MC alumna Rebecca Heckler '97 helps coordinate Clayton Center art exhibition

July 7, 2010
Contact: Chloe Kennedy, News and New Media Writer
865.981.8209; chloe.kennedy@maryvillecollege.edu

The Clayton Center for the Arts on the Maryville College campus is hosting a unique exhibition featuring art created by local artists with developmental disabilities and physical limitations who have utilized groundbreaking techniques to express themselves on canvas.

From July 1-31, 24 oil paintings by seven local artists will be on display in the Clayton Center's Denso Community Gallery. The artists will host a reception in the gallery on July 30 from 6-8 p.m., in conjunction with Maryville's Last Friday Art Walk.

The artists are clients at Open Arms Care, a nonprofit organization that provides intermediate care facility services and an array of residential services for adults and children diagnosed with mental retardation and developmental disabilities in the state of Tennessee. Open Arms Care utilizes Art Realization Technologies (A.R.T), a program created in 1995 by artist Tim Lefens that gives those who previously did not have the ability to truly express themselves artistically the tools to create art.

"The individual artists participating in this show have physical limitations which previously hindered them from expressing themselves artistically; however, through the use of this technique the artist is truly able to ... create their own work," said Rebecca Heckler, day services director at Open Arms Care. Heckler, a 1997 Maryville College alumna, helped coordinate the exhibition.

Open Arms Care is the first to bring A.R.T. training to Tennessee through the Knoxville-based "Personal Perspective" art program. The mission of the "Personal Perspective" art program is "to provide persons with disabilities the tools necessary to create meaningful and pure self-expression."

The A.R.T. training has resulted in "the emergence of self-expression previously unseen."

"Persons who were previously not afforded the ability to truly express themselves artistically, because of their developmental disabilities or physical limitations, were now given the tools to create something completely theirs; without the influence of another persons opinion or perspective," according to Open Arms Care. "Persons who had spent years with little control over what occurred around them were suddenly directing employees to toss, fling, pour, and brush paint onto canvas. They were now choosing colors and instructing employees to mix colors to their specifications. Reserved personalities were exploding onto large canvases. Each piece took on a personality of its own, and over time a true artistic style emerged."

For more information about the exhibition, contact Nikki Miszkiel, day services area leader at Open Arms Care, at nmiszkiel@openarmscare.org or at 865.694.9964 ext. 10.

Maryville College is ideally situated in Maryville, Tenn., between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Knoxville, the state‘s third largest city. Founded in 1819, it is the 12th oldest institution of higher learning in the South and maintains an affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Known for its academic rigor and its focus on the liberal arts, Maryville is where students come to stretch their minds, stretch themselves and learn how to make a difference in the world. Total enrollment for the fall 2011 semester was 1,078.