Support Events Programs About Us Resources

 




 

Programs
   

Every DEAF Media program involves outreach to Deaf and hearing communities, as well as a wide variety of expression in the visual, performing, and media arts.

Click on the links below to learn more about the many wonderful DEAF Media programs in the Bay Area and nationwide.


Guy Wonder

Deaf Artists at the Oakland Museum of California
Feast for the Eyes
DEAF Media Docents
Deaf Education and Arts Network (D.E.A.N.)
Information and Referral
DEAF Media Presents…
DEAF Media Roundtables
Celebration: Deaf Artists and Performers
Advocacy
Outreach
Broadcast Television and Media Distribution


Deaf Artists at the Oakland Museum of California
DEAF Media works together with the Oakland Museum to enable meaningful access to the museum for artists and non-artists alike. The project provides Deaf adults, Deaf children, and their families hands-on experience in the arts, and gives them an opportunity to meet, acknowledge, and work with Deaf artists. It also assists in audience development for the museum’s Deaf docent program.

The workshops have given talented Deaf artists venues in which to share their skills with the Deaf and hearing communities, and collaboration with the museum has provided full and meaningful access to many of the museum’s festivals for the Northern California Deaf community. This project is a national model for Deaf centered programming.
return to top

Feast for the Eyes
Created by Hedy Udkovich Stern and Susan Rutherford in 1986 DEAF Media has co produced this annual storytelling event for the Deaf community with the Office of Continuing Education at the California School for the Deaf, Fremont. Held each Fall to celebrate National Deaf Awareness Week, the event which is hosted by Dr. Rutherford and Sandra Ammons showcases American Sign Language storytelling and features performers of all ages—from adult masters of the art to youngsters who carry on the cultural tradition. With voice interpretation, this entertaining event also gives the hearing world a glimpse into the American Deaf community’s rich storytelling tradition.
return to top

DEAF Media Docents
In this project DEAF Media collaborates primarily with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Oakland Museum of California, and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. In combination with the training of new Deaf docents, this project features museum tours for the Deaf community led by Deaf docents and provides voice interpretation for the hearing public. This Deaf centered approach to what DEAF Media refers to as “meaningful access,” consistently draws record Deaf attendance for participating institutions.
return to top

Deaf Education and Arts Network (D.E.A.N.)
This project uses a community resource to fill a community need. Deaf storytellers and artists participate in school and community programs that serve Deaf children. They provide arts and cultural enrichment and serve as social and linguistic role models for the Deaf child. For the hearing parents and hearing contemporaries of Deaf children, these artists are examples of successful Deaf adults—living models of what any Deaf child can become.
return to top

Information and Referral
Since its inception in 1974 DEAF Media has provided information and referral as an ongoing service. The founding of the organization brought together Deaf and hearing educators, community leaders, and theatrical specialists who formed a ready resource of information and technical assistance.

DEAF Media is repeatedly called upon to provide information to other arts organizations, service agencies and media producers, as well as to individuals in the general public. We strive to provide accurate and clear information regarding deafness, American Sign Language and accessibility as they relate to education, the arts, stage and media.

Whether it’s for the Berkeley Repertory Company in our own backyard, Hollywood casting, the BBC in London or a PBS production in Boston, we have given thoughtful assistance and identified other resources that might also prove helpful.
return to top

DEAF Media Presents…
Under this banner, DEAFmedia produces live performances to the Greater San Francisco Bay Area community. This project has brought productions such as Deaf West Theatre Company’s Shirley Valentine, starring Freda Norman; has assisted in integrating Deaf theatre into the San Francisco Theatre community; and has provided opportunities for Deaf theatre companies, performers, and artists. DEAF Media Presents… also affords the opportunity to showcase individual talent, from emerging artists to seasoned professionals. It i is produced on a funds-available basis.
return to top

DEAF Media Roundtables
Through these discussions, DEAF Media brings together diverse parties to share ideas, stimulate discussion, or provide consultation. They may take place to provide Deaf expertise and advocacy to the media, like Hollywood screenwriters and producers; to bring together visiting scholars with interested Deaf community members; or to engage in a dialogue with organizations such as the Berkeley Commission on Disability.
return to top

Celebration: Deaf Artists and Performers
Deaf Artists and Performers: Begun in 1981, DEAF Media’s Celebration was the first of its kind: a showcase on a prestigious stage that simultaneously provided entertainment and explored the nature of Deaf arts and culture. It continues to serve as a model for other Deaf cultural festivals across the country.

Celebration served to document the arts and culture of Deaf America in order to gain recognition and acceptance of American Sign Language. Produced in cooperation with the University of California at Berkeley, Department of Linguistics; the California School for the Deaf, Outreach Division; Gallaudet University, Regional Extension Office; and DCARA, this three-day program of lectures, workshops, and displays highlights the work of Deaf artists from across the country. The activities culminate in an evening performance that spotlights outstanding Deaf performers.

To date there have been eight productions of Celebration. DEAF Media continues to seek funding to carry on this historical tradition.
return to top

Advocacy
For all of its history DEAF Media has been at the forefront of advocacy for Deaf artists and performers; for the recognition and acceptance of American Sign Language; for hiring of Deaf actors for Deaf roles; for the establishment and dissemination of open-captioned films in first-run theatres, for deaf-centered programming; for appropriate access to emergency broadcast; and for ADA compliance, meaningful access and participation in major cultural institutions and public media.
return to top

Outreach
A major ongoing organizational activity is outreach in the Deaf community on behalf of other arts organizations—such as Deaf West Theatre Company’s San Francisco run of “Big River” at the Curran Theatre; open captioned performances at New Conservatory Theatre; World Institute on Disability (WID)/Corporation on Disability in Telecommunication (CDT) annual “Ever Widening Circle” at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts; ODC's Annual Production of "Velveteen Rabbit" also at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts; interpreted theatre performance and events, Berkeley, San Jose, San Francisco Fine Arts and Oakland Museums; the California Governor’s Media Access Office, among others.
return to top

Broadcast Television and Media Distribution
Rainbow’s End is DEAF Media’s Emmy Award-winning PBS series for deaf children. The project is dedicated to introducing children to the humanities—history, literature, language and civics. Employing positive Deaf role models using American Sign Language (ASL) the programs also seek to promote literacy, foster critical thinking skills and a positive self-esteem. The episode “Rules, Laws, and the U.S. Constitution,” funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, was cited by the U.S. Commission for the Bicentennial of the Constitution as exemplary programming and is currently used by the Supreme Court in its public programming. The original Rainbow’s End series is available from Sign Media, Inc. (www.signmedia.com) as part of its Sign Language Classic Series.
return to top

 

 



Copyright © 1974-2012, DEAF Media, Inc. All Rights reserved.