This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
The Art of Possibilities is a unique program that offers developmentally disabled participants access to the transformative nature of art through gallery visits, informal docent-led conversations about the art work and a hands-on art activity that responds to the art or uses the same medium as the exhibition.
Today we are reaching out to ask for your help for art programming for individuals with disabilities. Currently 25 participants per month are served in partnership with Imagine’s Out and About program through the Art of Possibilities program.
“Instead of someone else telling me how to live, I found my own free will — I call it the art of living and it is the same process I use to make art” -Bradley Books
Watch “Bradley’s Story” below to Learn more!
https://youtu.be/w6VvZkyz6Sg
Art of Possibility co-facilitator and professional art therapist Ann Noble said, creating art freely without critique can unveil thoughts or feelings buried in the subconscious or it can simply help an individual heal. The two-hour monthly program that Noble and Books launched in April 2015 has consisted of an informal conversation about the artwork on display and then a hands-on activity to respond to the art.
“We aren’t making art to look pretty,” she said. “We’re making art that is an extension of that person’s self, their subconscious. We’re not looking at the art to then critique it. It’s all about the person that made it.”
The Art of Possibilities program provides arts education, social interaction and gallery experiences not found anywhere else. Our instructors Ann & Bradley, hope to expand to 40 participants by the end of 2017 with the addition of our new partner SCOPE from the City of Longmont Recreation Department. Currently the class costs $120.00 per year per student. The Firehouse Art Center is seeking your help to provide access to the class by raising $5,500 for scholarship funding for 100 participants.
About the Live & Give Program:
Help shape Longmont’s future in a single day.
On September 26th, Live & Give Longmont brings our community together for 24 hours of generosity. With everyone in the community giving whatever they can, we hope to raise start up funds for a few projects in our community. It’s about working together to accentuate the place we love—so it will continue to thrive today and for generations to come.
