaban
Programming Chair

Ameera Chaaban serves as Administrative Support and is co-Tour Coordinator at the Arab American National Museum (AANM). She spearheads the Accessibility conversation at AANM, as well as provides assistance for the Museum’s various departments, including Education and Public Programming. While this entails many things, from youth empowerment programs to cultural events, she mainly operates from a guest services perspective - providing a positive guest experience by ensuring visitors are as informed, welcome, and comfortable as possible. She currently also serves as the President of the Friends of Proud Lake and aims to share her love for the outdoors with others, as well as encouraging everyone to visit their local libraries, museums, and state parks.

News and Events

The first professional development opportunity for MACA was held this past April. It included observing a program for people with dementia, which had been organized as a collaboration between The Henry Ford, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and Alzheimer's Association-Greater Michigan Chapter. To learn more about the program that took place, view the video above.

Our Next Meeting

Monday, August 6, 9:30 am
Detroit Historical Museum

New Members

The following institutions have joined MACA since our last meeting:

Dearborn Public Library
Riverside Arts Center
Ella Sharp Museum
Yankee Air Museum
University of Michigan Museum of Natural History

Welcome everyone!

Conference Opportunity

The Kennedy Center's Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability (LEAD) conference is August 7 - 11 in Atlanta, GA!

Several MACA members will be attending. Click the image above to join us!

About MACA

The Michigan Alliance for Cultural Accessibility (MACA) is a consortium of professionals working together in order to enhance the accessibility of Southeast Michigan’s cultural institutions for people with all abilities.

Our mission is to empower cultural institutions in Southeast Michigan to become more accessible and inclusive for people of all abilities. By sharing resources and experiences, leveraging expertise, refining best practices, and building institutional capacity we will increase accessibility for people with disabilities therein increasing accessibility for all.

Michigan Alliance for Cultural Accessibility
Copyright © 2018, All rights reserved.

miculturalaccess@gmail.com

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Michigan Alliance for Cultural Accessibility · PO Box 7315 · Ann Arbor, MI 48107 · USA