Artists From Jawonio Display Their Work At New City Library

When Marc Burke-Simons sees something he likes, he often times wants to paint it. Mayowa Ogun paints pictures for girls he likes. Nanpan Kesmen likes to paint pictures of nature, specifically trees and oceans, things that remind him of growing up in Africa.

There are a wide variety of reasons why people paint, but at the opening of an art exhibit at the New City Library on Friday, Ogun probably summed it up pretty well for the 10-plus artists who will have their work hanging in the library’s meeting room until the end of the month.

“It just makes me happy,” Ogun said.

The show features works created by members of the Jawonio day services and community living services programs.

“Art is such a creative medium,” said Sheri Muth, division director of Jawonio’s employment and day services. “It’s a great way for them to express their inner souls. The folks really want a way to show their work to the community.”

Burke-Simons said it’s very exciting to have his work hanging up in public. He added that he’s painted for a few years.

“It’s nice and quiet,” he said. “It calms me down.”

Jane Mullin, division director of community living services, said the art therapy program is done in both her program, in which members live together, and day services, in which members meet five days a week as a way to continue their education.

“There are different ways for them to express themselves, from theater to art to dancing and singing,” Mullin said. “The men and women in these programs have to express themselves because they have these incredible talents. You won’t see anything I paint hanging on a wall here because I just can’t do it. But you look at what’s hanging here, and if you didn’t know who they were, you wouldn’t guess who they are. They all have gifts and talents.”

Muth agreed, saying she couldn’t paint anything to hang up in an exhibit either.

“We want to view a person as a person,” she said. “We don’t want the show to be identified as art done by people with disabilities.”

The exhibited pictures cover a range of subjects. Burke-Simons painted boats sailing in the sea, Ogun painted a picture of NBA star LeBron James’ pre-game ritual of throwing chalk in the air and Kesmen painted a beach with trees looking out at the ocean. Other pictures included seagulls, houses and more. Kim Begany painted a group of six snow people outside on a snowy night, although his painting will be added to the show shortly. He painted in high school art classes, but only recently started back up after joining the program.

“It really can and truthfully does put your mind at ease,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be this intricate work like the stuff here either. You can just pick up a pencil and some paper  and sketch something too.”

Valeria Koutmina, an art therapist and day program coordinator for Jawonio, said the members of the program are in control and she helps them out in varying degrees, making sure they’re working in a safe environment. She said sometimes it’s just overseeing what they’re doing and other times she guides their hands with hers while painting. Some members with less use of their hands wear headgear with paintbrushes attached to them, and they paint using their heads.

Koutmina added that different types of art projects, such as using water colors or working with clay, have different reactions and bring different emotions out of the groups.

“The main focus of the program is that there is no right or wrong,” she said. “We’re just trying to build up everyone creatively and let them go with it where they want to go.”