Local Awarded for Bringing Arts Education to Disabled Youth

Betty Lituanio will be honored at this year’s Marin County Fair for her efforts to involve disabled students in the arts.

Lituanio will receive the fourth annual Pamela Levine Arts Education Leadership Award from Youth in Arts, an organization that provides and encourages arts education in Marin. She won the award for her work as the co-director of Dedication to Special Education, a parent-led organization that advocates for quality special education in the county.

“She is a force for ensuring that students of all abilities are involved in the arts,” said Miko Lee, executive director of Youth in Arts.

She is credited for assisting the organization in adopting design improvements which have helped to involve disabled children, including sign language interpretation at live performances and creating chalk-painting tables at the Italian Street Painting Festival so disabled students may also participate. The organization works with roughly 85 percent of Marin students, according to its website.

The Pamela Levine Arts Education Leadership Award is given out annually to a person or organization that has had an impact in the program design and implementation of arts education in Marin County.

Winners are chosen by the staff and the Board of Directors of the organization as well as members of Pam Levine’s family. Levine was former executive director of Youth in Arts.

Lituanio will receive the award, as well as $1,000, on June 30.