Disabled artists’ exhibit inspiring> Event showcases works by 64 Mainers

loading...

MACHIAS – Some suffer from severe depression. Others have Down syndrome. One woman’s medication sets her hands to shaking.

And their work is drawing rave reviews at the University of Maine at Machias Art Gallery during VSA arts of Maine’s third juried exhibition by artists with disabilities, both mental and physical.

“A Matter of Perception 2000” includes paintings, drawings, prints, photos, sculpture, pottery, quilts and tapestries by 64 Maine artists with disabilities.

VSA arts chose the works from more than 300 entries, and each piece is accompanied by a personal note from or about the person who created it.

“With sculpting, my inverted thinking process is an asset in visualizing my work,” writes artist Bill Bishop Sr. of Auburn. “Reversals in written work are an obstacle but in form and space, it’s a blessing.”

Some say their disability plays no role in their art. On a card next to Brunswick artist Earl Black’s woven scarf are his thoughts on the subject.

“Does your disability affect your artwork? NO!! I’m a hard working guy!” Black writes.

Tom Coyne’s paper mache “Mask of Many Colors” is accompanied by the South Portland artist’s observation that “paper mache was messy to use.”

“But I liked it because I could create things with it – find the good and the bad in it,” Coyne writes. “My mental illness doe not affect my work – the idea came from a festival I went to.”

The two rooms at the UMM gallery are filled with images, some eloquent in their simplicity and others intricately detailed.

Some of the artists, such as Gerard Pelletier, have formal art training. Pelletier has a degree in fine arts and writes that his manic depression affects his work in the manic state, but that he doesn’t paint when he is depressed.

Other artists, such as 17-year-old Jonathan Murray of Lubec, have little formal art education.

Murray, who has autism, has been drawing since he was two, according to his mother. Cindy Murray said her son has an active fantasy life and an eye for detail. One of his poems and a linoleum print were chosen for last year’s VSA arts exhibit, she said.

Murray’s vividly illustrated “Life in Lubec” tells the tale of two characters named Molly and Gluey and their arguments over a purple car. Cars are one of Jonathan’s loves, and he can identify almost any model, his mother says.

The UMM gallery is the fourth venue for “A Matter of Perspectives 2000.” The exhibit has been shown at the Portland Museum of Art, the Lewiston-Auburn College of the University of Southern Maine and the Blaine House.

Each exhibit begins with a reception for the artists, who richly enjoy the recognition of their work, according to Marie Ahearn, the assistant director of VSA arts of Maine.

Response to the exhibits – from both the artists and the public – is fantastic, she said.

“It opens people’s minds to what people with disabilities can do,” Ahearn said. “I think people begin to see a whole person.”

VSA arts was founded more than 25 years ago by Jean Kennedy Smith and is an affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.

UMM Gallery Director Bernie Vinzani said he heard about the Maine program from a friend and called the organization to see if UMM could sponsor the exhibit.

There are many students with disabilities at UMM, and some of them helped set up the exhibit, Vinzani said.

Jessica Hanscom, a student whose vision problems require her to use a scope to distinguish forms and details, made a copy of her hand to create signs for other visually impaired people, indicating which art piees they could touch, he said.

Oliver Henderson and Bruce Stevens, two students in wheel chairs, advised staff on the correct height to hang the paintings so that others in wheelchairs could best view them.

Vinzani said Sue Martin from the Iris Network in Ellsworth came to the gallery with her Braille writer to create cards for the touch sculptures.

The exhibit has been good for staff and students at the university, Vinzani said.

“It’s really been a learning experience for all of us,” he said.

Visitors to the exhibit agree, judging from the comments in the gallery guest book.

“I have never been so touched by purity,” wrote one visitor.

“This is the real impulse of art – straight from the heart – very inspiring,” wrote another.

The UMM exhibit continues through next Friday. Normal gallery hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Vinzani said UMM is on Thanksgiving break until Monday, but those wishing to make arrangements to see the exhibit today may call President John Joseph’s office at 255-1210.