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Date: 10/23/2019
CHICOPEE – The art exhibit that greets visitors when they enter the Henry J. Bazan Community Room at the Chicopee Public Library is a mixture of styles, themes, and subjects. Each piece of art is as unique as the artists who created them, and that was the point.
The third annual “Artists with Distinct Abilities” exhibit contains artwork created by participants at Sunshine Village, a Chicopee-based organization that offers day programs and employment opportunities to adults with developmental disabilities.
“We thought it’d be wonderful to share with people what we already know, that everyone here shines,” said Gina Kos, executive director of Sunshine Village.
A range of abilities was represented by the 71 canvases hung around the room. Several of the paintings displayed messages, such as, “Just Like You,” “See the Able Not the Label,” and “There’s Ability in Disability.”
Most of the art had a fall theme, with foliage, pumpkins, and bare trees silhouetted by the moon. Those that strayed from that theme offered glimpses into the artists’ personalities – a humanoid snake-queen, a cityscape during an evening meteor shower, the sun setting behind an aquatic bird, and a mermaid perched on a rock against a sky reminiscent of Vincent Van Gogh’s famous painting, “Starry Night.”
A couple of the pieces were done in mixed media, such as a rolled-paper bouquet on a painting of a canning jar-turned vase and a canvas that was layered with paint, fabric butterflies, faux leaves and flowers, and a wreath.
Kos said that about half of the pieces of art were created by an individual and the other half were collaborations that groups worked on as part of the various art programs offered at the day programs. Many of the artists use their painting to express themselves, said Kos.
Amid the paintings is a sculpture of the Chicopee City Hall created from styrofoam. The sculpture was created by a group of program participants for the 2019 Downtown Getdown and is still a work-in-progress. Kos said that the structure will eventually have “stained-glass” windows and more details. Once completed, she said it will be donated to City Hall.
Sunshine Village plans to create another exhibit for April to be staged in the Mayor’s Hallway at City Hall. The current exhibit at the Chicopee Public Library runs through Oct. 31.