Arc A.R.T. at MOCA

The Arc Jacksonville is making sure that physical challenges don’t keep anyone from creating works of art.

Through its A.R.T. program, The Arc Jacksonville helps children and adults with severe physical challenges create works of art using “surrogate hands”.  The “surrogate hands” are provided by an Arc Jacksonville Staff member who serves as a tracker.  While the artists don’t physically paint the pieces themselves, each decision about the painting is theirs.  Through the yes/no process, the the artist directs the tracker as to the size of the canvas, the exact color of each brushstroke, the size and shape of the brush used, shapes based on finding points and even the mixture of colors.  For some pieces, a laser light is strapped to the artist’s head and the tracker follows the light with paint on the canvas.

OCT artist Maurice Olayinka

On January 7th, The Arc Jacksonville hosted an exhibit of work from the A.R.T. program at MOCA.  Sketches completed by UNF student Maurice Olayinka were featured for the first time ever.  Olayinka is part of The Arc Jacksonville’s On-Campus Transition (OCT) partnership program with UNF.

More than 30 guests were on hand for the opening, with several of them purchasing artwork for their personal collections.

Photos from the exhibit are below.