The Matheny Arts Access Program empowers artists with disabilities to create art without limits. Regardless of their disabilities, artists are provided with the tools and materials needed to produce masterful works of art that are distinctly their own. Since 1993, Arts Access has developed and refined a specialized communication and choice system that allows highly trained facilitators to provide neutral assistance to participants with physical and developmental disabilities, enabling them to participate fully in the visual, literary, and performing arts. Every choice comes from the participant, from paint color and brush stroke, to dance movement and theatrical staging, to each written word. The results are completed pieces of work born of the imaginations of the Arts Access artists, finally free of the limitations imposed by their disabilities so they may fully express their personal voices and visions.
Matheny’s Arts Access Program began more than 30 years ago as a way for individuals to overcome their physical challenges and express themselves through the arts while retaining complete control of their work. The program was founded as an extension of Matheny Medical and Educational Center, a non-profit school and hospital in Peapack, NJ, established in 1946 to serve people with physical and developmental disabilities. Originally founded as a creative outlet for Matheny’s residents, Arts Access has impacted nearly 100 artists throughout New Jersey since its inception. In 2000, the Robert Schonhorn Arts Center was built on the Matheny campus, housing a spacious art studio, a professional gallery space, and a fully accessible theater.
On Saturday, November 23, the Matheny Arts Access Program will present an opening reception for this fine art exhibition and performance at the Arts Council of Princeton. Guests will have the opportunity to peruse and purchase paintings that are as diverse as the artists themselves – from gestural abstractions and rigid, geometric forms to meditative color studies. The variation in styles and themes is representative of the individuality of each artist, and proves that there is no limit to what an artist can create. Following the reception, guests will enjoy a 45-minute performance of poetry readings and dances written and choreographed by the Arts Access artists. This exciting multidisciplinary event is a demonstration of the ways that individuals with disabilities make their ideas, imagination, and creativity come to life.
