From left, Arts Access director Eileen Murray, artist Cindy Shanks and Matheny president Steve Proctor.

Three artists from Matheny’s Arts Access Program attended the opening reception on May 19 for “New Jersey Medical School – ARTS,” an exhibit on display in the Medical Science Building of UMDNJ in Newark from May through August. The artists – Jessica Evans, Luis Rodriguez and Cindy Shanks – had paintings in the exhibit, along with nine other Arts Access artists. Arts Access enables people with disabilities to create fine art, assisted by professional artist-facilitators.

Art from three Arts Access satellite programs – the WAE Center of JSDD (Jewish Services for the Developmentally Disabled of Metrowest, Inc.) in West Orange, NJ; the Arc of Mercer County in Ewing, NJ; and Hattie Larlham in Twinsburg, Ohio – are part of the ARTS exhibit as well. In fact, staff members from Hattie Larlham, a facility for children and adults with developmental disabilities, visited Matheny on May 20 to spend the day with Arts Access staff members and artists.

Jessica Evans in front of her painting, “Trapped and I Can’t Get Out.”

“The Reflecting Pool” by Cheryl Chapin.

For the second consecutive year, paintings and digital art by artists in Matheny’s Arts Access Program will be part of a special exhibit, “New Jersey Medical School – ARTS” in the Medical Science Building at UMDNJ in Newark.

An opening reception will be held from 2 p.m. -4 p.m. on Sunday, May 20. The exhibit will run through the end of August.

Nine Arts Access artists will be featured. In addition, artwork from three Arts Access satellite programs – the WAE Center of JSDD (Jewish Services for the Developmentally Disabled of Metrowest, Inc.) in West Orange, NJ; the Arc of Mercer County in Trenton, NJ; and Hattie Larlham in Twinsburg, Ohio – will be on display as well.

Arts Access enables people with disabilities to create fine art, assisted by professional artist-facilitators. All artwork is for sale, with half the proceeds going directly to the individual artist and the other half going to Matheny to cover the cost of art materials, stretching and framing of the work.

For more information on the UMDNJ exhibit, contact Eileen Murray at (908) 234-0011, ext. 442, or email her at Eileen@artsaccessprogram.org.

Untitled by Cindy Shanks.

Alexis Reynolds familiarizes herself with a gait trainer, a walker that supports patients who cannot hold themselves in a standing position. At left is Matheny physical therapist Tara Wach.

We at Matheny are doing our part to ensure that future healthcare professionals understand how to care for and treat people with disabilities. Every year, a group of physical therapy students from UMDNJ visit Matheny to learn about the needs and equipment required by persons with developmental disabilities.

During this year’s visit, the PT students rotated through seven stations dealing with switch access, communication devices, pressure mapping, standing and adaptive tricycles, power and manual wheelchairs, gait trainers and recreational activities.

UMDNJ PT student Melissa Mendez tries out a wheelchair that converts to a stander.