Amazing Artwork by RIC Students With Disabilities

RIC’s Center for Disability Access (CDA) is inviting faculty, students and staff with a disability who enjoy making art to have their work displayed at the center.

This is an initiative by CDA Coordinator Val Herbst to create programming that celebrate RIC students with disabilities and highlight their achievements. 

So far, six students have brought in art from their personal collection to hang at the center. These artists are Audrey Buckler, Tyler Cordeiro, Samantha “Sammy” Morgan Cote, Brielle Lasorsa, Mag Perceval and Jill Piacitelli. Only Cordeiro is an art major.

They may not be your typical artists but they’ve all found a way to artistically explore life as they know it from angles that give you pause.

At times bold and brilliant, at other times provocative and deeply personal, many of these pieces are impossible to withdraw from.

ART PIECES

“Hey Neighbor,” by Samantha “Sammy” Morgan Cote

This work was created in the style of op art – a form of abstract art that gives the illusion of movement by the precise use of pattern and color. The real star of the piece is the precision it took to create the hundreds of concentric circles.

In her artist statement, Cote writes, “This is a style of op art that I developed over the years that was influenced by my interest in math, geometry, the seed and flower of life symbols, calligraphy, color theory, stain glass and op artists like Victor Vasarely.”

“Our Monsters,” by Brielle Lasorsa

“This piece is an attempt to see through the person we as humans put forth into the social sphere,” writes Brielle. “Each of us has a dark side, a demon, or monster behind a veil. How is yours presented? Where do they reside?”

“Schizo,” by Tyler Cordeiro

“This piece is meant to illustrate the struggle with mental illness. The hand at the bottom is waving a white flag in the form of a mucky bandana. The forms are loose and meant to create an overall sense of confusion,” Cordeiro writes in his artist’s statement.

Cordeiro also designed adaptive jewelry – mobility braces for the hand decorated with jewelry.

“Sunflowers,” by Mag Perceval

This pencil sketch reads: “There is no perction, only life.” Did the artist intend to misspell the word perfection? – “There is no perfection, only life?” Hmmm.

“Resilience,” by Jill Piacitelli

This image is accompanied by a poem in which the artist reminds the viewer to “keep your light no matter how hard, no matter how dim, no matter how many obstacles come along. Keep your light. Me, them, we, all matter and we all deserve to feel like we do.”

“Chrysalis,” by Audrey Buckler

In her artist statement, Buckler writes, “I painted this not only in an attempt to express my feelings of overwhelm and stagnation in dealing with my depression, anxiety and other stressors in my life, but also to shine light on my situation and to value the phase of life I was in, having hope that I’ll come out better on the other side. It was helpful for me to see myself as a butterfly in its cocoon, acknowledge that it’s necessary to recharge and have slower periods, and acknowledge that I’m not always going to feel and to be ready to “fly,” and that’s okay.”

This exhibit is open to the campus community. Visit Gaige Hall 320 to view the work of these artists and/or to unveil your own work. Pieces will be on display for the full semester and rotated as new pieces come in. For more information, email the Center for Disability Access at cda@ric.edu.