by Cathy Malchiodi
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In the early '90s, Lefens, a painter, goes to the Metheny School for students with cerebral palsy and other disabilities to show slides of his work. As this intensely moving memoir shows, he becomes obsessed with finding ways to help students, who are in wheelchairs and have no use of their arms or hands, learning to express themselves, devising methods that allow them the freedom to paint. Carefully maneuvering wheelchairs over tinted acrylic produces excellent results, they find, and a laser attached to a welder's helmet can direct a surrogate precisely where to apply the paint to a canvas. His students thrive: some begin speaking more frequently; others experience improvements in their physical well-being. Lefens founds Artistic Realizations Technologies (A.R.T.) to insure these techniques are used by others. Student work becomes so noted that they get gallery showings, sell their paintings and are the subject of a CBS Evening News special. There are obstacles along the way: it is a struggle to get A.R.T. funded; dismissive sentimentalism (and even resentment) is often shown by teachers, administrators, social workers and therapists confronting the work and students. Lefens writes simply and clearly throughout, remaining focused on the students and the task at hand. "The idea," he tells them, "is not to struggle to do things the way that able-bodied people do. The idea is to make art."
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
This is a story of courage and possibilities and of the power of art to transform the lives of its creators. Lefens (founder of Artistic Realization Technologies, or A.R.T.) begins by carefully describing his first encounter with the residents of New Jersey's Matheny School for severely physically challenged students while on a visit to show slides of his artwork. He then goes on to build a riveting narrative about the art classes that he subsequently taught at the school, during which he helped students create their own artworks with the inventive use of wheelchairs, lasers, and assistants (or "trackers") as painting tools. Students soon expressed their own styles freely as individuals and as artists and Lefens invites the reader to become acquainted with each. The results of his efforts were far-reaching art shows in New Jersey and New York, television and press coverage, and the formation of the A.R.T. organization to introduce these techniques to others. Most important, they ignited a passion for art that gave new meaning to the lives of each student as well as to their teacher, who eventually revealed his own personal affliction of deteriorating eyesight. This is a unique look at not only the power of art but also the triumph of the human spirit despite intense obstacles. For circulating libraries. Carol J. Binkowski, Bloomfield, NJ
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
See all Editorial Reviews
In the early '90s, Lefens, a painter, goes to the Metheny School for students with cerebral palsy and other disabilities to show slides of his work. As this intensely moving memoir shows, he becomes obsessed with finding ways to help students, who are in wheelchairs and have no use of their arms or hands, learning to express themselves, devising methods that allow them the freedom to paint. Carefully maneuvering wheelchairs over tinted acrylic produces excellent results, they find, and a laser attached to a welder's helmet can direct a surrogate precisely where to apply the paint to a canvas. His students thrive: some begin speaking more frequently; others experience improvements in their physical well-being. Lefens founds Artistic Realizations Technologies (A.R.T.) to insure these techniques are used by others. Student work becomes so noted that they get gallery showings, sell their paintings and are the subject of a CBS Evening News special. There are obstacles along the way: it is a struggle to get A.R.T. funded; dismissive sentimentalism (and even resentment) is often shown by teachers, administrators, social workers and therapists confronting the work and students. Lefens writes simply and clearly throughout, remaining focused on the students and the task at hand. "The idea," he tells them, "is not to struggle to do things the way that able-bodied people do. The idea is to make art."
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
This is a story of courage and possibilities and of the power of art to transform the lives of its creators. Lefens (founder of Artistic Realization Technologies, or A.R.T.) begins by carefully describing his first encounter with the residents of New Jersey's Matheny School for severely physically challenged students while on a visit to show slides of his artwork. He then goes on to build a riveting narrative about the art classes that he subsequently taught at the school, during which he helped students create their own artworks with the inventive use of wheelchairs, lasers, and assistants (or "trackers") as painting tools. Students soon expressed their own styles freely as individuals and as artists and Lefens invites the reader to become acquainted with each. The results of his efforts were far-reaching art shows in New Jersey and New York, television and press coverage, and the formation of the A.R.T. organization to introduce these techniques to others. Most important, they ignited a passion for art that gave new meaning to the lives of each student as well as to their teacher, who eventually revealed his own personal affliction of deteriorating eyesight. This is a unique look at not only the power of art but also the triumph of the human spirit despite intense obstacles. For circulating libraries. Carol J. Binkowski, Bloomfield, NJ
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
See all Editorial Reviews
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