Art is an experience that is unique to the creator, inspired by inner imagination and outside-the-box thinking.
Such is the theme of a new regional art exhibit on display at Key City Theatre in Cranbrook.
The Diverse Arts Art Show, organized by the East Kootenay school union CUPE 4165, is a display of paintings, drawings and sculpture from neurodiverse students living in Cranbrook and the Elk Valley.
The exhibit features art from 35 students from across the region, from grade one to grade 12. All the students have some form of neurodiversity, including autism, ADHD, Down syndrome and cerebral palsy. They were nominated by their teachers to be part of the exhibit, having shown exceptional artistic talent through school projects.
The collection highlights the talents and skills of students, whose unique ways of thinking and differences in how they see the world are an asset in art.
Organizer Krista Napl said she hopes the event will raise awareness of the lack of supports available for neurodiverse people in the region.
“[The area is] pretty inaccessible and I find that there’s not a lot of advocacy either. I’m hoping that this brings more awareness in a positive light,” she said.
Gemma Vigne, a grade eight student at Laurie Middle School in Cranbrook, has four works of art featured in the exhibit. There are two that depict dragons — one a black and white sketch in pencil, and the other a mixed medium piece with pencil, pen, yarn, and mosaic. She also submitted a dot-style painting of a blue jay and a painted snowy winter landscape.
Vigne said she believes her neurodiversity has been an asset to her as an artist, giving her a strong imagination and rich inner world, and the ability to draw completely from memory.
Otto Horst, a grade 10 student from Fernie Secondary School, sketched a propaganda poster inspired by WWI, and his favourite video game.
Horst said the poster is a piece of propaganda from a fantasy land, where humans are advocating for military supremacy over aliens, who they see as inferior and incapable of running the galaxy. The tagline on the propaganda poster reads “The only safe galaxy is a human one!”
He said his art represents the dark side of human nature, that is capable of violence and discriminatory acts.
Melodie Leclerc’s son Honour Bissell has art featured in the exhibit. Bissell is a grade one student at T.M Roberts Elementary School in Cranbrook, and he made a cut-and-paste image with hearts.
Leclerc said Bissell has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, autism and cortical visual impairment. He is non-verbal and uses a wheelchair.
She said Bissell’s teachers and educational assistant recognized his interest and aptitude for art early on, and encouraged him to pursue it.
“I’m so glad that they didn’t look at him and say ‘oh he can’t do that.’ They gave him the opportunity and he showed them he could,” she said.
Leclerc explained that Bissell’s diagnoses have created challenges, but that they have also made his art and outlook on life unique.
“There’s a lot of difficulties. There’s a lot of things to overcome. There’s a lot of thing that aren’t inclusive yet, but as a person, my son is so innocent and pure. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
“Differences can be scary, but they can be so rewarding, because you get the opportunity to see things through someone else’s eyes, and that’s what art does.”
The art will be on display at the Key City Theatre until May 15.