As commitment to the Deaf & Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) community, CymaSpace has produced an ASL (American Sign Language) version of the Call for Artists: 2016 Arts & Accessibility Showcase Event Series. For many DHH, Sign Language is their first language and as such CymaSpace is keen to ensure that there is equal access to opportunities for artists, especially those incorporating ASL into their work. The ASL video can be watched below or at the Call for Artists news announcement page. Closed Captions are available in English by clicking on the [CC] button available through the Youtube player.
All posts by Myles de Bastion
Deafness + Music
DEAFNESS + MUSIC from Red Lab Films on Vimeo.
A compelling short video. shot and edited by Travis Howe of Red Lab Films featuring Myles de Bastion, the founder of CymaSpace and Audiolux Devices.
Myles is a musician who also happens to be Deaf. His search for ways to bridge his passion for music with his Deaf identity led him to develop technology that enables sound to be experienced as light and vibration.
He is now using this technology to show how performing arts can be made more inclusive and engaging for the Deaf & Hard-of-Hearing.
Learn more about the work of the film-maker Travis Howe over at www.redlabpdx.com
Call for ASL Sign Masters / Interpreters / Performers
Furthering CymaSpace’s recently announced “Call for Artists: 2016 Arts & Accessibility Showcase Event Series“, CymaSpace is pleased to announce opportunities for paid ASL Sign Masters / Interpreters / Performers.
This exciting new program beginning in June 2016 will blend together a variety of creative and artistic disciplines, with the latest cutting edge accessibility measures to serve the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) community in Pacific NW.
In tandem with the above event series, we have exciting developments underway for a pilot program to provide an inclusive and accessible experience for the DHH at a major music festival the weekend of June 16-18.
If you are interested in getting involved with this program, please read and complete the proposal form below.
Lastly, we are looking to grow our list of ASL Interpreters / Performers so please do consider forwarding this annoucement on to anyone who may be interested in joining this program. Thank you.
Call for Artists: 2016 Arts & Accessibility Showcase Event Series
Cultural, art & social events often rely on spoken, sung, performed or recorded sound to convey their cultural message or narrative experience. This is often inaccessible to those with hearing loss.
In answer to this, CymaSpace is announcing a formal ‘Call for Artists’ for paid artists for a special new performing arts program that furthers our mission to make performing arts inclusive and accessible to the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing beginning Summer 2016.
This exciting program is made possible with thanks to partial grant funding generously awarded by the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) and Work for Art. This funding allows us to cover event expenses and crucially, participating artists and event staff will receive fiscal support and compensation for their services.
This Arts & Accessibility showcase series of performing arts events will demonstrate how technology and the celebration of Deaf Culture can transform accessibility from an after-thought, into an art form of its own merit. This new project will also present new opportunities for underserved Deaf artists to develop their artistic practices and share their work with new hearing audiences.
If you are interested in participating in this program as a performing artist, please complete this brief proposal form below. Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis and will close May 15th 2016 whereupon final selections will be announced.
Part-time freelance grant writer needed
CymaSpace, a young but fast growing non-profit based in SE Portland is looking to hire a paid part-time freelance grant writer.
Our mission is to make performing arts more accessible & inclusive to the Deaf & Hard of Hearing through Technology, Education & Outreach.
If you have experience with creating proposals and grant-writing, and the idea of working with the cutting-edge intersection of arts, accessibility and technology in an inclusive, Deaf-friendly environment excites you, we want to hear from you!
Key responsibilities
- Work directly with Board of Directors to familiarize self with missioon and needs of the Deaf community
- Take on responsibility of submitting LOIs and applying for grants on a recurring part-time basis.
- Maintain database and Google calendar of existing and new grant resources, deadlines and main points of contact.
- Coordinate with volunteers and project collaborators to collect materials and documentation as needed for each grant application.
- Submit letters of interest and grants both electronically and via postal mail.
- Work with other volunteer grant writers collaboratively and in a mentoring role.
Requirements
- Interest in non-profit and charity work (especially in the arts and accessibility).
- Experience submitting LOI proposals and grant applications (preferably demonstrable prior success in winning and securing funds).
- Able to commit to working a large number of hours over consecutive days to meet deadlines as they come up on a semi-regular basis.
- Outstanding English Reading/Writing abilities.
- Excellent project management, communication, organization and time-keeping skills (Managing grants and projects in Google Documents/Spreadsheets and keeping track of hours worked).
Priority given to candidates demonstrating:
- Keen interest in accessibility and technology
- Fluency in ASL (American Sign Language) & familiarity with Deaf Culture.
- Pro-active support of local arts and culture in Portland, OR.
To apply
Send your resume, a brief introduction about why you would be a suitable candidate along with samples of prior grant applications to .
Multi-sensory Environment / Snoezelen Therapy Room serving Portland, OR
Coming soon to Portland, OR is a new multi-sensory environment / Snoezelen room specially designed for sensory therapy treatment for autism, dementia and other sensory processing disorders.
Snoezelen or controlled multisensory environment (MSE) is a therapy for people with autism and other developmental disabilities, dementia or brain injury. It consists of placing the person in a soothing and stimulating environment, called the “Snoezelen room”. These rooms are specially designed to deliver stimuli to various senses, using lighting effects, color, sounds, music, scents, etc. The combination of different materials on a wall may be explored using tactile senses, and the floor may be adjusted to stimulate the sense of balance. The person is usually accompanied by an aide or therapist.
At CymaSpace we feel our self-developed multi-sensory technologies would have a direct positive impact in sensory therapy applications and are looking into partnerships to make an accessible and inclusive multi-sensory environment for therapeutic treatments a reality.
If you are interested in this development please visit the following link where there is a short form that can be completed in order to receive updates on the project:
Audiolux One | The first-ever effects unit for sound-reactive visuals.
CymaSpace presents the Audiolux One
The AudioLux One is a new kind of LED lighting controller developed by the team at CymaSpace that will intelligently translate sound and music into light, color and movement. The system is specifically designed for musicians, producers and small events and provides simple, plug-and-play functionality. No complex programming or electronics know-how is required.
Make it your own. Any size LED project is possible.
Digital individually addressable LED strips are thin, flexible, power efficient and can be cut to any length which allows lighting effects to be incorporated in tight spaces and even into your existing music equipment.
For ambitious projects, it’s possible to build interactive LED installations on a large scale, with the Audiolux One sending pixel data to hundreds (even thousands of LEDs!). see some examples of such projects that we have built below.
Hackable, open-source software.
For the software programming-savvy, the hardware has been designed around the Open-Source Arduino architecture allowing for complete freedom to customize the visualization or modify the hardware functionality of the in-built knobs and footswitch. As the community of Audiolux One users grows, you can expect to see new visualizations being created and shared. If you don’t know how to program, you can still upload new presets over USB with any Windows/Mac/Linux computer and change up the visualizations.
Every purchase of an Audiolux One benefits CymaSpace.
A percentage of proceeds from every sale of the Audiolux One will be donated directly to CymaSpace to help our organization continue it’s mission of making performing arts more inclusive and engaging to the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing.
