Leadership Network for Accessible Arts Education

The Leadership Network for Accessible Arts Education (LNAAE) 

Brainstorming graphic 2023 ABLE Assembly Conference session, "Arts Make Education More Accessible for ALL": Action, Art, Beat, Brain Dance, Brave, Breath, Color, Connect, Create, Culturally-Responsive, Dance, Disability, Dynamics, Energy, Engage, Form, Harmony, Hear, Line, Music, Melody, Meter, Mood, Perform, Pitch, Plot, Present, Produce, Respond, Rhythm, Role, Shape, Significance, SEL, Space, Spatial-Visual Intelligence, Tension, Texture, Theater, Think, Time, Touch, UDL, Value, Vestibular and Visual Art

LNAAE is a professional learning network of educators, artists, administrators, and activists from across the globe who meet online to further their own learning and share resources. Gatherings address general network topics as well as learning sessions highlighting a particular presenter and topic, including presentations by artists and educators with disabilities and those working with people with disabilities, reports from specialists in the field, first-person accounts of the role of the arts in education, and more. All are welcome!

The Leadership Network for Accessible Arts Education is proud to be part of the Berklee Institute for Accessible Arts Education. The network was originally formed by Dr. Rhoda Bernard, Managing Director of the Berklee Institute for Accessible Arts Education. Network events are organized and managed by a steering committee of members who serve one-year terms and are appointed by Dr. Bernard.

Join the conversation!

LNAAE meetings are always held on Zoom and are open to everyone. While all are welcome to attend, you will need to sign up for our email list to receive the full meeting invitation.

If you are unable to access the form, please send an email to biaae@berklee.edu with your name and email address, and we will add you to our contact list.

You can also find us on the Neuroarts Resource Center, where we intend to keep the conversation engaging and activated between meetings.

 

2025-2026 Meetings

Meetings are held on Thursdays from 4:00 to 6:00 PM (EST) on Zoom. (Sign up to join the network and learn more)

  • September 18, 2025   

    Celebrating 35 Years of ADA: The Importance of Disability Mentorship With guest speaker Alejandra Ospina, singer, voice-actor, audio-describer, program coordinator, and part of the first generation of disabled students who were supported by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Ospina is a wheelchair user who attended a specialized high school for the performing arts: La Guardia High School, New York City’s Fame high school. She will share highlights from her varied career, which began at age 12 when she performed at Lincoln Center in Claire’s Broom Detective Agency: The Mystery of the Missing Violin opposite Itzhak Perlman, her first role model of a disabled artist. From that experience on, Ospina understood the vital role of disabled professionals as educators for the next generation of disabled artists. Come learn from Ospina's lived experiences and career, from child actor to Obie winner. 

  • November 6, 2025
  • January 22, 2026
  • March 26, 2026
  • May 28, 2026

Past Meetings

LNAAE’s Mission, Vision, and Values

Mission

The Leadership Network for Accessible Arts Education is a welcoming community of educators, artists, administrators, and activists committed to disrupting ableist practices and reimagining equity in arts education through continuous learning, listening, collaboration, and action.

Vision

The Leadership Network for Accessible Arts Education aims to deconstruct ableism in arts education by supporting artists and educators through connection, resource-sharing, and lifelong learning that centers on artists and educators with disabilities.

Values

As a group, we are guided by:

  • Ensuring accessibility 
  • Creating high-quality arts and arts education experiences across ages and art forms
  • Ingraining accessibility in artistic approaches to high-quality programming
  • Centering first-person accounts
  • Collectively learning and growing 

The 2024–25 Steering Committee

Suzanne Joyal, MA 

Mehdi Raoufi, MA

Elise Sobol, EdD

Elisabeth Staal, EdM

Krishna Washburn, MEd

General Information

Join Us! LNAAE meetings are always held on Zoom and are open to everyone. While all are welcome to attend, you will need to sign up for our email list to receive the full meeting invitation.

To make our meetings accessible to as many people as possible, ASL interpreters are always included, and a meeting summary with audio description is provided afterward.

Resource Spotlight

Check out some resources provided by LNAAE members and presenters! 

Creative Sound Play for Young Learners: A Teacher’s Guide to Enhancing Transition Times, Classroom Communities, SEL, and Executive Function Skills, by Hayes Greenfield

Sensemaking and Neuroaesthetics, by Dr. Piper Hutson

Skin, Tooth, and Bone: The Basis of Movement is Our People, by Sins Invalid: A disability justice primer based on the work of Patty Berne and Sins Invalid.

Telephone: A film co-directed by network member Krishna Washburn and choreographer Heather Shaw brings awareness to the important art form of audio description (AD) for dance.