Arts for All Gallery will present AS I SEE IT, an exhibition of artwork created by youth with disabilities from two different educational facilities. The exhibition opens on Tuesday, April 29th and continues on view through Friday, June 13th, 2003.
AS I SEE IT will include illustrations created by students from Atlanta Area School for the Deaf (AASD), under the guidance of teaching artist Cathy McIntire, an award winning Georgia artist. During a 12-week residency at AASD, Ms. McIntire led the students through the process of visually interpreting two novels read for their Language Arts class. The students learned how to plan a basic layout, progressing to the specific details of each illustration portraying key scenes from the stories. By combining Visual Arts with Language Arts, the students gain a deeper comprehension of the story in the process of illustrating it, while learning that visual art is yet another tool for communicating their own visions and ideas.
The exhibition will also include lifecast masks created by students enrolled in Georgia Academy for the Blind, in Macon, Georgia, instructed by B.J. Glick, a teaching artist with many years experience working with youth. Lifecasting is a unique art form involving the molding of a life-size plaster mask that accurately reflects the shape and proportions of the subject?s face. During the molding process, the subject is isolated and vulnerable, and the artist must be very aware of the subject?s feelings and fears. The writings that will accompany the masks reflect the inner vision of the student participants, offering us a glimpse into their world ? as they see it.
Arts for All Gallery, a program of VSA arts of Georgia, will host a First Thursday opening Meet The Artists reception on May 1st, 2003, from 5 ? 9 p.m. The closing reception will take place on First Thursday June 5th, from 5 - 9 p.m. Both receptions are open to the public; an assortment of complimentary refreshments will be provided and a sign language interpreter will be present on May 1st.
