Business & Tech
Art Ability Runs Through Jan. 20 at Bryn Mawr Rehab
The Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital program serves as a showcase for, and celebration of, artists with disabilities.
The halls of Bryn Mawr Rehab are decked with artwork, as they are every year during the Art Ability exhibition and sale.
Now in its 17th year, Art Ability showcases the creations of artists with disabilities. The exhibition is open to the public during during the hospital's normal business hours.
Malvern resident Romaine Samworth is among the artists whose work is featured. The exhibit literature gives some biographical information:
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After she became blind at the age of eight, Samworth missed being able to paint and draw. A new world opened up to her when she learned to sculpt as she was able to shape the objects she remembered seeing. She has attended Form in Art classes at the Philadelphia Museum of Art for over twenty years and has exhibited at the National Exhibits of Blind Artists. She has exhibited in Japan, San Francisco, the Pennsylvania Governor's Mansion, the Art Ability exhibit at Bryn Mawr Rehab and various other places in Pennsylvania.
Main Line Health says the goal of the program is to foster a better appreciation of people with disabilities and encourage the artists:
Through art, we hope to inspire patients to reach beyond their limitations, and to encourage people with disabilities to explore their own creativity.
The exhibit has grown immensely since its inception in 1996, when it featured the work of 40 artists:
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Today, the exhibit and sale is ten-weeks in length and in 2011-2012 featured more than 400 pieces of art, sculpture and jewelry by 195 artists representing 32 states and 7 countries. In the 2010 exhibit, more than 60 artists sold 134 pieces of work and $37,100 of sales proceeds were provided directly to artists. Additionally, $7,500 was awarded to 33 artists for artistic excellence.
The public can view and purchase artwork Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital, 414 Paoli Pike in Malvern, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
[Exhibit photos printed with permission of Bryn Mawr Rehab.]
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