Walk into
the Mailman Center for Child Development in the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial
Medical Center, and you'll feast on dozens of framed artworks by Miami-Dade County Public
School students. You'll marvel at the texture, the whimsy, the vision of the watercolors,
etchings and collages.
What you won't know from the plaque accompanying each work is that
these artists are disabled. And the staff that has put this permanent collection together
wants that morsel of information to stay that way, in the background where it does not
disturb the art.
''It's a wonderful message for the families that come here,'' says
Paula Lalinde, Mailman's training coordinator. ``This is what we should be doing, showing
them off, and the brightness and cheerfulness make for a nice environment.''
The Mailman Center is a nine-story building that houses research,
training, and services for children with developmental, behavioral, learning and
neurological disorders. In 1996, while putting together the center's brochure, someone
thought it might be a good idea to put a child's artwork on the cover. If a picture paints
a thousand words, surely one by a child with a disability would state a mission
eloquently.
The staff found just the right piece, by an autistic child, at a
student exhibit at Biscayne Garden Elementary. And they discovered something else: about
25 other works that should be exhibited in the permanent collection.
The center hosted a spring art opening for the children and their
families. The children received $20 gift certificates and plenty of applause. The reaction
was overwhelmingly positive. ''We were giving a voice to these children,'' says Dr.
Jeffrey Brosco, a pediatrician and associate director. ``It was a recognition of value for
their work.''
With the encouragement of Dr. R. Rodney Howell, chairman of
pediatrics, the art search has become an annual event. Teachers in about 50 schools select
the best student work and submit those to a five-member jury. Last year, fewer than 35
were chosen out of about 120 submitted. The students range from 3 to 21 years old, from
very physically impaired to learning disabled. Some are typical children's drawings;
others, such as a pencil drawing of the Virgin Mary, are incredibly elaborate. Matted and
framed, the pieces become part of the Mailman's ArtAbilities Collection, which decorates
the center's first three floors. In June, the students and their families are invited to a
gallery opening.
''We get six or seven people per child, and they are so very
excited about it,'' Lalinde says. ``There's a lot of pride and appreciation by the parents
and the community representatives. It's certainly the best day of my year.''
For the children, it is much-needed validation. Ray Azcuy,
Miami-Dade's district supervisor for art education, says it gives his students a sense of
``Hey, I'm good. Somebody has noticed.''
''A lot of these kids are singled out for not doing well in
academics or for their physical limitations,'' Azcuy explains. ``But none of these things
stop them from doing art, from creating. At Mailman, their talent is being celebrated very
publicly.''
Nathalie LaPorte, an eighth-grader at Thomas Jefferson Middle
School in north Miami-Dade, has three pieces hanging at the Mailman Center. Born
prematurely at 6 months and now with a learning disability and blind in one eye, the
13-year-old has her heart set on becoming a professional artist, thanks to the recognition
from her teachers.
''I can't even begin to explain what it means to her,'' says her
mother, Sonia Samuel Bean. ``Nathalie loves her art. Wherever I go with her, she has a
piece of paper and pencil, and she draws everywhere. This is truly a gift.''
Last year, encouraged by the art program's success, Brosco, who has
a PhD in history with a specialty in the history of disabilities, visited Riviera Middle
School in west Miami-Dade to propose a plan to special education kids as well as honor
students. He wanted them to think about how they could make a disabled person's life
better.
Their responses came by image and written word. Some were simple:
''I can make a difference by . . . helping them find a classroom or an address. . .''
Others turned to the practical -- one student suggested lowering the elevator buttons so
people in wheelchairs would not have to struggle.
The students' work was then used by professional artist Xavier
Cortada to create a collaborative mural that included a timeline of the history of
disabilities, exhibited in January at the Casa Grande Cultural Center in Little Havana.
The timeline tracked the history of how U.S. policy toward the disabled has gradually
changed, from ignorance at the turn of the century with few, if any, programs, to
sterilization laws in the 1920s, and finally to a grass-roots movement for the rights of
the disabled that began in the 1950s. In the 1940s, for instance, no federal funds were
budgeted for the disabled. Now, the federal government spends about $40 billion on
education, health and research.
''This is the story of really good news,'' explains Brosco, who
hopes to make the history of disability art into a traveling exhibit. ``It's an important
message to get across to students and families who might be disappointed and frustrated by
what there is out there. It also teaches them that they can make a difference.''
The collaboration brought together two groups of students who might
not have interacted on campus. Lourdes Bravo, a special education art teacher at Riviera
Middle and one of the several instructors who worked on the timeline program, tells how
the honors English students learned about different disabilities and what it's like to
travel about in a wheelchair.
''There's more awareness now of who these individuals really are
and what they have to offer,'' Bravo says. ``We hope they carry that awareness into high
school and into adulthood. I've already seen it around school. Maybe it's not a
friendship, but it's interaction. We need a lot more steps, but we've already taken that
first step.''
For more information about the art exhibit, visit www.cortada.com or http://pediatrics.med.miami.edu