Art and Soul

“Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.”
— Henry Ward Beecher

When it comes to thinking outside the box, people with disabilities usually have this approach hands down.

Maybe that is why we see such an array of rich creative works emerging from disability culture. Such vast wealth inspires celebration – like an arts festival solely dedicated to the diverse artistic creations of people living with disabilities.

And that is exactly what is being planned for Toronto.

Abilities Festival: A Celebration of Disability Arts and Culture will bring to the fore the talent, strength and creativity of artists with disabilities. This international carnival of visual arts will explore and showcase original work produced by professional artists with disabilities of all kinds.

Three major events, spaced over an 18-month period – a 2003 Art Exhibiton, a spring film festival, and an evening of live performance – will serve as stepping stones leading up to a full-scale celebration in early 2005.

The Abilities Festival, a project of the Canadian Abilities Foundation, transpired out of early discussions between disability pride activists John Feld and Catherine Frazee, both of Toronto. They were soon joined by Sharon Wolfe, who is spearheading this event.

The Abilities Festival is a disability-led initiative – sensitive to disability issues, and inclusive of people with disabilities at every level of the organization. At the same time, it aspires to offer something special to the broader community. The festival is a cross-disability event: people with physical, sensory, learning, mental health and intellectual disabilities, as well as chronic illnesses, will be welcome.

Activities will enhance the sense of community among the huge range of people who come together as artists, community participants and audience members. There will be theatre nights, workshops, films, symposiums, literary readings – art, art, art! By bringing artists with disabilities together with their peers in the mainstream, the Abilities Festival will facilitate the formation of associations of all kinds – associations that, in time, will lead to appreciation, experimentation and integration in classrooms and on stage – an expansion of this first foray.

CONNECTIONS
The Abilities Festival’s inaugural 2003 visual art event will be a juried, two-dimensional art exhibition and sale, entitled “Connections.” To be held at the Joseph D. Carrier Gallery from October 21 to November 21, this group exhibition will showcase the talent of artists with disabilities.

The Carrier Gallery is Toronto’s third largest community/public gallery. It is also the heart of the Columbus Centre, the Italian community’s gift to multicultural Toronto. Situated on 12 landscaped acres in the city’s northwest quadrant with over 700 running feet of wall space and 20,000 square feet of gallery space, housing five separate exhibition areas, the gallery welcomes over 20,000 visitors annually.

Up to 70 works may be selected for Connections, including up to three works by each artist. Entries are still accepted until August 30 – visit www.enablelink.org/abilitiesfestival or call (416) 966-0393 to find out more. Final decisions on acceptance will be made by September 15.

Plan to participate or attend – join us in celebrating the richness of disability arts and culture!

CONNECTIONS
Exhibition of Artists with Disabilities
October 21 to November 21, 2003
Joseph D. Carrier Gallery
901 Lawrence Ave. W.
Toronto, Ontario M6A 1C3
For information, call:
(416) 966-0393
E-mail: abilitiesfestival@enablelink.org
Website: www.enablelink.org/abilitiesfestival


CANADIAN WEBSITES

Society for Disability Arts and Culture
www.s4dac.org

Creative Spirit Arts Centre
www.creativespirit.on.ca

Alberta Artists with Brain Injury Society
www.mik-a-low.com

In-Definite Arts Society
www.indefinitearts.com

Workman Theatre Project
www.workmantheatre.com

EnableLink
www.enablelink.org
Click on “Arts” in the left-side menu of EnableLink to read articles, chat, post a message or find out about organizations or other websites related to arts and disability.


INTERNATIONAL WEBSITES

VSA Arts (U.S.A.)
www.vsarts.org

International Guild of Disabled Artists and Performers (New Zealand)
www.igodap.org

National Arts and Disability Center (U.S.A.)
nadc.ucla.edu

National Disability Arts Forum (England)
www.ndaf.org

National Institute of Art and Disabilities (U.S.A.)
www.niadart.org

Arts Project Australia
www.geocities.com/artsproject2000


PAVE THE WAY TO ACCESSIBLE ARTS!
If you attend movies, concerts, dance performances or art exhibits and know of disability-friendly arts venues, we would like to add them to Access Guide Canada, an online, cross-Canada directory of accessible destinations.
We are looking for…
- theatres
- studios
- galleries
- cinemas
- concert halls
Please send an e-mail to agc@enablelink.org with the subject line “Accessible Arts,” or fax to: (416) 923-9829.

Know of any upcoming disability and arts events? We’d like to post them on EnableLink and in Access Guide Canada. Please visit www.enablelink.org/events/eventsform.html or send the information by fax to: (416) 923-9829.

Are you willing to mentor an emerging artist with a disability? Please e-mail abilitiesfestival@enablelink.org with the subject line “Arts Mentor” and provide some information about yourself.


“Buffalo Way”
RITA A. UNGER
Los Angeles, California
Most of Rita A. Unger’s oil paintings are re-creations of the petroglyph and pictograph symbols found in American Indian rock art sites, which occur in abundance in the southwest United States. Part of Rita’s adventure in art includes visiting, recording and photographing these sites and then putting them on canvas. The symbols are a kind of visual language, she says. “I feel I have carried their message through history.”

“Esmérelda”
PIERRETTE THÉRIAULT
Quebec City, Quebec
As a youth, Pierrette Thériault would delight family and friends by bringing stories to life with her drawings or with illustrations of children’s television characters. She eventually developed a very personal drawing style as a humourist artist. She has designed greeting cards, posters and illustrations for children’s books. Although Pierrette’s vision disability has progressed, she continues to create bold, vibrant works.

“Mirage No. 2”
MARIA JANKOVICS
Montreal, Quebec
At Maria Jankovics’ birth in Budapest, Hungary, the doctor told her mother, “Your daughter is going to be an artist. See how she swirls her finger up in the air as if she’s already drawing.” She endured many hospitalizations from an early age due to a bone infection, and today lives with chronic pain. Maria’s family escaped Hungary in 1956 during the Russian Revolution, and she has since made Montreal her home. Maria is an award-winning artist and has participated in over 200 exhibits.

“Perseverance”
WAYNE FERGUSON
Lakeport, California
This soapstone sculpture of a brown bear is Wayne Ferguson’s second piece. “I enjoy the challenge,” he says. New to sculpting, Wayne has no formal training. He has vision and hearing disabilities and says that when he works, he relies “more on my mind’s eye and hands instead of the little vision that remains.”