Jacksonville Art Walk

Downtown Vision, Inc.

214 N. Hogan St., Suite 120
Jacksonville, Florida 32202
Target Audience
Students enrolled in the on-campus transition program at the University of North Florida.
These students are ages 18 and older and all have an intellectual or developmental disability.
Members of this audience will relate to the Jacksonville Art Walk in many ways. It will become a
part of their monthly schedule, which is provided by to each by program mentors, provide a
source of entertainment and also give the students an opportunity to eventually become a part of
Art Walk and display their own visions or creations of art.
Audience Nickname
Special Ospreys
Demographics
Students enrolled in on-campus transition program (OCT) at the University of North
Florida (UNF), reside in one of two locations:
1. The Districts, off-campus housing that provides transportation to and from UNF via a
shuttle located 5 minutes from campus.
2. The Fountains, an on-campus residence hall at UNF for upperclassmen.
OCT is a program at the University of North Florida whose mission is to provide an
innovative college experience for young adults with intellectual disabilities. The individuals fall
between the ages of 18 and 28. The program accepts students through a competitive interview
process after they have completed high school. The OCT program is priced at $10,000 per year
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for Florida residents and $15,000 for non-Florida residents. According to U.S. Department of
Educations Office for Civil Rights it is hard to accurately estimate their education level because
each student is offered accommodation for their disability in the classroom and test environment.
When it comes to marital status, individuals with disabilities rarely experience relationship
due to the taboo present behind it. According to USA Today, many people with intellectual
disabilities yearn for intimacy for sex, love and marriage but many do not have the capacity to
make such decisions, and for whom intimate relationships are not appropriate. To prevent
individuals with intellectual disabilities from exploitation at UNF, the wishes of parents
determine who can and cannot pursue a relationship says Cheryl Morgan, the director of OCT at
UNF.
As far as income, the majority of these students dont work (mainly due to their physical and
mental capabilities) and are supported by their household income. An indirect target then would
be older parents who have influence over their disabled child. These are parents who do not
necessarily want their children far from home in college, because it is easier to care for them
when the child is closer to home. These parents can be found in Ponte Vedra (32081) and Ponte
Vedra Beach (32082) area. The families are wealthy here, with salaries averaging at $109,000
and $140,000 respectively, according to Demographicsnow.com. With information from the
same site, we can see that the majority of households in these areas (81.6 percent and 84.5
percent respectively) are family households. While the parents may not, the
students in the OCT program reside in Jacksonville around the UNF area
(32224).

The majority of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities are either unemployed
or underemployed, despite their ability, desire, and willingness to work in the community,
according to Thearc.org. Arc Jacksonville is a non-profit organization for individuals with
intellectual and developmental disabilities created to advocate and make change happen for
people diagnosed with disabilities.
Psychographics
The students who are involved with the OCT program on the UNF campus have
developmental and intellectual disabilities that vary, which makes it difficult to have one general
psychographic for them. Some students have autism, some have Down syndrome, and the list
continues. Still, there are common interests that people with these disabilities have that can be
useful with targeting.
Many of the psychographics that can be used to attract these individuals to the Art Walk are
the same ones that benefit them when they are in the classroom. When it comes to intellectually
disabled students, it is important to highlight their needs more than anything. For example,
intellectual disabled children are visually oriented. According to autismspeaks.org, those with
autism are supported with visuals to help them throughout the day. This is also the case with
students with Down syndrome, as dseinternational.org reports. The key with these types of
individuals is keeping them entertained. Their entertainment and attention aspect are directly
correlated. For example, these individuals when exposed to visuals entertainment vs. non-visual
entertainment are more likely to be able to develop an opinion on the piece.

Social interaction can often times be a problem for students with these disabilities, but it is
not a hopeless feat. These individuals highly value interaction, but they may or may not be
good at it. Specifically speaking on relationships and bonds, people with intellectual
disabilities dont necessarily understand the social difference between a friend and an
acquaintance, so everyone is considered a friend to them. This is an ultimate desire for them.
These individuals need guidance in almost all areas of life, which is why relationships are so
vital to them. So theyre constantly having social interaction with someone whether its a parent,
friend or counselor that gives them that social interaction on a daily basis.
Key Words:
Since individuals with intellectual disabilities seek social interaction and something to
keep their attention to actively be involved, some keys words relating to them would include:
interaction, entertainment, karaoke, visuals, dance parties and hands-on.
Whats Important to your Audience
Social interaction, visual entertainment and a lively atmosphere with social interaction are
the most important aspects reviewing the information about my target audience. Social
interaction is what they look for on a daily basis, and can easily be considered a desire as well as
a need for them. They love engaging in conversation with people and ultimately want to free
normal, and the best way to do that is to interaction with people who (a) treat them as so and
(b) are not different than anyone else.
Visual entertainment is the next important aspect that is crucial to this audience due to their
mental capability to process information, which does vary by individual. Jacksonvilles
downtown Art Walk is full of visuals that would act as a positive stimulant. Art Walk itself will
handle the visual entertainment part of their attention. The overall atmosphere of Downtown
Jacksonville, the different visuals to take in mixed with the various people, would be important
to remember when assessing this audience.
Informational Networks
For the students of UNFS OCT program, students have access to the following networks but use
them based their own discretion for information:

Primary Source: Network of friends/ ILM (Independent live-in mentor

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Secondary source: Program Calendar (calendar of event going on around Jacksonville and at
UNF for the students) provided by Mrs. Cheryl Morgan, Program Director of OCT at UNF.