Media Arts

In 1985, Little City Foundation launched Project VITAL (Video Induced Training and Learning). This innovative program offered a course in television production specifically tailored for people with developmental disabilities. Project VITAL’s new curriculum was the first of its kind, allowing people with developmental disabilities to produce their own cable-access television programs, interjecting their ideas, concerns and creativity into the mainstream media. This program also served as a national training model with VITAL sites established in more than 15 states, and was featured in such national media as TV Guide and the MacNeil/Lehrer News hour.    

As their skills and confidence grew, Project VITAL graduates went on to produce award-winning cable programs, such as “Wishes and Ideas,” “Given Opportunities” and “Kiss My TV Show.” Distributed nationally, these programs educated the public by showing people with developmental challenges as complex individuals with interests, personalities and political opinions. Media Arts Center programs have received more than 30 awards, including the National Educational Film and Video Festival Golden Apple Award, and the 19th Media Access Award, presented by the California Governor's Committee for the Employment of Disabled Persons.

Today, new digital media technologies mandate learning new skills, and models of how information is presented and viewed. Through the synthesis of computer video, audio, photography and graphic design, our Media Lab opens new creative avenues of expression for artists with developmental disabilities. They become confident producers, sharing their digital vision, removing barriers of misunderstanding and of isolation, and becoming active members of the global virtual community.