TAO presents programs are held regularly in more than 60 facilities throughout Hampton Roads – nursing homes, hospitals, family homeless shelters, dependent care day programs, crisis programs, assisted living facilities and more. Nearly two hundred artists contribute their talents each year. Every week, there is music, dance, arts and love being shared through TAO programs in our seven cities.

Facilities and programs we serve can anticipate 3-4 TAO programs each year. We have a waiting list of facilities who want to receive our services, and we also have artists who want to present more programs each month. Since we are limited by our resources, we have posted artist contact information on our website. We also make our facility waiting list available to our artists, so they can make contacts independently of TAO.

Tidewater Arts Outreach performances, programs or lessons typically last just less than an hour. Programs range from music ensembles and solo performances of all genres; visual arts, drumming and poetry workshops, songwriting workshops, beginner guitar instruction, dramatic readings and many types of dance. We are adding new programs and serving new audiences regularly. Artist stipends are funding-dependent and may be available.

If your talents lie elsewhere than music and arts, you can still take part in a TAO program as a program host or program friend at most of our nursing home and assisted living facility programs. Program hosts are community volunteers who attend TAO programs to serve as greeters and to enjoy the creative process with the special residents and clients we serve. Program friends attend programs for the social aspect of enjoying a free performance and nurturing our special needs clients. Click here to learn more.

Performers, instructors and artists have the pleasure of knowing they are creating memories that last long after their arts experience is over. They are rewarded in many ways by the clients’ involvement, sincere appreciation, hugs, and thank-you’s. There is a very real feeling of satisfaction upon leaving a home or center after an arts program, knowing that special gifts of creativity and caring have been given and enthusiastically received.

We have a Creative Services Director who contacts artists and facilities to assess artist availability and schedule the best possible programs. She schedules more than a dozen programs each month, rotating among the 60-plus facilities we serve. Confirmation letters are sent to both parties; program fliers are created to acknowledge funders and promote the artists. Surveys are sent to facilities for feedback. Artist stipend postcards are sent to the artist. Payment is made when postcards are sent back to TAO after a program (so please don’t lose your postcard!).

Confirmation calls are made to artists and to activities directors a day or two before a program is to take place. If an artist has an illness or emergency and cannot keep a date, TAO will either send a replacement or reschedule the artist, depending upon the needs of the facility and other factors. Follow-up calls and emails are exchanged after the program. The facility and client satisfaction surveys are important program components that are used to continually strengthen our offerings.

We fundraise so that we can pay artists and provide arts supplies. Fundraising activities include our annual Twilight Golf Tournament and our Sea Level Singer/Songwriter Festival. We also are funded by grants from area foundations, corporations, arts commissions, rotary clubs and more. We invite the facilities where we send artists to partner with us by making a small annual contribution, which is augmented by our other funding, to provide the highest possible caliber of experiential performances, programs and activities.

We post our schedule of programs, performances and workshops at the beginning of each month here. We extend an invitation to TAO supporters to attend an upcoming TAO program, so they can see firsthand what the magic is about. Email us at TWartsoutreach@cox.net if you are able to attend a program and we will gladly make arrangements for you. NOTE: the best programs to participate in are at dependent care programs, nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Many shelters are small and some are confidential, so they are often not appropriate places for visitors. Please always call or email TAO before attending a program.

Because we believe that we can all use more music and arts in our lives, and particularly those who with special needs and who are restricted in some way in taking part of the rich cultural community so many of us takes for granted, TAO matches community artists with clients at area facilities. These clients might he elderly, infirm, mentally and/or physically disabled, in crisis, destitute or alone. We share the joy of the arts with seniors with a variety of chronic and debilitating conditions, including Alzheimers’ disease. We design programs for women and teens in crisis, so they can discover creative outlets for healthy self-expression. Our artists listen, encourage and appreciate the creativity in the people they serve.

Our goal is to give our artists the knowledge and tools they need to create safe, effective, inspirational programs that help to alleviate burdens, bring hope and create happiness and healing. To do this, we are working with therapists who specialize in recreation, music and the arts; geriatric specialists from the EVMS Glennan Center, nursing home administrators, social workers and medical professionals. We are creating new tools for the arts and healthcare communities that will disseminate information about the conditions regarding the populations we serve, appropriate (and very creative) programming ideas for a variety of special needs populations, the needs and goals of the various facilities where we send artists, accommodations for people with physical disabilities, and more. Additionally, we anticipate involving consultants from the Society for the Arts in Healthcare, and area artists, activities and medical professionals, in a 2010 Arts in Healthcare conference in Hampton Roads.

We want to give TAO artists ongoing opportunities for collaborating and connecting with one another. It is just too much fun not to! We plan a summer Artists Appreciation Picnic, to which our artists, supporters and facility partners are invited. We are presenting an Artists Open Mic night in January 2009, and will be presenting some arts workshops, all designed to bring TAO artists together creatively.

We also have created an online groups page on FaceBook, so that our artists can post their concerts, art showings, website links, and creative musings. They can use this page to connect with other TAO artists and see what others are up to. The page is in the early stages, but we hope to create a fun, viable online resource for the artists, musicians, performers and instructors who so generously give their time and talents for others.

We cannot stress enough – without the generosity of hundreds of talented and caring artists in our community, TAO would cease to exist. We work day in and day out to create the best possible organization for these individuals, and for those we serve.