'A show of exceptionality': Massillon Museum features work of developmentally disabled

MASSILLON − Paintings hanging on the walls of the Massillon Museum at the "Artist to Artist" exhibit represent a unique merging of non-traditional artists with local professionals.

Roughly 20 pieces are on display in the Fred F. Silk Community Room Gallery, both the work of artists who have developmental disabilities and notable artists whose work has been exhibited at galleries and other shows.

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Portrait-style paintings. Pieces featuring geometric shapes. A woman's shoe as the centerpiece of a needlework grid. Abstract designs with oil pastels. A whimsical mashup painting of cats and elephants set against a cityscape. Worm-like glass pieces fixed to an oil painting of overlapping grids on black canvas. A church set against shimmering colors.

They were made by Just Imagine Gift Gallery artists in Canton.

Vicki Boatright, curator of the new exhibition, said the artists were mutually inspired to push each other in new directions creatively.

"I think that people don't recognize the depth and the value of the artwork that people who have disabilities, who look at life from a different point of view, what their work can represent, and it's important," she said.

"It's a show of exceptionality in my mind on all accounts," Boatright added. "You take people who have already achieved some note in our community; they're educated or they're well versed and well known in the community for the artwork that they make, and you put them with individuals who people tend to overlook, and amazing things happen.

"And I think that's reflective for our whole culture, that we often overlook things or overlook people and don't recognize the value, and you give them a platform, and you realize this is more than I would have ever imagined could happen."

Participating local artists include Laura Hollis, Sarah Winther Shumaker, Stephen Tornero, Tim Eaken, Dave Sherrill, Tim Carmany, Christopher Triner and Dave Kuntzman. Another contributing artist is Emily Vigil, Studio M coordinator at Massillon Museum.

Exhibit's reception is Saturday

Partnering artists are with Just Imagine, an art program provided by The Workshops Inc. (TWi), a Canton-based nonprofit agency serving 400 adults with disabilities in Stark County. Their art pieces at the exhibit are identified only by first names for privacy reasons.

The public is invited to a reception for the exhibit from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday at the museum, 121 Lincoln Way E in downtown Massillon. Admission to the museum is free; the exhibit runs through Sept. 7. Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

"It felt like a conversation," Alex Coon, executive director of the Massillon Museum, said of the artists collaborating. "You can definitely tell there's a relationship between the artwork.

"I get excited when I see artists who I am accustomed to working with for so many years ... but they are pushing out and expressing themselves in different ways. The synergy is just evident, the pairings work − it's exhilarating."

The exhibit proves that the work of outsider artists can "hang next to the artwork of anybody in this county and hold its own," Boatright said.

Vigil is an example of that collaboration.

She worked with Just Imagine artist Selina who showed Vigil her journal of bright hearts and flower drawings.

"I trusted her by sharing my diary of painted squares, which symbolized the pain I was feeling," explained Vigil, a participating artist. "We talked about knitting. I used to knit to help me with anxiety, and she was just learning to knit that day."

They discussed art and looked at the work of other Just Imagine artists. Selina painted a person within a bright field of small colorful shapes. Vigil painted a single heart on a field of red and yellow squares, then added a second heart.

Vigil said the "Artist to Artist" exhibition is enriching for all.

"Everyone is an artist because everyone has a talent," she said. "Art is connecting and art is conversation. Connections build community."

'I love their beautiful, unique minds'

Most of the paired artists also met to discuss ideas, styles and techniques while viewing each other's work, Boatright explained.

Sherrill said he's fortunate to live in an area that values the art of people with developmental disabilities.

"I've become friends with a few of them, and I love their beautiful, unique minds," he said in comments accompanying his artwork at the Massillon exhibit.

He said he was moved by the work of Just Imagine artist Priscilla, including her use of patterns and bright colors. "I allowed myself the freedom to feel her motion when making my own artwork," Sherrill wrote.

'Magical things can happen'

Boatright, who creates art under the name BZTAT, was paired with Just Imagine artist Scott. Boatright previously worked with artists at Just Imagine Gift Gallery, and she operates BZTAT Studios in downtown Canton, where she plans to continue working with non-traditional artists.

Scott's paintings feature narratives while BZTAT's work is more of a "snapshot in time," she explained.

"He puts lots of stuff in," Boatright added. "I don't usually do that, so those two things were challenges."

Scott also draws inspiration from Pablo Picasso paintings.

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For her piece, Boatright was inspired by Picasso's "Night Fishing at Antibes." She added one of her signature cats.

Just Imagine artist Peggy was paired with Kuntzman, who paints detailed and overlapping grids while creating interplay between negative and positive spaces.

Peggy drew overlapping grids on a black canvas with oil pastels, Boatright explained. Inside the negative spaces, she drew pictorial representations of different kinds of dreams.

"Some dreams are blurry and intangible, some dreams are scary, some dreams are pleasant, and some are aspirational," Boatright said. "Then, bringing us back to reality, she glued buttons on the surface, adding a dynamic and paradoxical quality.

"Where (Kuntzman's) work is analytical and precise, Peggy's is more emotional and personal. Both artists, however, play with perspective and visual reality."

Each artistic duo produced captivating results, Coon said.

"The art, boy, it just really shows that in the right hands of someone who can guide you, in the process of expression, some magical things can happen."

Reach Ed at 330-580-8315 and ebalint@gannett.com. On Twitter: @ebalintREP.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Artists with disabilities featured in new Massillon Museum exhibit