AMY STOCKLEIN
The ARTS for ALL Wisconsin Choir rehearses a song using sign language.
Joyful singing fills the cavernous sanctuary of the First United Methodist Church on Wisconsin Avenue. The members of the Madison branch of the ARTS for ALL Wisconsin Choir are lined up in two rows at the front of the church, practicing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and other holiday songs.
Two singers, Cameron Harrison and Lynnea Nielsen, have been part of the mixed abilities choir for 21 years. They met when Nielsen was working as Harrison’s caregiver. Harrison has cerbral palsy and uses a wheelchair. He tells Isthmus he’s excited about upcoming choir practices and performances, including one at the MMoCA Art & Gift Fair. His favorite song? “Jingle Bell Rock.”
“This is a great place for people to come together and get to know each other. It’s a blast,” Nielsen says. She worked with Harrison for two years, and the choir has helped them keep in touch. Organized by the Madison-based, statewide nonprofit ARTS for ALL Wisconsin, it has been tapped to sing the national anthem before UW-Madison Badgers and Madison Mallards games.
“So many people with disabilities have paid relationships that come and go. It’s incredible watching Cameron have a place where he really belongs,” says Nielsen. “It’s very much a community in a world where it’s hard for people to have those relationships,” adding that funding and transportation difficulties keep people apart.
The choir, one of six of its kind around the state, is just one facet of the work of ARTS for ALL, which creates opportunities for people with disabilities to discover their talents, socialize and connect to the community. Founded as Very Special Arts (VSA) in 1985 and renamed in August, the organization is a member of the international VSA organization, part of the Kennedy Center’s Office on Accessibility.
“Something of value is gained by taking in art and music that was created by someone who is often unseen and unheard in our society,” says Christina Martin-Wright, the organization’s executive director. “We are a place where authentic relationships can be made because we see people for exactly who they are and we see value in them, and we meet them exactly where they are.”
ARTS for ALL employs dozens of artists around the state who teach classes and offer five- and 10-week artist residencies in music, drama, visual art and creative movement through local schools and organizations. Nearly 1,000 Madison-area people, ages 3 through adult, participated in residencies last year.
“I like to teach on a spectrum of ability,” says teaching artist and sculptor Leslie Iwai. “Let’s say you move one finger. We can work with that.” Some students are able to participate by observing, listening and collaborating. For others, making their way to the front of the room and hanging up their art is a major win.
One student wanted to draw nothing but Buzz Lightyear. Iwai nudged him to paint the popular character and create him with torn paper. When the student finished his projects early, she encouraged him to assist other students. “He helps people come out of their shells and initiate friendships in the class,” Iwai says.
At its Art Center on Aberg Avenue, ARTS for ALL offers weekly adult classes — eight this fall, including dance, mixed media, Japanese tie-dye, and an arts studio for veterans in partnership with the nearby Madison Vet Center. The Art Center also houses a gallery, which sells works from artists around the state.
“There are lots of hidden disabilities, so we work with a lot of different people. There’s not a form when you walk through the door that says, ‘What disability do you have?’” says Mike Lawler, director of development and external relations. “The benefit goes beyond them because the programs benefit their caregivers, family members and teaching artists.”
“Because of my disability, I really don’t get a whole lot of respect,” says Kathy Dyreson, who has been singing and playing piano with the Madison choir for five years. “It’s been a rough life for me, and being with my friends here...it’s a wonderful group and I love them. I feel comfortable, and I feel like I’m wanted.”
See the ARTS for ALL Choir perform Nov. 16, 11:15 a.m.-noon, on the Rotunda Stage of the Overture Center during the MMoCA Art & Gift Fair
