The ARTiculations Ability Exhibition, a forum for artists with disabilities from Genesee, Wyoming and Orleans counties to publicly display their work, will welcome a new artist from the Genesee Regional Independent Living Center (ILGR) and reopen at its offices at 319 West Main Street in the Crickler Executive Business Center in Batavia on Thursday, July 1, 2024. The exhibition, titled “Art Unspoken,” will feature work by Megan Benzie.
She says, “I’m an artist with a genetic condition and I enjoy sharing my work with the world. I want everyone’s lives to be full of color and meaning. I want to create work that will stay in someone’s heart.”
A reception with the artists and refreshments will be held at the ILGR offices on Monday, July 8, from 4-6 pm. The exhibit, the result of a partnership between ILGR and the University Heights Arts Association (UHAA), will run through September 30, 2024.
background
Megan’s adoptive parents first met her in Guatemala when she was 10 weeks old. She returned to Wyoming County with her adoptive parents at 5 months old, and is now an 18-year-old U.S. citizen. Her family had to take her to Philadelphia to see a specialist for a rare and incurable genetic disease, but thanks to equestrian therapy using retired therapy horses kept at a nearby stable, she is able to get by without her power wheelchair at times. When she’s homebound, she expresses herself through art. Though self-taught, she’s grateful for her incredible teacher, Diane Campbell, who encouraged her since sixth grade and recently received the district-wide Iroquois Superintendent’s Award.
An admirer of the late Mexican surrealist painter Frida Kahlo and similar artists, she loves to paint portraits of people’s pets, especially their eyes, and often paints her with her bird, Claude, on her shoulder and her cat, Esther, on her lap.
Invitation
Other artists with disabilities in the Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming County areas are encouraged to submit work to this juried competition. Additional exhibitions are scheduled quarterly at ARTiculations in the future.
For questions regarding the event, please call Catherine DeMare at (585) 815-8501, extension 400.
Independent Living of the Genesee Region (ILGR), part of the Western New York Independent Living, Inc. family, offers a wide range of services to help individuals with disabilities regain control of their lives.