The exhibition "My Family: Art Made at Camp Unity" celebrates creativity, adventurousness and genuineness. The Longwood Center for the Visual Arts (LCVA) produces an opportunity for close to 80 adults with intellectual disabilities ranging from the ages of 18 to 60 to express and showcase their love for their family and friends through vividly confident tempera paintings.
"The paintings in this exhibition attest to one of the LCVA's core principles: Art is for everyone. Made by adults with disabilities at a summer camp organized by Crossroads Community Services, the works are touching, personal and beautiful," stated Curator of Education Emily Gresham.
In "Camp Unity," a six week summer program that allowed for "traditional camp activities such as swimming, volleyball and archery," Gresham organized art projects that ranged "from self-portraits to illustrated letters from camp," as stated on the LCVA website.
The LCVA has worked with Crossroads Community Service for four years now by providing the "art component" to the summer camp with a new theme each year. Gresham said, "This year's theme was family."
Describing the process, Gresham said the first step was to write a letter to or about one's family member. "Family might be your mother or brother, but a helpful nurse or an encouraging friend can be like family, also."
Using their own words, the adults in the summer camp created paintings inspired from their letters. Gresham, happy with the process, said, "I think it gives a lot of confidence-type building activities, and it's just really, really fun. And I think with art – everyone at the camp really likes to express themselves through artwork."
While the paintings created by the camp goers ranged in uniqueness from one of flowered and contoured shapes to one of a landscape of a sunset, the letters varied even more so. Structured like poetry, dismantled, stream of conscious, genuine and honest, the letters complemented the paintings to deeper depths than otherwise.
As stated by Gresham in the Farmville Herald, "The letters range from a simple 'Hello' to an appreciation or thanks for loved ones … The works in the exhibition really attest to the individuality of each artist and to the commonalities that link all people."
Unable to choose one favorite painting, Gresham said, "I love them all [the paintings]. To me, they're all so special, and they all have such an individual story. And it's a lot of the same campers every year. So, I feel like I've gotten to make a lot of personal relationships with the campers."
Trisha Kolesar, junior and gallery attendant of the LCVA, appreciated the exhibition, saying, "I think there's a lot of really creative artists out there, and I think this is a really great program … A lot of experience is gained through just hands on [activities]."
If anyone is interested in becoming a bigger influence in the LCVA, Kolesar greatly emphasized the benefits of becoming a volunteer. "I feel like I've learned a lot and that it's given me an appreciation for art because prior to having this job, I didn't really delve into that [gallery] world very much. I didn't know this area very well, and now I feel I have a much better understanding of art."
Exhibited for only a month, "My Family: Art Made at Camp Unity" will remain at the LCVA from Jan. 29 to Feb. 24 at Miller Gallery. Located at 129 Main Street in Farmville, the gallery hours are from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
