Paintings of tropical birds and vast cityscapes, as well as works inspired by abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock line the walls of the Big Apple Café on Park Avenue. You might think these diverse and vibrant pieces are creations of a local professional, but, in fact, they are the products of people in art therapy.
The Heritage Christian Services art therapy program serves people with developmental disabilities. The organization put together this café exhibit, called Art on Park, to showcase participants' talents and dedication to art. The exhibit, featuring 15 paintings from a sampling of the 50-plus artists in the program, will be on display through the end of August. The pieces are being offered for sale, and a portion of the proceeds will go to construction of a Heritage Christian Services life center, which will offer art and music therapy, as well as clinical services.
The goal of the show is to get people to look past the artists' disabilities and appreciate their creations.
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"The idea behind the (Art on Park) is inclusion," says Sharon Scott, the creative arts therapist at Heritage. "My main goal here is for us to be seen as artists and people who have abilities and not to look at the disability and focus on that."
George Kerson, 39, one of the artists in the show, told Scott that he thought the word "disabled" shouldn't be used in promoting the show because the participants are simply artists.
Kerson's Cityscapes is one of the many paintings in the show with a unique story behind it. According to Scott, Kerson had stopped working on the painting for years, but after 9/11, he resolved to complete the work.
"Even though George will not say that this was his tribute to this historical event, I figure, on some level, that was the impetus for the completion of the work," says Scott.
Another work, the lush and bright Birds of Guatemala, was painted during the dreary winter months through a group effort put forth by Karen Titus, Kathy Scott, Diane Ferrante and Shirley Voight. The painting's sale will go to support a mission in Guatemala, providing wheelchairs for disabled people. Speaking for the group, Sharon Scott says they were ecstatic about having their painting displayed.
The show came about after Dave Alfieri, owner of Big Apple, saw some of the art in pictures brought in by some of his workers who volunteer at Heritage. He was impressed by the art and called Scott to set up a show. She was thrilled:
"I thought, 'Wow. That's a wonderful opportunity to sort of take what is considered "outsider" art and then bring it inside to such a wonderful location as Park Avenue.'"
