News Archives - 2003

Augsburg and VSA Arts collaborate to create "Adventures in Arts"

Augsburg Music Therapy students coordinated the second annual Arts Immersion Day, a collaborative festival between the Augsburg Music Therapy Program and the VSA Arts of Minnesota.

Augsburg College was host to the second annual Arts Immersion Day, a collaborative festival between the Augsburg Music Therapy Program and the VSA Arts of Minnesota.

Seventy DCD (development/cognitive disability) middle school students from schools around the Twin Cities participated in this year’s festival, “Adventures in the Arts- Survivor Style.”

Coordinated by Augsburg music therapy students, the festival focuses on the concept of strength, emphasized by activities, to empower the students and encourage artistic expression.

In summing up the importance of music therapy and arts to these special children “It is the process of the arts that is important, not the end product,” said VSA Arts of Minnesota’s Executive Director, Craig Dunn.

The collaboration is a valuable one for all involved. Augsburg’s music therapy students gain valuable experience while providing fun events for those they wish to help. In talking about what the students who attend get out of it, Craig Dunn said, “they’ve been talking about this for weeks. To get out and do something like this gives them their own special day.”

Augsburg College is the only private college in the state of Minnesota to offer a Music Therapy major. The Music Therapy major at Augsburg emphasizes theory, practice and research and follows the standard education requirements set forth by the American Music Therapy Association.