Saved by rock ‘n roll!
by Beth
I loved this article in the Chicago Reader about Arts of Life Inc., a nonprofit that encourages adults with developmental disabilities to explore visual and performance art—and to show it off in mainstream public venues. I was especially taken by the way the article highlighted Kelly Stone, a young man with autism who sings in the Arts of Life Band. Denise Fisher, cofounder and executive director of Arts of Life is quoted in the article about the improvements Stone has shown since joining the band:
He came to us with very little language because of his autism—not that he couldn’t talk, but because he didn’t understand the value of using language, so he would become very physical,” Fisher says. “And now he’s singing onstage.”
The story is more than just a “isn’t that cute” piece about a band made up of people who have disabilities — it discusses the lack of funding for services for adults with disabilities and whether or not music and art qualify as “work.”
Denise Fisher said in the article that while sending people with disabilities to workshops every day might have been a creative idea in the 70s, The only thing workshops provided was busy work. She described it this way: “Practice sorting these colored poker chips and we’ll find you a job—and the job never comes.”
The article highlights major music venues in Chicago where the Arts of Life Band has opened for the headliner, and points out that visual artists from Arts of Life display and sell their work at Starbucks and at Chicago art galleries and outdoor art fairs. Still, some disability advocates argue that making art all day can be just like stacking red and blue poker chips: busy work. I’ll end here with one last quote from the story and let you decide for yourself.
“We use art as a tool to teach things that are important to people—dignity, self-efficacy, independence,” Fisher says—things the residents hadn’t necessarily been thought capable of learning.