Discovering the artist within
Imitating
the mastersArt has always been Alton Stuckey’s focus in life so it’s no surprise that he fits in well with the arts programs at Pawtucket based agency, where more than 70 people with disabilities try to discover what makes them unique as individuals through their work on art related projects.
In fact he’s an art instructor teaching a class for other people with disabilities every other Monday. To prepare for the class he does an Internet search for examples of works by such famous artists as Henri Matisse, Vincent Van Gogh, Andy Warhol and Lyubov Popova. Once he selects a painting it’s printed to RHD’s color printer. Next Alton prepares a watercolor version of the famous artist’s work which he uses to teach the class the following Monday.
“I like to do paintings with watercolors and acrylic paints. The styles of paintings I like to do are of objects, landscapes, shapes, colors and architectural paintings.” But Alton also experiments with other techniques using ballpoint pens, pencils, colored pencils, crayon and markers. He also uses cardboard, vellum, and paper to create small models, which he paints.
“I started to draw on my own at age 14. Two years later I started painting. At the age of 36 I hope to continue learning, teaching, and creating art for my days to come. “Making art makes me feel great. I know I would not be as happy without art in my life.” Alton is a long time member of the Rhode Island Developmental Disabilities Council.
Everyone is an artist
Located in an historic turn of century brick industrial mill complex in the Darlington section of Pawtucket, RHD is indeed an uncommon, laid-back place where a person with a disability must constantly make artistic choices about subject matter, design and techniques.
“You’re free to choose! Whatever you want to try or do, my job is to open those doors for you,” said RHD director Ray Memery. “With freedom comes responsibility. You need to respect everyone and work on any behavior that gets in the way of your productivity.”
RHD believes that each person no matter how limited intellectually, emotionally or physically, is capable of artistic achievement at some level.
“Everyone who comes here is an artist whether they think they are or not. They may use a wheel chair and need personal care or they may get here on their own. So, we have people with different levels of disability. What’s important is that disability levels have nothing to do with the friendships that emerge.”
“Our greatest asset is our staff most of whom have a background in art or music. It is extremely important that the people working here truly enjoy what they do. They must be committed to maintaining a high-energy, creative, fun, and intellectually stimulating environment.”
“We are ‘customer driven’ in that we understand that our growth and success depends directly upon the satisfaction of the people and families we support. I’m going to work my tail off to make sure that you like it here because I know you are free to move on to the next guy if you want.
“We try to be a little different. We’re not overly structured. We encourage people to enjoy themselves no matter how wacky their ideas are. Still, we also need to be super professional. We have to be intensely focused on the weight of the responsibility for the people we serve,” he said.
RHD regularly organizes special events through which artists can perform or show their works. For four nights last August, RHD staff and artists put on a show at Firehouse No. 13, a new artist venue in an old firehouse (built 1856) at 41 Central St., South Providence.
“We called it ‘In Your Face’,” said Memery “It was a four night extravaganza where we highlighted music of many kinds: client bands, collaborations, parent performances, and staff bands. We also had a film night where we showcased a best of all the video work we have done over the last year. Lastly, we had the walls covered with photography and art that our people have created. It was a fantastic show.
