Ross Edelstein, graduate assistant with the Eppley Institute for Parks and Public Lands, was one of four individuals or organizations to receive the 2023 Kennedy Center Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability (LEAD®) Award. The award recognizes outstanding arts administrators and cultural arts organizations whose leadership and work further the field of accessibility. The awards were presented at the Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability Conference, held August 27-31, 2023, in Boston, Massachusetts.
Edelstein is an internationally recognized scholar and advocate of accessibility and inclusion in cultural spaces. His work at Eppley focuses on promoting accessibility in outdoor environments, particularly for neurodivergent audiences. He is also a PhD student in Special Education at Indiana University, where he studies inclusive work in cultural spaces.
Established in 2000, when a group of cultural arts administrators gathered at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., to discuss institutional cultural arts and disability issues, the LEAD® program evolved and became part of the VSA International Network in 2019. VSA is a larger initiative to connect a vibrant network of organizations and individuals working towards the full inclusion and participation of people with disabilities of all ages in artistic and cultural endeavors.
