By Irene Moreno-Jimenez
In a warm and illuminated room of Jack Purcell Community Centre, two people with disabilities work with crayons, paintbrushes, watercolors, ink, acrylics and other artistic tools to become artists.
They come here every Monday afternoon during the cold winter months to enjoy their art and each other’s company, as part of a program called Art Thing.
“It is one of those little jewels in the cold desert,” says program instructor Katjan Bilijan.
“Sometimes when someone has a disability they just sit at home and think they can’t do anything anymore. That is not true.”
Programs like the Art Thing are developed to encourage disabled people to explore their talents and integrate into the community. The Jack Purcell Community Centre is dedicated to improving the quality of life for Centretown residents, including promoting recreational activities for people with special needs.
“It is an opportunity for people with disabilities to do art. It is really hands on,” says program co-ordinator Karen Mitchell Morrison.
There are four participants enrolled in the Art Thing program. Bilijan says they still have room for a few more, but they try to keep numbers small to allow for one-on-one interaction between students and instructors.
“It is a really good program because the class is very small and we get a lot of individual attention,” says Nancy Turner, a participant of the program who always wanted to paint and now has been given the opportunity to do it.
“I do my art, my teacher sets me up, gets me stuff and we have a good time,” says Margie Cunningham, another participant of the program.
With only four functioning fingers on each hand, she is proud to show that her disability does not stop her from painting in acrylics and creating a three-dimensional parrot out of construction paper.
“The thing I enjoyed the most is learning,” Cunningham says.
The learning in this program is reciprocal — both the instructor and the participants learn from each other about art and life.
Acrylics, construction paper and watercolours are some of the media that the participants become skilled at using. Turner, for example, is working on a landscape painting using acrylics. She says she also enjoys printing too — carving a picture into rubber to create a unique stamp.
Bilijan says one of the things that makes Art Thing different from other programs offered in Centretown is that the participants can “learn at their own pace and they can choose what they want to learn.”
Some participants have ongoing projects and Bilijan helps them with ideas depending on the artistic direction they want to explore. “I’ll bring some books for them, (describing) different techniques,” Bilijan says.
The Art Thing shows both disabled and non-disabled people in Centretown that making art is not impossible when one has the passion.
A new session of the program, which costs $68.50, is scheduled to start in the spring. Turner, Cunningham and Bilijan say they will return to enjoy each other’s company in the Jack Purcell Community Centre while doing their Art Thing.