Connie Wyatt paints an acrylic on canvas at Open Arms Care Chattanooga.DONATEThrough April 30, Open Arms is hosting an online fundraising campaign to raise $5,750 to cover the cost of the program’s materials, all of which are provided free to its clients.More information and one-time or recurring donation options are available at www.globalgiving.org/projects/help-our-oac-clients-create-art/DID YOU KNOW?The paintings are available for sale from $50 to $500, and all proceeds are returned to the clients.
Amy Pinyan Rowe is the only certified “tracker” for A.R.T. at Open Arms. Her job is to translate a client’s artistic vision onto canvas via brushstrokes following the path of the laser pointer’s red dot.Before she selects a single color or brush, artist Connie Wyatt dons an orange plastic poncho. When you’re as fast as she is, the paint can literally start to fly, and a little protection is a necessary precaution.
But the piéce de résistance to her outfit? The laser pointer attached to her headband.
Wyatt has cerebral palsy and uses an electric wheelchair. She struggles with speaking and has severely limited use of her arms and hands. Thanks to Art Realization Technologies, an unconventional arts program for disabled persons, however, the laser pointer is the key to something all too rare in her life: freedom of expression.
“With the use of a laser, the world is their oyster; [our clients] can do what they want,” explains Amy Pinyan Rowe, a program specialist at Open Arms Care, a nonprofit service provider for Wyatt and 63 others with various physical and mental disabilities.