By Connie Smart
It’s 10:35 a.m. and she’s waiting for the others to arrive. With her materials spread out before her on the clean, white table top, Jennifer McClelland is anxious to get started.
“I want to start! I want to start now!” exclaims McClelland, looking around the room with a big, bright smile.
She calls out and waves as the remaining people enter and get settled. Today they will be making clay bowls.
While the 23-year-old has epilepsy, she does not let it interfere with her creative drive. McClelland is one of six art-lovers taking part in the Jack Purcell Community Centre’s new clay pottery class for people with special needs, ranging from physical to developmental disabilities.
The program is taught in two five-week terms. Scheduled to finish on Feb. 10, this first term is introductory and is held on Monday mornings. The second term is a continuation of the first, and is slated to begin sometime this spring.
“Because we’re breaking new ground here, we’re not always sure projects like these (the bowls) are going to work,” says instructor Susan Gold, adding that in the past few weeks her students have made wind chimes and wall hangings.
A potter for over 30 years, who previously taught at the Nepean Visual Arts Centre, Gold says this is her first time teaching a special needs class. She says the experience has been nothing short of outstanding.
The pottery class is the latest addition to the special needs arts programs that began at the centre less than a year ago, says Jack Purcell program co-ordinator Kathryn Watcham.
“The most amazing thing with these programs is that people are producing some absolutely gorgeous pieces,” she says.
Special needs art programs began at the centre last spring as part of the city’s Special Needs Arts Initiative. Funded in part by the city, the initiative is a partnership between the City of Ottawa Community Services Branch and health organizations in the community.
The initiative evolved out of several roundtable meetings held in 2000 by the Ottawa Family Service Centre, a charitable organization offering programs and assistance regarding family-related issues. During the meetings it became apparent that there was a profound lack of art programming in the city for people with disabilities.
Catherine Anderson Dolcini, program co-ordinator for the Ottawa Community Arts Program, says she attended the meetings three years ago and immediately fell in love with the unique concept of special needs arts programs.
“People with disabilities generally don’t have those same inhibitions when they’re doing art — in a sense, it helps them transcend that disability and makes them proud,” says Anderson Dolcini, who is also a visual artist.
The pottery program will harness that pride by giving participants the opportunity to display their art in the community, with the end goal of producing pieces to decorate the centre’s courtyard. Development of the courtyard began last spring as part of the centre’s aim to create a disability-friendly garden.
McClelland says she is excited her friends and family will get to see her artwork.
“I can’t wait!” she exclaims.
Around the table, McClelland and the others roll the soft, dark clay until it is flat and smooth. J.P. Lalande, who has cerebral palsy, grins as Watcham assists him with the rolling pin. Bill Merkley, who suffered brain injuries in a car accident, watches as Gold demonstrates how to decorate the bowls with string.
The centre also plans to start a community choir for both disabled and non-disabled people in late February.
“The key to the success of these programs is not to look at people as being different,” says Watcham. “When I look at people, what I see is people. And these people are creating some very beautiful things.”