An artist's imagination knows no limits.

Think differently about disabilities.

They are way more incredible than any other human being.

When you work with people with disabilities, you have to have a personality.

It works a lot better.

You have to be funny in and be able to joke with them because they don't want somebody that's going to be serious and try to tell them what to do.

So when you're teaching, you have to you have to go about it in a different way that it's not bossing them.

So I had to teach myself that.

And with those type of individuals, you can't just throw it out there like you and I would discuss it.

There was dances involved in teaching, for example, like the horizon line or, you use your body to demonstrate what the perception is and the rule of thirds and how those techniques apply to everyone.

It's it's more than just going in there and teaching it.

You have to, describe it sometimes act it out.

Whatever it takes to get them excited about art.

“Sculpture with Purpose” is IPFWs flagship celebration for our 50th anniversary.

There are 12 sculptures located on IPFWs campus, and then 38 of the sculptures are within the Fort Wayne community.

The majority, approximately 32, are in what most people consider downtown.

Lynne Gilmore from AWS Foundation called and said, you know, can we sponsor a bike rack?

Which would have been great, except we were sold out at that point.

And so we just started having a discussion about other ways that the group could be involved.

And when we mentioned the bike art program and working with FAME, she asked if they could do the same thing for the people involved with AWS.

And it was a light bulb moment.

It was a great idea.

This is your bike.

So we took 50 recycled bicycles, compliments of the City of Fort Wayne Police Department, and gave them to FAME and the AWS Foundation for Children and People with Disabilities to be able to take the bikes and turn them into art three on there, and they are still going to spin.

Personally, I don't see an individual with an disability.

I see an individual with abilities.

Working with this group.

I never saw that disability.

All I saw was individuals that was eager to do art.

We're going to make this be a boxy style car with influences of and empower.

This is what I'm envisioning is like a Chrysler 300.

Every time I went into a meeting, they was, I would say, oh, this is my favorite group.

They all stood out.

They all did something spectacular with what they had to work with.

The group at Turnstone was different from most groups.

They decided to do abstract art.

After seeing their bike, it was really apparent that's what they were going to do because the bike was very shiny brushed metal look, perfect for that type of abstract piece of artwork.

The, Hummer to work with the guys and listen to them laugh.

And the horse.

They were so eager just to do whatever we had asked to get the job done, and that was really exciting to see.

The tree is absolutely amazing.

I think I enjoyed the process more so than the final piece because of the individuals I had.

The opportunity to work with were just so amazing and their teamwork was wonderful.

The dog at Passages went from one medium to another.

We realized at the very end that the medium wasn't going to work, and within a day was able to be achieved.

And Passages group is just very good at everything they do, and they can just jump right in and make it happen no matter what it was.

The bluejay blueberry pie.

They were adamant from the day one.

Their bird would have wings and they would move.

They would not settle for anything else.

That group was all individuals that were transitioning from high school out into the real world.

And it was nice to see how their maturity had taken over them within that course of eight weeks, because they had started out being so excited about a bird and a pie, and then how they combined that they had done research to find the colors that they wanted to use.

And the final result was absolutely amazing.

The boombox was, such a treat.

One of the many of my favorite people, she was deaf and she expressed me every time we met how much she loved me and how happy she was to work with me.

And she was always so eager to use power tools, and it was so exciting to see that group work together and to come up with different ideas and to use their pieces of the bike in ways that I hadn't expected them to be used.

It's a great achievement.

Lucy the Mouse: Lucy will be made out of the frame of a 1970s ish ten speed bike frame.

We're going to use every aspect of the bike.

We're taking off everything we can take off, and we're going to put it where it needs to be.

She will have necklaces and earrings and glasses, and they're the ones that opened my eyes and showed me that you don't need sight to do this.

You just need creativity.

Just because we're blind, it's not going to stop us from doing things we used to do when we when we had eyesight.

You just have to find a different way.

That's right.

Yeah.

And that's kind of what we've done with this bike.

We found a different way to put it together.

This project has actually taught me a few things about myself.

You know that, just because I am losing my eyesight, you know, I didn't think I could tear things apart and put things together and that kind of stuff, but I can I just I have to do it a different way.

We are creating a teapot.

My organization that I represent is made up of 15 women, and I wanted something that was feminine but could be very artistic at the same time, and something that everybody could do a little bit of work on.

She was so eager to see how this process was going and she was so excited.

She said, come and get me early and we can go work on it together.

We would come in and we'd work, and she'd always be the facilitator of the group.

She would always make sure that everybody was doing what they needed to be doing.

If somebody asked for what she needed them to do.

She was eager to give them direction.

And we have special skills and talents just like everybody else, and I think this is an excellent way to showcase it and bring it to the public's eye and let them become aware that we may have a disability, but we are no different than anybody else.

The Public Art project is the first public collaborative art event involving 100 individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities.

This is a very proud day for these very special artists.

The Bike Art Project exemplifies IPFWs longstanding commitment to inclusion and diversity.

We are grateful for the university, including us, in celebrating its 50th anniversary through sculpture with purpose, and I think it's fitting to rename the Bike Art Project bike Art with Purpose.

One, two, again go.

(Singing) The Jesters is a performing arts group of people with developmental disabilities.

And this year, we have 75 performers.

Our performers range in age from about age ten up to senior citizens, and they also range in their level of disability.

We have some very high functioning performers, and then we have some performers who have, pretty profound and severe disabilities.

And we open the program up to anyone.

They're not required to audition, and they don't have to be able to demonstrate a certain skill set.

I really like what they're doing in Jesters now, and they take a lot of input from the participants.

You know, their ideas doesn't mean they do everything that they want, but Paul always feels that he has a voice in it.

And I think that's really great because we all feel better if we have a voice in what's going on, you know, or were heard, okay, we can't do everything you want, but maybe a piece of it.

We approach the work from a very multidisciplinary perspective, so we don't just zero in on theater.

We work on theater and puppets and dance and movement and instruments and voice and this whole range, visual arts.

There's a whole range of, different disciplines so that we can really try to capture the strengths of any individual performer, understanding that people have different interest in different, learning ways of learning.

And we want to create a lot of opportunity to try to tap into whatever works for that unique individual.

The part where you're working with the scarf, what exact movement do you want them doing?

Are they just twirling it?

Allison does a great job with kind of incorporating each of their strengths and and pulling more out of them than maybe they ever imagined they could do.

(Music) I get to see how you grow as a person and be more defined by what he can do instead of what he can't do.

You know, in the beginning, when you're learning of your child being disabled, it's all about what they can't do.

And, you know, as he got older and was involved with the Jesters, it became more of what he can do.

He can get up on stage in front of people.

I mean, in the beginning, that by itself was a big deal because he was pretty afraid of being around people.

And so he would grow bit by bit over time.

He didn't one day just get up there and belt out a song.

No, that was gradual.

A few years ago he had his first solo.

It wasn't a whole song, it was just part of a song.

I just cried my eyes out because I'd never heard him sing like that before.

And for him to do that in front of the whole auditorium of people was just was amazing.

I had a father who came up after a show several years ago, and, he had a performer in the show who was in his mid 20s, and the father had tears in his eyes and he said, this is the first time I've seen my son be successful.

This is the first time I've seen my son do something that was applauded.

And I mean, that's just very moving for me as a parent, for me as an artist, for me as an individual, for me, as just a member of the community.

The more we can give everyone in our community, you know, a chance to be seen and be applauded for something truly deserving.

You know, I just think that creates a win win for everyone.

Him creating art makes him more interested in other art or, going to see a play.

We've gone to a few plays at First Presbyterian, you know, just being more exposed to things like that and wanting to do that.

And, being able to express himself more.

All of us as human beings, I mean, we're on this journey to discover just who we are and how we can express our humanity as divinely as possible.

And I think that's a common denominator that we share with people with disabilities.

They are also on their journey, striving to figure out how can they, how they can express their humanity with as much divinity as possible so that can be done, you know, so many different ways.

There's not a wrong way or a right way to do that.

I don't think I, I do that as an artist, and I'm working with a group of people with disabilities who appear to want to do that as an artist, as indicated by the level of enthusiasm they come to rehearsal with and the fact they keep coming back year after year or so.

I just feel really blessed that we can share that journey together.

And and I guess that's what people I want people to know.

It's a shared journey.

Sometimes you get it right, sometimes you get it wrong.

Sometimes a scene really works, sometimes a scene doesn't.

Sometimes you have a good show, sometimes you don't have a good show.

But I don't really think that's the gauge for our success as a program or as a group.

There's so much more going on in this work.

If you've never come to a Jesters performance.

If you come with an open mind and an open heart, you will be touched and there's just no way you can get around that.

It's to see people that have to live with limitations, that basically you really have no concept of.

And yet they can get out on stage and sing and dance and they just have a good time.

And you can tell that they enjoy being together, they enjoy getting up there, and it's just great.

You just you just feel wonderful when it's over.

We adopted Nathaniel, so we had very little medical history or information about him.

And, we adopted him as a healthy, male infant.

It was clear, though, after a few months that we had some issues, colicky.

Allergies, sensitivities to sound and other issues.

And then by the time he was 3 or 4, well, by the time he was four, we definitely knew that he was hyperactive.

Had him on medication for hyperactivity, but by the time he was four, so we were we were already dealing with some issues.

And it was clear by the time he was five that he was not ready for kindergarten.

He started kindergarten as a six year old.

School was a disaster.

Nothing short of a disaster.

He made no progress.

Could not control himself in school in appropriate ways.

So he was a behavior problem.

Diagnoses.

However, because Nathaniel was very verbal and very active, continually ruled out autism despite the fact that he had all kinds of of other characteristics of an autistic child.

We often say when somebody asks us what Than's diagnosis is, we say, well, it depends upon what day of the week it is and who you're asking, particularly if it was a school program because schools were required to put special needs students in groupings with similar diagnoses and certain age groups.

So they would say, well, we'll give him this diagnosis so they it'll fit in that group.

And it changed.

So the diagnoses with really of little value.

My disability is a very interesting one.

I have ADHD hyper disorder and bipolar disorder of hyperness.

My reading is a third grade level reading.

I am taking reading lessons through my parents and through the staff that work with me.

It was very hard for me in schools and and just life growing up because of my disability.

But I don't let that hold me back.

I am who I am and I'm going to be who I am.

Larry and I gave him a little point shoot camera several years ago for Christmas, and we were getting ready to take our annual trip to Cancun.

And Candy Pease, who was the current art director at that time, said, well, Than, take lots of pictures while you're in Cancun.

And so he took his camera and, you know, his instructions to us were, I have to take lots of pictures while I'm here.

So, you know, we did every opportunity.

We don't forget your camera and every place we went, whether no matter where it was.

He took his camera and came back with just tons of pictures.

Most people will see a scene of something, but yet he looks at the individual parts of it and it brings out the beauty of the individual, parts.

What one person would take know two minutes to do a snapshot of, he would take 20, look at all the different angles and, how the light has is there do on the flowers and try to pick up that do he loves nature more than anything else, but he does do cars and mechanical things, and he gets it from a different aspect.

Sometimes, you know, I just, help him direct him into, you know, well, let's try it from this angle.

Remember how we would do this role and let's so let's try it this way.

But he has a very natural eye for it and he definitely has a love for it.

And, those are two things that you can't really teach.

I think he probably had at least 30 pictures in their art show that year, that year.

And, they were a big success.

Sold all of them.

He sold every single one of them.

It was amazing.

I mean, he was so proud of himself.

So I think was it that year, then that day that Candy set up a private showing.

Yeah.

For him.

And he had to.

No, it was the next year was.

Yeah.

Okay.

It's been a year a second art show success.

Yeah.

With Passages and she set up a one man show, here in town, here in Columbia City.

I never, ever thought because of what I have as a disability, I never thought I would have the eye for photography.

I think the photography is done every bit as much as the as the medication for giving him a very positive sense about himself and, and what he can accomplish.

His family, has done everything they possibly could to make Than successful.

I just see his resilience, and I love to use that word resilience anymore because he is very resilient, no matter how bad it is, no matter what trouble came his way, what barriers that he had to get through to be successful.

He's done that and he's always looked on the positive side of life.

He told me one time that, what did he he simply wanted to succeed.

And for him, succeeding meant getting a degree.

He never finished school.

Never graduated from anywhere.

So I explained to him that succeeding was simply being good at what you enjoyed doing.

And, I think since then, you know, he sees himself as succeeding.

And that's very important.

The Dazzlers is a special needs cheerleading squad, and we have four of us in wheelchairs including me.

Plus, some autistic people, autistic people.

So to be a part of that is just an amazing feeling.

The Whitley County Dazzlers!

Eight years ago, I went to a cheerleading competition to watch my niece cheer.

And they had I was getting bored because there's thousands of cheerleaders doing cheering competitions.

They all look the same, and they had a special needs squad.

And I watched it and I thought, oh, that'd be really cool to have.

I'd come to work every day and I'd be talking.

I'd say, well, my little cheerleading squad would do this, blah, blah, blah, I don't know.

And finally, one day she said, I'm tired.

My coworker.

I'm tired of hearing about this fake cheerleading squad.

Go do it, do it.

And the foundation gave me seed money.

She shut it down a little.

I get it almost.

I go ahead and I sent out letters to, all the schools and said, you know, we're going to meet at the Y. It's free.

Give this to your students.

And I had five, and I and I actually didn't have five off the bat.

I had like two, and I thought, oh, no.

And then they started trickling in and I had five that first year.

And from there it just grew to now we have 16.

20 in December.

I go to college at Indiana Tech and I'm currently studying fashion marketing and management.

I think she needs to go up a little.

Yeah, because I cheered in middle school and I love to cheer.

And then I quit once I got into high school, because high school cheer is a little bit harder then middle school cheer.

And then my school nurse my sophomore year in high school actually gave me a brochure and gave me Vanessas contact information.

And that's how I got involved.

And I've been involved for four years now.

We are the Dazzlers.

We cant be stopped.

When we have practice, sometimes we may only practice for ten minutes out of the hour, and other times we may play ball.

It's just we don't go with a specific, some days I have here's what we're going to do, and then you have to just change.

That's probably some of the struggles I had in the beginning because I couldn't come up with, okay, for five minutes, we're going to exercise.

In ten minutes, we're going to do gymnastics in 20 minutes, we're going to practice because maybe not everybody feels on the same page.

Clap.

Up.

Jump.

Clap.

Up.

Jump.

So that first year was a lot of learning in that aspect.

Now it's hey, if you want to do gymnastics, let's just do it.

We're done with gymnastics.

Go on to do something else.

We we go with the flow.

And I've noticed that the parents go with the flow.

You can't be so rigid.

You just have to go with it.

So, yeah, I've never been a cheerleader before.

So when they came up to me and asked me, I was excited.

We get to go up in front of people and perform, and I think that's just a wonderful feeling.

Two years ago we went down South Carolina and, it was the nationals.

We went out, we performed and then we won.

And it just it was amazing that we won and the medals that those girls got.

And, it was just it was it was amazing time.

Since then we went to Chicago and we competed there.

This year we're going to Gatlinburg.

We went to the Pacers.

I try not to do so many where we're being judged, because I just want us to be more like a family and enjoy the experience straight to the top.

We change our routine slightly every time we go out because somebody's sick.

Somebody can't come, somebody hurt, somebody had a surgery, somebody doesn't want to do whatever they were supposed to do.

So we just switch around.

Those kids never complain.

They never roll their eyes at me.

They never say we can't.

They just look at me like, okay, you're telling me to do this?

I'll do it.

And when I was coaching at the high schools, if I would change something at the last minute, you would have thought I changed everything and they couldn't do it.

And these kids never once ever said that.

And that was the very beginning.

I noticed that if I change something, they just kind of looked at me like, okay, we trust you, you're changing it and let's go.

I don't really think there's a definition of normal because really a disabilitiy, it's an ability and a different way.

I just think it's important to live without limits, not to limit yourself.

Because if you do that, you're not going to be happy.

An artist's imagination knows no limits.

Think differently about disabilities.