TJ Guachione holds up his work “Autumn Leaves, Blue Skies, 2022,” acrylic on canvas, 28″ x 22″. Sponsors include Frames on Wheels, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and individual community members who step forward to support creative inclusion. This exhibit is part of CATA’s Art on Tour program, where original works of art created by CATA artists travel throughout the year to museums, galleries, community centers, and other venues in Berkshire and Columbia counties. All works in the exhibit are professionally matted, framed, and available for sale, with proceeds supporting commissions for the artists. “When I put paint on the canvas, I think of my mom and my brothers and how I feel.” The exhibit, including Carlotto’s chalk pastel on paper, ranges widely in stylistic expression and scale, and features botanical studies, landscapes, wildlife portraits, and abstract paintings. “I like painting because it makes me happy and relaxed, and it brings out everything inside of me,” she said. “We never furloughed any staff, we never furloughed any faculty, we never put programs on hold.” In fact, all hands were needed on deck to work with CATA’s 50 program partners - including day programs, residences, schools, and nursing homes - where CATA brings arts programs and supplies to people with disabilities across Berkshire and Columbia counties.īetsy Carlotto, who credits her mother’s cake-baking business with inspiring her creativity, is another CATA artist who will be featured in “Close Up and Far Away.” Carlotto sees painting as cathartic. “We really, really never stopped,” said Keller. While CATA’s robust programming - to the tune of 1,000+ arts workshops over the course of a year - never stopped, each in-person workshop was reinvented for the virtual world. “They’re engaging in meaningful activity … incredible acts of self expression … connect through something that’s positive, creative, and artistic,” said Keller, noting that the hand-stamped tea towels being created are for sale at One Mercantile. On Tuesday morning, the healing power of the arts was palpable in the nonprofit’s new space on Stockbridge Road - which opened just days before the March 2020 lockdown - as evidenced by the many artists hard at work and connecting with one another during the CATA Direct crafts cooperative workshop. She and her staff see the organization’s work being “even more important, right now.” “The way in which the pandemic has hit people with disabilities, and particularly people with developmental and intellectual disabilities, is still an untold story,” said Margaret Keller, executive director at CATA, who has seen first hand “how the impact of isolation and quarantine has really taken its toll” on CATA artists. proof of vaccination and masks are required to attend.Įric Schumann holds his artwork, “Untitled, 2021,” mixed media on paper, 20″ x 16″. An opening reception will be held Thursday, March 3, from 3-5 p.m. He is one of more than two dozen artists whose work will be featured in “ Close Up and Far Away,” an exhibition of nature-inspired paintings and drawings by artists with disabilities, at the BBG’s Center House Leonhardt Galleries. Schumann, who used watercolors and graphite sticks to create something that “looks a little bit like coral,” has been painting at Community Access to the Arts (CATA) for more than two decades. “We had flowers to look at, but that’s just for inspiration,” he explained. “It’s just a blank piece of paper, but my own interpretation and my own imagination,” the artist told The Edge on Tuesday, pointing to details on his 20” x 16” mixed media work on paper.
#Berkshire edge newspaper series#
STOCKBRIDGE - This past fall, Eric Schumann visited the Berkshire Botanical Garden (BBG) for a series of painting workshops with artist Pat Hogan. THE BERKSHIRE EDGE – Hannah Van Sickle (READ on )
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