Opportunity Village Announces Michael Dodson as an Artist-In-Residence for NOVA Initiative
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 9, 2016
Opportunity Village Announces Michael Dodson as an Artist-In-Residence for NOVA Initiative
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Opportunity Village, Las Vegas’ Favorite Charity, announces Michael Dodson as an Artist-In-Residence for the organization’s New Opportunities for Visionary Arts (NOVA) Initiative. Dodson joins the newly launched NOVA concept which assists OVIPs in discovering and exploring their individual creative expression at Opportunity Village’s Oakey Campus.
Based on the Creative Abundance Model, created by Susan Dlouhy and Patty Mitchell, NOVA provides OVIPs flexibility to participate in a variety of activities that create a path to employment and earning wages, based on their individual talents and interests. NOVA studios have been created at all four Opportunity Village campuses revolving around a culture focusing on choice and creative expression. OVIPs and staff have the opportunity to participate in this new program.
“My passion for art and helping others enjoy life led me to my position here at Opportunity Village. I love seeing OVIPs excited about creating art and I hope to assist in further expanding the NOVA culture,” said Dodson.
Dodson is an accomplished local artist who is partnering with Opportunity Village to support, mentor and inspire OVIPs and Opportunity Village staff as they engage in the creative process. He is preparing the art studio, teaching basic drawing and painting, working on large-scale projects and assisting OVIPs in expressing themselves to create unique pieces of art based on their interests. Dodson has previously worked with several art galleries, auction houses, web-based art companies, print studios and has completed art commissions throughout Las Vegas. He is an expert in the practice of taking ideas and building them into physical, expressive pieces of art. Upon completing high school in Las Vegas, Dodson earned a Bachelor of Science degree and Master’s degrees in Contemporary and Modern Art History and History of the Art Market in New York before returning to Las Vegas.
About Opportunity Village
Mission: Opportunity Village is a not-for-profit organization that serves people within our community with significant intellectual disabilities, to enhance their lives and the lives of their families.
Opportunity Village was founded in 1954 by seven families who were determined to give their children with disabilities the best lives possible. Now, more than 60 years later, Opportunity Village is one of the most recognized and respected organizations of its type in the United States.
Nevada’s largest employer of people with disabilities (who we call OVIPs), Opportunity Village serves nearly 3,000 individuals annually, providing vocational training, employment, habilitation and social recreation programs and services that make their lives more purposeful and interesting.
Opportunity Village citizens – individuals who were previously considered unemployable – work at Opportunity Village’s Employment Resource Centers and in jobs throughout the community, collectively earning wages amounting to more than $3.9 million in 2014. They are hard-working and diligent, proudly paying taxes and happily leading more fulfilling lives.
Primarily a self-funded organization, Opportunity Village generates the majority of its operational funding through its employment contracts and fundraising efforts such as the Magical Forest and Great Santa Run, saving Nevada taxpayers nearly $35 million annually.
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