Disabled youth and siblings gain empowerment through art

 

Children with varying degrees of disabilities and their siblings gathered together in a hunter green yurt on Tuesday to take part in a mixed media abstract art activity.

 

"A really important part of this superhero project is that you have to focus on yourself," said Jenny Diersen, the artist leading the project. "You are going to close your eyes and trust yourself."

 

The camp occurring this week is one of 10 camps scheduled at the National Ability Center in conjunction with the Kimball Art Center, a partnership that began in February aimed to serve disabled youth.

 

Art experiences like this one at the National Ability Center are usually part of multi-day camp experiences that feature several activities, such as archery, a challenge course, horseback riding and water sports.

 

"It’s so non-threatening, there is no right or wrong," Amy MacDonald, education director for the Kimball Art Center, said about art. "It is a lovely way to encourage somebody to feel successful and to give a voice to the voiceless."

 

According to MacDonald, art is a great way for disabled people to achieve an accomplishment, gain empowerment, increase self-confidence, and enhance their quality of life. That's because art is not supposed to look a certain way, there are no barriers for participants to consider themselves as successful.

 

"The next step is, they are willing to try one more thing and little by little, while they are having this great experience, they are actually growing as a person and find avenues of expression," MacDonald explained.

Students used pencils, markers, crayons, watercolors, glue and other messy materials.

 

"I love doing art because it is fun and I like doing the pom-poms and the glitter, too. And I love doing the painting — it’s fun for me,” said Taylor Wagner, a 7-year-old attending the camp with her family. "It shows what I am and how I am working hard at doing this."

 

Zach InsKeep, an 11-year-old Georgia boy visiting Park City with his family over the summer, not only participates in the camps with his older sister and younger brother, but also volunteers to help during other sessions.

 

"It’s fun to come up here with everyone," he said. "I enjoyed doing the art today with all the colors."

 

Zach also likes watching his older sister Lizzy, 14, enjoy several activities at the camp that she may not get to participate in back home like tubing and horseback riding. He said he also likes being able to participate in the camp as siblings together.

 

The newfound partnership between the National Ability Center and the Kimball Art Center also provides programs for other groups, including the Wounded Warrior Project.

 

"Art is important and I think opportunities to have people do art makes them able to understand the process and helps them appreciate art more," said Susan Beck, a local artist, recently retired from the University of Utah who is working with the project.

 

"Art requires so many parts of your brain, you can’t be musing about your problems while doing it, or you couldn’t be doing art."

 

The National Ability Center and the Kimball Art Center are planning to hold several art classes within summer camps and throughout the year. More information can be found at www.discovernac.org/programs/camps/.