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Wonders of Winter, 2009 please click image to enlarge |
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| Arts of Life | ||
 artist: Christianne Msall media: Acrylic on canvas |
 artist: David Krueger media: Mixed media on wood |
 artist: Jean Wilson media: Mixed media on wood |
 artist: Lillian Coffill media: Mixed media on paper |
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| The Nathan and Kiyoko Lerner Foundation | ||
 artist: Destiny Davis media: Markers on paper |
 artist: Dewayne Jenkins media: Markers on paper |
 artist: Edgar Williams media: Watercolor and ink |
 artist: Robert Bell media: Markers on paper |
 artist: Richard Nieminski media: Print over marker drawing |
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December 4, 2009-January, 2010 Wonders of Winter 2009 Chicago-Area Artists with Disabilities Working in Studios Supported By: El Valor The Judy A Saslow gallery is proud to present Wonders of Winter, an exhibition featuring Chicago-area artists with disabilities and the studios that support them. Namely, El Valor, Esperanza, The Nathan and Kiyoko Lerner Foundation, Project Onward, and Arts of Life. El Valor's mission is to support and challenge urban families to achieve excellence and participate fully in community life. Our programs exist to enrich and empower people with disabilities, the disenfranchised and the underserved. From its roots in the Latino community, El Valor has grown into a multicultural, multipurpose organization. Its mission reaches thousands of families in the Chicago land area, and millions throughout the nation. Today, El Valor is building stronger, more inclusive communities by supporting adults with disabilities, promoting early childhood development, enriching youth, strengthening families and encouraging leadership. El Valor was founded in 1973 by the late Guadalupe A. Reyes. A visionary leader and mother, Mrs. Reyes dreamed of a community in which all members, including her son with special needs, could live, learn, and work. She and several others took out a small bank loan and borrowed a church basement in Pilsen where they started the first bilingual, bicultural, rehabilitation center in Illinois and named it El Valor, meaning “Courage.” Esperanza community services is dedicated to serving individuals with developmental disabilities from infancy to adulthood through programs in English and Spanish. Esperanza provides individual therapeutic, educational, and artistic services that promote the skills that increase independence and a sense of belonging in the community. The staff of Esperanza shares the belief that all people should have the opportunity to work together and build meaningful lives. The studio art program at Esperanza’s Coleridge Adult Training Center provides artists with workspace and materials for their artistic endeavors. In addition, facilitators organize exhibitions and events. Esperanza’s programs for the adults in art and craft include studio arts, woodworking, weaving, quilting, piñata production, papermaking, origami, paper mache, candle making, and mosaics. Other programs include imagination workshop improvisational theater, choir, music, and eurhythmy. The discovery of the life’s work of Henry Darger, long time tenant of Nathan and Kiyoko Lerner in 1972, served as the inspiration for the development of The Nathan and Kiyoko Lerner Foundation in 1997. The goal of the foundation is to provide an environment in which artists with mental illnesses can explore and develop their creative visions. For 9 years this is exactly what happened. A wonderful community of artists has developed at Thresholds South. Although Thresholds already possessed a number of artists in their membership, people who over the years felt the desire to make drawings, paintings and other expressive creations, the Lerner Foundation offers an opportunity for further development of skills, experimentation with media and growth as artists. The foundation also works with people who have little or no artistic background, but an interest in learning and exploring the possibility of creative expression. The Nathan and Kiyoko Lerner Foundation has been partnered with Thresholds South since its inception in 1997. Thresholds South is a branch of the Thresholds Psychiatric Rehabilitation Centers. Thresholds mission is to assist and inspire people with severe mental illnesses to reclaim their lives by providing the supports, skills, and the respectful encouragement that they need to achieve hopeful and successful futures. The mission of Project Onward is to support the creative development of visual artists with developmental, cognitive, and mental disabilities. Project Onward is a program of the city of Chicago department of cultural affairs and maintains a studio in the historic Chicago cultural center. Here studio space, art supplies, and professional guidance are provided to emerging artists in a communal workshop environment. With the program’s support, Project Onward artists develop a professional body of work that reflects not only a devotion to their personal vision, but also a desire for artistic growth. Project Onward collaborates with local and national partner agencies to organize exhibitions and advocacy efforts for artists with disabilities. Project Onward artists are included in numerous private and corporate art collections, and their works are exhibited widely. Established in 2000, the Arts of Life is an artistic community in Chicago that provides adults with developmental disabilities an environment to experience personal growth. The Arts of Life, Inc. is committed to providing high quality, innovative services for developmentally disabled adults. The studio focuses on its artists’ needs and strives to exceed expectations. The Arts of Life will continue to be characterized by both dedication to its artists and excellence in the field of developmental disabilities. |
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