Enabling Creativity through Art - Chevy Chaser 2005

The Chevy Chaser
June 2005
Enabling Creativity through Art
By Lisa Davidson
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Soft, melodic tones set the mood while the artists at Latitude put down their pens, markers, and paintbrushes, move to an open area, and prepare for their weekly yoga session. The lights are lowered and the soft voice of Latitude staffer and yoga instructor Teresa Thompson gently coaxes each body into a relaxed state through stretching and breathing exercises. One young woman is almost is bent almost completely to the floor while Teresa helps others with a compassionate hand. “Now stretch your arms way up,” she instructs. “Arthur, go up as far as you can.” The young man reaches for the sky, though his arms barely leave the armrests of his wheelchair.
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Slowly poses are broken, lights are restored, the soft sounds are replaced by the upbeat tempo of The Rolling Stones. It’s now time for lunch then creative free time begins again.
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For these people it’s another good day filled with art, music, yoga, and friends. Labeled as having developmental disabilities (both mental and physical), the adults at Latitude, as day arts program designed to give its participants meaningful community opportunities as well as a creative outlet, overcome many obstacles from day to day. For some it is simply getting dressed in the morning, for others it’s raising your arms “to the sky” during Wednesday yoga, yet despite these challenges each student arrives energized and excited for the day ahead within the bright, creative walls of 167 Saunier Street.
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Latitude, a Medicaid Certified of Supported Community Living (SCL) services, is the four-year-old brainchild of longtime friends and co-workers Bruce Burris and Crystal Bader. “We really wanted to be situated downtown,” said Burris. “We’re a for-profit, not a non-profit, because we want people to understand that what people here are giving to the community is more than what they receive.”
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The program is open to anyone in the community, mentally challenged or not. Participating artists can also pay for services privately, if Medicaid funding is not available.
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Inside the doors of this hip, downtown, two-story loft, you can find all sorts of amazing talent, from the much-publicized Jessie Dunahoo and his plastic bag sculptures to Charlie Clayton and his compelling volume of skeleton cartoons- he can kick out 100 and hour.
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“Charlie is a very talented artist who has exhibited in a number of group shows. Most significantly Charlie worked as an artist-in- residence at Transylvania University,” said Bader. “Jessie Dunahoo is an artist who creates outdoor environments, using recycled materials- plastic bags, fabrics, etc. Jessie grew up in rural Kentucky blind and deaf and made use of the materials available to him to construct these functional outdoor shelters. His tent, for example, has a built in sleeping bag.”
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Another well-known Latitude artist is Beverly Baker, who has displayed her ballpoint pen and marker drawings in many group exhibits and in two solo shows. Her work is in many collections.
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“Beverly is the only artist who attends Latitude five days a week, using Latitude as a studio,” said Bader. “Her drawings began on found paper before she was recognized as an artist and offered a wider range of media. Her markings are sharp, deliberate, emotional, and full of movement. She has exhibited nationwide, including a recent solo exhibit at the Carnegie Center.” -----
“Her paperwork from the state says says she suffers from sever mental retardation,” said Burris. “I really don’t agree with the labels-instead we really try to connect in a humane way. We are all individuals and we have to make sure that we always have expectations, that we always see the potential in people. This isn’t the Ritz-but there isn’t the moaning and screaming people normally associates with mental disability facilities.”
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Both Burris and Bader have a lot of experience working with different disability programs, including the Arc of the Bluegrass’ Minds Wide Open art center, which Burris founded in 1998.
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“I started Minds Wide Open as a community program because many of the state social service programs ran like hospitals,” said Burris. “I modeled Minds Wide Open after one I worked with in Oakland, Calif., Creative Growth, which was the first community based art center for adults with disabilities, created in 1972 by Dr. Elias Katz. I wasn’t planning on staying when I originally came here, but I did want to introduce a similar program to show people there was potential here.”
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While at Minds Wide Open, Burris met Bader. “I began my career at an adult day program in Lexington where I experienced very little support. Plus there was a lack of meaningful activities available for people thought to have disabilities,’ said Bader, who is therapeutic recreation specialist. “My firs encounter with Minds Wide Open occurred when I accompanied a group from the adult day program to experience the only creative opportunities in the week. I was excited by the energy of the program (and the director, Bruce) and hopeful that, yes, there were better options for Kentucky’s disability community. My schooling promised me an array of supportive community opportunities that simply do not exist in Kentucky. I recognized MWO as the exception and pursued a part-time position, which became full time. In 2001, Bruce and I started our own program, Latitude.”
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There are different choices for people with developmental disabilities including programs like the Adult Day Center of Lexington, Cardinal hill Health Adult Day Health, Connections and the Stewart Home, but unfortunately there aren’t a lot of day programs that specifically focus on the arts.
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“The arts challenge us to continually think outside the box,” said Bader. ‘They provide our community with a shared interest and bring important issues to life, People with disabilities are innovative thinkers, too. They have a place in our community and the arts a door to their community.”
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Unfortunately the gap between mainstream culture and that of the mentally challenged is still a wide one. Unless you work with someone who has a mental disability, chances are you aren’t exposed to this part of the community. This mentality is exactly why, when we do get a chance to interact with the mentally challenged in a proactive environment, we are so overwhelmed and disconcerted-its like entering a secret chamber-at least that’s how I felt when I first walked through the doors at Latitude.
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To see this group of 10-12 individuals leafing through classic and picture books alike, painting multi-hued, abstract self-portraits, composing poetry, and participating in weekly yoga ns dance sessions are sights and sounds I will always remember. The warmth and caring that goes into these daily teachings is visibly heartfelt and easily reciprocated.
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The participants at Latitude divide their time between structure classes such as dance and yoga, and free time. “People have their own niche,” said Thompson. “We like to give them space to create what they want.”
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“I started volunteering, then when an opening came up, I took it,” said Thompson. “The opportunity to work with Bruce and Crystal and the love I developed for these artists, it was too good to be true. I’ve become so attached to everyone- my students are so warm and caring. Working to integrate then into the community and raising awareness about our program is so fulfilling.”
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Arts-only programs have sprouted throughout the Bluegrass over the past decade, but compared to other states, Kentucky lags behind when it comes updating older programs and implementing newer ones that benefit both the developmentally disabled and the communities in which they live.
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“Kentucky has yet to reach out statewide to embrace the trends in art and disability. With a little travel time and research, the state of Kentucky could benefit from the knowledge and expertise of innovative art programs in states such as Ohio and California.” Said Bader. “What can be done to secure these programs? Kentucky’s Division of Mental Health and Retardation and University Educational Institutions should encourage and financially support a dialog and reach out for input beyond themselves, making it a broader statewide conversation. As it stands, Kentucky’s disability support systems are stagnant.”
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Because the SCL Waiver, designed to introduce or keep people with developmental disabilities in the community, is still new in Kentucky, there are thousands still waiting to get into these programs, but the wheels are in motion to ensure this process is as efficient as possible.
----“While Latitude is giving the people we serve a purpose in life, I am reaping the very same benefit,” said Bader. “I feel that my work is enabling community connections, individual growth, and the opportunity to choose a meaningful life. The most rewarding aspect of my job is that I own a business that makes the world a better place. How many business owners can say that?”

Blind Ambition 'W' Weekly August 2, 2007

W Weekly

Blind Ambition
Without sight or sound, Jessie Dunahoo manifests his own reality
By Robbie Clark

Its hard to imagine what goes through Jessie Dunahoo’s mind as he laboriously weaves hundreds of recycled plastic grocery bags together with impeccably straight seams as he renders his 3-D spacial installations. It’s hard to imagine if he’s pleased with the finished product as its strangely draped across a spider web network of ropes, strings and wires. He’s never seen a finished product. Jessie Dunahoo is blind, deaf and has a developmental disability.

Regardless of his disability, Jessie works with vigor and tenacity of a young farm hand trying to finish his daily chores before the sun goes down, pulling threads and needles from his denim overhauls while he uses his legs to pull the material taught as he sews. He communicates using erratic sign language while others draw patterns in his hand. He isn’t distracted, and his sense of touch becomes his eyes as he feels the fringes looking for the next step in his process. “A whole lot of what he is doing is controlling the very little space he actually has control over,” said Bruce Burris, the co-owner of Latitude Artist Community, an arts program geared to meet the needs of artists who have disabilities where Jessie has created for over eight years. “I think, though it’s sure as hell not fair to say these things because I really don’t know, that it’s about having some control over the very little space he owns. He works by feel; I can’t add anything to it. I can’t even tell you where he gets his needles. They materialize. I don’t know where he gets them from.”

It’s hard to tell Jessie’s story, as he can’t tell it himself. For a few years, he did attend the Kentucky School for the Blind, but he was mostly left to his own devices while he was raised on a farm through the ‘30s and ‘40s, when he began his unique manipulation ans assemblage of outdoor spaces which have proliferated into his golden years.

Now Jessie lives in a group home and spends about eight hours a day, three days a week at Latitude with other artists.

“Jessie inspires all of us in an incredible way as role model for other artists here,” Burris said, “Outside of Latitude, he functions, as they say in the business, at a pretty high level. He does need certain supports to help him, but truly he’s incredibly self-sufficient, and what he gets out of his work, primarily, is self-satisfaction. He’s really pleased when other people enjoy it, but he’s seems to be making this work for his own very personal reasons, as a way, I think, to alter and control his environment.”

Jessie’s work has been recognized outside of Latitude, and he’s exhibited at the University of Kentucky Rasdall Gallery and The Transylvania University Shearer Gallery. He was the featured artist in 2003 for the Successful Aging for People with Disabilities Conference and the Sanders Brown Conference on Aging, both at UK.

On August 6, Jessie will turn 75 years old, and in a striking coincidence, will have his work on exhibition at three different places throughout the month of August.

“The kind of thing he makes, it’s ungainly,” Burris said. “They are mostly three dimensional and they are difficult to place in homes and sometimes even in galleries. Just trying to enlighten people about them is excruciating. Lexington just doesn’t have the type of space we need show his work off well.”

Given Jessie uses recycled plastic bags in his creations; an installation was an obvious choice for the Lexington Art League’s current exhibit Recycled Matter(S). Later in the month, the Lexington Art League has invited Jessie to present an installation at the Woodland Art Fair, where it can be hung the way it was intended outside. On Saturday, Aug. 4, Jessie and five other Latitude artists will open their exhibit at Jones Gallery on Maxwell Street.

It’s and impressive showing for an individual who might not even consider his creation art. “I don’t think he sees it as art, so it’s kind of unfair to call it art, but that’s how we promote it,” Burris said. “Its an amazing thing; it’s a combining of many different components which lead eventually to this thing we recognize as an accomplished art object. All we do is take what he is already doing and providing enough support to say, ‘Hey, this is important work, it’s of value. You should consider it, and perhaps through it get some small understand of the man who created it.”

This is also another function Latitude hopes to perform, giving exposure to artists while downplaying their disabilities.

“As much as possible we try to minimize even bringing up disabilities,” Burris said. It’s impossible not to, because when artists are exhibiting at a gallery, beyond the art itself there is also a natural interest in the life of the artist.”

Unique to Latitude, which Burris and Crystal Bader opened seven years ago, is its community and social advocacy capacities toward enriching downtown Lexington. Burris want to empower artists and give them a voice by enabling them to make contributions, not arbitrary contributions, but meaningful contributions to the community.

One of the most important contributions came form the artist Belinda Sellers, who, because of the problems associated with accessibility she encountered in her wheelchair downtown, started Project Easy Access Lexington, which has brought attention to the inadequacies of downtown in terms of transportation and sidewalks. The group has hosted two public rallies at Triangle Park, where they took people on the an In- Accessibility tour, a four block jaunt that highlighted the very basic problems on the street level, such as curb inclines and gaping holes in the sidewalk. To supplement this group, Sellers started the Brick Squad, where she, Burris and other artists tote bricks and sand with them on daily outings from Latitude and repair pieces of damaged sidewalk themselves, one brick at a time.


Sellers and Burris also pitched the idea to Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government to from a commission on disability, which will meet for the first time on Aug. 30. Both were asked to serve on the commission.

“Here’s a woman in a wheelchair with no formal education, is considered to have a developmental disability and absolutely no voice in the world… And she has totally gone from a person who was marginalized to a person who is a player, a key part of what occurs. To us, this is the most significant part of our program.”

An Attitude Adjustment, Nougat Magazine Feb. 2006

Nougat, February 2006
An Attitude Adjustment
By Samieh Shalash`
.........................Beverly Baker cover art
(Excerpt)
Lexington has been a hub of artwork and political activity since it opened in 2000. Co-owner Bruce Burris worked briefly at Creative Growth in California in the early 1980’s, but wanted Latitude to expand beyond the idea of just being an arts place.

“The idea is so much more than simply being a place where people make art,” he said. “It goes beyond that through political life and the ways in which people access their community.”
Latitude provides support to about 35 artists and is big on involving them in local events. Burris focuses on finding a place in the community for people with disabilities to make a positive impact.
“They’re kept out of any real community conversations and are marginalized in the respect that they don’t have any real opportunity to create something representative of the real ideas they have,” he said.

Latitude provides support to about 35 artists. Participants have taken part in anti-war protests at Triangle Park, created a costumed magician mad from brightly colored rags for Lexington’s Mardi Gras Jazz parade and made posters for a variety of rallies and events. They are also regularly spotted at Gallery Hops and other arts events.

Burris almost doesn’t know where to begin when asked to describe how Latitude has touched people’s lives. So he pauses for a moment before delving into the story of Beverly Baker.

“In her records, she’s considered on paper tot have “severe mental retardation,” he said. “But since she’s been at Latitude she’s exhibited work all over the U.S. Major collectors own her work. She received the first grant for a person with such a disability from the Kentucky State Arts Council and the list goes on and on…

He calls Lexington a better place to be because of Beverly and points out the impact her artwork has had on the people who have come into contact with it.

Disabled adults can be supported and loved their whole lives, he said, “but in our culture folks never say once ‘this person is really contributing, gosh, it’s great that person is part of this community is better for having another great artist.”

Fundraiser for NYC bound Latitude Artists- Nougat Magazine Dec. 2007

Nougat Magazine December 2oo7

NYC Artist Reception and Fundraiser at Latitude Friday December 7, 5-7pm

Lexington Artists to bite Big Apple!

Jones Art+ Design: a curiosity cabinet
“Welcome to the curiosity cabinet. Grab an Ale 8 One or a beer and take look around”. Thus I was introduced to Phillip Jones, artist, art lover, back road rambler, owner of Jones Art + Design and one very curious fellow. Phil is adamant about creating an atmosphere in his shop that is comfortable for anyone who happens to drop by, and he goes to great lengths to avoid calling his “shop” a gallery, which he considers “too stuffy”.

A recent trip to NYC
On a recent trip to New York City, Phil dropped by the Andrew Edlin Gallery and while chatting informally with their curator Michele Thurz, he proposed that the Edlin Gallery use their project space, a kind of all purpose space, secondary to their main space, to host an installation from Jones Art + Design. On one level it would be an exhibit of work from Jones and on another, a working independent shop within the Edlin Gallery. During discussions with Phillip, Michelle noticed work by Latitude artist Jessie Dunahoo and awarded him a solo exhibit in the primary gallery space.

Commenting on Jessie’s work Michele writes, Dunahoo instinctively creates malleable sculptural objects. His craft is vested in the tradition of quilt making. Quilts are usually stitched together from available materials; personal and practical like the origins of most craft. Jessie utilizes this heritage, craft as his language/ medium. His objects are purposefully arranged, layered, stitched. The quilt embodies the action of collecting, preparing and the physicality of the stitch. The analogy for the stitch is the mark of the maker. Through the use of layering an object is built. These stacks of quilts are quiet yet loaded with information waiting to be read like a pop book –unfolding into three-dimensional drawings that create an intricate structure and a prismatic narrative.

A can-do attitude or maybe plucky is the word!
One thing that all those in the Edlin Gallery exhibit share is a true can-do attitude. The artists also believe that this exhibit involves something larger than just them, as Jim Clark of Lex Arts says “I think Phillip Jones has tapped into something at the Edlin Gallery that could pay dividends for artists in Lexington. The New York City art market is always looking for new work, and it is especially interested in art coming from outside the known market system. Strangely enough, Kentucky is considered exotic because so few people in the art world, except for those involved in Folk Art, know about the artists living in central Kentucky. Because we have so many talented visual artists working in and around Lexington, this exhibit at Edlin might generate greater curiosity amongst other art dealers and collectors”.

Lexington artist Arturo Sandoval adds, "It’s fantastic that Jesse Dunahoo and other Latitude artists have been selected to exhibit at the Andrew Edlin Gallery in Chelsea. Lexington should be very proud that Latitude artists have been invited to exhibit in the art capitol of the world”.

Reception for artists and fundraiser for trip to NYC at LatitudeHalf the artists in the NYC exhibit create work at Latitude Artist Community. Due to expenses related to travel, many of the artists will not be able to go to NYC and for those who do; funds are very limited. For these reasons Latitude will host a reception to honor all those who are exhibiting, and a fundraiser to raise money for travel expenses at Latitude, December 7th from 5-7pm.

Yoga Without the Mat- Lexington Herald-Leader 2007

Yoga without the mat
‘Chair yoga’ allows more to reap exercise’s benefits
By Jillian Ogawa
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER

The tiger, fish, dog, and bird —
you’d think it would be impossible to
keep these animals in a chair. But
Teresa Thompson manages every
week.

The animals are actually names of yoga poses that have been modified so that they can be done in a chair instead of on a mat. Dubbed “chair yoga,” the exercises cater to people who have limited range of motion, such as those who arepregnant or in wheelchairs. “I walk three miles a day, but it’s not half as good as yoga,” said Elmer Brewer, 73, who participates in the weekly chair yoga class held at the Lexington Senior Center. “You’re never too old to start.”

Chair yoga poses draw from Hatha Yoga postures, a common form of yoga. Thompson modified common mat poses, such as “up dog” and “down dog” postures, for a chair. Soft music is played while participants stretch in a dimly lit room. Thompson encourages participants to sit tall and concentrate on their breathing. Every so often Thompson and participants say “namaste,” a Hindi word that means “I honor the divine in you,” Thompson explained. “Not everybody has to be an athlete” to experience the benefits of yoga, she said. Thompson took her first yoga class when she was experiencing menopause. The regular practice eased discomfort from old injuries and arthritis.

“Yoga is a life-altering experience,” Thompson said. She wanted to pass that to a broad range of people, including those who may have suffered injuries, have weight issues, or have
limited range of motion due to age, Thompson said. While she works toward Yoga Alliance national certification through the Cincinnati Yoga School, she has been teaching chair yoga at Latitude Artist Community for four years and at the Lexington Senior Center since last fall. Sometimes performing yoga on a mat could be dangerous for people if their muscles are not developed, Thompson said. In the case of Melissa Amaral, 37, mat yoga would be impossible because she uses a walker. However, chair yoga at Latitude has helped her become flexible and more coordinated. When she walks, she noticed she doesn’t look “so shaky or jolty,” she said. She used to lean a lot to her left side, but doesn’t do that anymore. “It helps me relax,” she said. “It gets stress away. It helps my body and mind.”

More than physical benefits,Thompson emphasizes nurturing the spirit. That’s why she encourages participants to say “namaste.” “It’s a very powerful word and I believe they sense it,” Thompson said.“They know there is a spiritual love inside the word. … it helps them feel comfort and love.”

Blind, Deaf Artist a True Visionary "Berenson's Corner" WDRB Louisville

July 2008

WDRB, Louisville

Blind, Deaf Artist a True Visionary
(transcript from television)

One Kentucky artist is giving new meaning to the concept of recycling.
Jessie Dunahoo is a man whose hands express his freedom and creativity, even though he lives in a dark and silent world.

Maybe you saw Jessie Dunahoo's environmental art being installed at the new home of Patrick Hughes on the Extreme Makeover TV show last February.
Mr. Dunahoo, at 76 years old, works with needle and thread, combining recycled materials into cocoons or spider webs of creativity.

Bruce Burris who works for Latitude, a Lexington organization for people with disabilities, says "It's been very successful. Last autumn he had a show in New York City in which his pieces were selling for between $5,000 and $20,000."

Dunahoo has been blind and deaf virtually all his life. He communicates Helen Keller-fashion, through letters drawn into the palm of his hand.

Crystal Bader of Latitude says, "And he's made a name for himself even before he stumbled upon Latitude. And he is unique, and I had heard it mentioned earlier that the word 'genius' has been thrown around, and he is a genius."

Dunahoo works three days a week at Latitude. To assemble his shelter-like constructions, he pins folded plastic bags to the knees of his overalls and painstakingly quilts them together with basting stitches.

The question about Mr. Dunahoo is, 'How does a visual artist find satisfaction in work he cannot see?'Burris says, "What I can tell you is that he is interested in his work, he's passionate about it. He works consistently, he's proud of what he does."
Dunahoo is living proof that an artist doesn't need sight and hearing to be a visionary.

Eight Great Lexington Art Spaces, Chevy Chaser June 2008

Eight Great Lexington Art Spaces

The Chevy Chaser

June 01, 2008

An art gallery doesn't always have to be the stale, "keep your hands to yourself" environ where patrons, with arms determinedly folded before them in true viewing fashion, passively wander from one scene to the next. They can be quirky with intriguing medias; they can be informal where strict hours are not abided. They can be engaging where guests' participation is desired; they, in some cases, can be an artist's living room. As follows, with no particular order, is a brief sampling of art spaces available for your perusal in Lexington.

Latitude Artist Community

Art and community advocacy blend with natural affinity at Latitude Artist Community, an art therapy program for adults with mental disabilities. Here guests, also the exhibitors, are able to express themselves through the creative possibilities owners Crystal Bader and Bruce Burris have grown and nurtured for the past eight years.

The Power of Art Chevy Chaser June 2008

The Chevy Chaser
June 01, 2008
From The Editor, The Power of Art
By Anne Sabatino

Art, it seems, is a dynamic thing. Some have clear definitions, others might contend they just know it when they see it. The bounds have certainly changed over the years and, no doubt, will continue to change as time presses on.I've been fortunate to see important art at some of the best museums and institutes in the United States. Thanks to technology, books and education, many of us have at least been exposed to the great art of not only our home country, but of the world. There are certainly some standards and guidelines about what defines great art, but—and perhaps this is elementary—I think there is also a great part of the value of any given piece of art which is defined by its ability to provide enjoyment, to inspire passion, to help someone.The Lexington Art League's Side By Side program is a great example of this. Working in coordination with Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation, artists are paired with children in rehabilitation for various issues in order to create art works. The interaction is also facilitated by therapists. The artists and children work together to produce art in various media that is displayed in a traveling exhibit upon completion.

After speaking with Kandace Tatum, the communications coordinator for the Lexington Art League, and an artist participant in the Side by Side program, it was clear that this art was not only something to be seen, but its creation was a functional therapeutic tactic. She shared the children had experienced marked improvements during the program.The Latitude Artist Community is another place to find inspired works of art with a greater social conscience. Latitude, according to its mission, "serves all people with an emphasis on those thought to have a disability by creating a framework which encourages us to recognize our own life's narrative, and to then choose ways in which we may contribute to the well-being of our community." Latitude and its participants are committed to the arts scene in Lexington as well as to maintaining the vitality of downtown through community action.I hope this issue is one that not only provides some new opportunities to appreciate art and aesthetics, but also one that encourages you to think about it in a new way.

Artist gains international recognition WTVQ Aug. 2008

Artist with Down syndrome gains international recognition
From WTVQ in Lexington, Ky.

A Lexington woman is getting national and international attention for her artwork, but probably more important, she's not getting attention for her disability.Beverly Baker who has Down Syndrome and communicates through her artwork.Before coming to Latitude's Art Studio in Downtown Lexington, most people thought of her art as doodles, or a way to pass the time.This fall, her work will be on exhibit in Paris, France followed by a solo exhibit in New York.Latitude co-owner Crystal Baden says with this success, Beverly has the opportunity to do more than show off her work.Just a few months ago, Beverly sold one of her pieces for $1,300.

Bikers, artists seek to aid disabled Herald-Leader 2008

Lexington Herald-Leader
Posted on Tue, Aug. 05, 2008
Bikers, artists seek to aid disabled
Pablo Alcala

Cyclists from PUSH America, Journey of Hope came through Lexington Monday and met staff and members during a visit to Latitude Artist Community.

Pi Kappa Phi fraternity members from various universities on a cross-country bike ride visited Latitude Artist Community in Lexington and were greeted with art created in honor of their visit.

The cyclists are taking part in PUSH America, Journey of Hope, a roughly 4,000-mile trip to raise awareness of people with disabilities. The group left Seattle June 11 and expects to arrive in Washington, D.C., Aug. 16.

The cyclists ride about 75 miles a day. Each one has raised thousands of dollars for disability causes. The group that came through Lexington was riding a central route across the United States. Two other groups are riding northern and southern routes.
While visiting Latitude Artist Community, which uses art as therapy for those with disabilities, the travelers shared stories of strange sights along the road and the long climbs needed to get over the Rocky Mountains. They also talked about the varying degrees of accessibility for the disabled at places they visited along the way.

The staff and members of Latitude discussed how they use art in their therapy and gave an ”inaccessibility tour“ of a few blocks downtown. They pointed out streets that would be hard to cross and businesses with doors that would be hard to use for the disabled.

If We Build It- Ace 2003

Ace COVERSTORY
If We Build It...Urban gardening gathers steamwith upcoming summit

By Rhonda Reeves

Since 1865 an agrarian Union has been changed into an industrial empire bent on conquest of the earth's goods and ports to sell them in. This means warfare, a struggle over markets, leading, in the end, to actual military conflict between nations. But in the meantime, the terrific effort to manufacture ammunition -that is, wealth-so that imperialism may prevail, has brought upon the social body a more deadly conflict, one which promises to deprive it, not of life, but of living and turn the pursuit of happiness into a nervous running-around which is without the logic, even, of a dog chasing its tail.

-Andrew Lytle, "The Hind Tit" in I'll Take My Stand: The South and the Agrarian Tradition
“Urban gardens can be used to engender a sense of ownership in a public setting where graffiti, vandalism, petty theft, and low rates of home ownership all conspire to degrade an urban neighborhood. Woodward Heights provides a good example with its public flower beds.”
—Van Meter Pettit, President, Town Branch Trail Kentucky's tradition, though richly agrarian, has not always done a great job of integrating the best aspects of rural culture into urban settings. But a team of urban gardening advocates in Lexington are working to change that.
Matt John, project director of Kentucky Grow (The Kentucky Gardening for Recreation or Work Project introduces individuals with physical, sensory, and mental disabilities to horticulture and gardening), will be speaking about this at the upcoming Summit (Aug 5), "The fellowship of getting your hands dirty and working in the soil with others in your neighborhood has been lost in many communities and hopefully this spirit of cooperation can be revived in Lexington. Establishing community gardens is not a difficult task and there are plenty of resources available in this community to assist with beginning on any level."

John would make Wendell Berry proud when he says, "By soliciting input from all of the members of a community, the appropriate plants and crops can be grown to meet the needs of all. Many older adults grew up raising heirloom varieties of vegetables and are very familiar with 'organic' controls for garden pests. Younger members of the community can learn a great deal and discover what a fresh picked, ripe off the vine tomato tastes like versus the 'cardboard' gas ripened kind they have been accustomed to."

Bruce Burris (of Latitude, and Radical B.U.G.S) recounts the origins of today's local movement, "Our current push to establish a true community garden/s grew from the idea of a Latitude participant well over a year ago. Chris Heidgerd wasn't sure-but he thought he might like to try gardening. Since Latitude was/is renting space without access to soil, we searched the neighborhood and asked our neighbors if we might have a corner of a parking lot, a slice of overgrown yard, etc. on which to grow a small garden. We discovered soon enough that this approach would not work. So Chris and I began to research the community garden idea. In the meantime Chris began his own small business, 'The Big Green Machine.' Chris, working with Latitude and the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation, began to develop a small business which would enable him to sell his handmade 'green greeting' cards at businesses such as Third St. Stuff. Among other things we set up a system so that Chris could grow vegetables and sell them to places like Bistro 147."

"Still we were gardenless," he recalls of the early days. Then a local retailer encouraged the group to put a small garden in her yard, which they did while they "advocated for the next step. Latitude's garden is there-as well as gardens tended by neighbors such as Garrett French-in reality-it may be the world's smallest community garden-but hah! By definition it is a community garden!"

Others have been quick to support and laud the movement. Kris Kimel (the man behind the Idea Festival, who will also speak at the summit) says, "The art park and community garden are important developments in Lexington's ongoing quest to expand it's 'creative culture.' It has become increasingly clear that areas that are diverse, high energy, and offer a multiplicity of creative experiences for its people are the ones that will prosper and thrive in the years ahead."
Burris is pragmatic in his approach, realizing that the productive use of community space also satisfies a city's capitalist impulses, by creating a citizenry of "investors." As he puts it, "Community space such as murals and gardens offer all of us a share in the use and look of downtown space."

Van Meter Pettit, President of Town Branch Trail, echoes this sentiment, adding "urban gardens can be used to engender a sense of ownership in a public setting where graffiti, vandalism, petty theft, and low rates of home ownership all conspire to degrade an urban neighborhood. Woodward Heights provides a good example with its public flower beds."

Burris concludes, "For too long Lexington has left these decisions/opportunities to appointed panels, politicians, and developers. What these folks have yet to realize is that a bustling, diverse downtown, a downtown that by the way they will benefit financially from–occurs when everyone feels they have a stake in a downtown they see as their own."

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ArtPark Dedication &Community Garden Summit
Tuesday August 5th, 5:15- 6:30pm: Parking lot and outdoor patio of Third Street Stuff and Atomic Café (257 N. Limestone Street, Lexington)
ArtPark Dedication: (5:15- 5:30pm) parking lot of Third Street Stuff

The ArtPark Project (community murals) was begun over a year ago, as collaboration between Latitude (an arts based, community organization working with people thought to have disabilities) and Third Street Stuff. Since that time four other organizations, including Metro Group Homes, have created murals in the immediate area.

Mayor Teresa Isaac, Vice Mayor Mike Scanlon, and Pat Gerhard of Third Street Stuff will thank participants of both Latitude and Metro Group Homes.

Community Garden Summit: (5:30- 6:30pm) patio of Atomic Cafe
The ArtPark Dedication and Community Garden Summit are two small, but important components related to downtown livability. Last year, a participant at Latitude mentioned that he would like to try his hand at gardening, but though space was plentiful, a landowner willing to share a slice of overgrown yard or a corner of a parking lot could not be found. Radical B.U.G.S (Building Urban Garden Spaces) was established to assess the interest in Community Gardening. The Community Garden Summit is an event designed to bring together a group of folks with shared interests and vision.

Speakers include: Kris Kimel (Kentucky Science and Technology Center, IdeaFestival), Rhonda Reeves (Publisher Ace Weekly), Harold Tate (Executive Director, Downtown Development Authority), Van Meter Petit (Town Branch Trail), Matt John (Kentucky GROW), Jim Clark (President and CEO LACC).

Information tables include: Latitude LLC, Goodwill Industries, The Carnegie Center, Town Branch Trail, Ace Weekly, Metro Group Home, AVOL, Kentucky GROW.
Info: Bruce Burris, Latitude, 859/ 806-0195

A Little Latitude Ace Weekly 2002

ACE
A Little 'Latitude'New program meets unique artistic needs

By Mark Heidinger

Crystal Bader and Bruce Burris have been busy bees...
If you're wondering what happened to artist/activist, Bruce Burris (well-known for his accomplishments at Minds Wide Open), he's been busy with a new venture - one that promises to have as wide an impact as all Burris's efforts.
Chances are, you've never read any poetry by Barbara Moore. In fact, she's quite new to the trade. Not so much by choice, but by situation. As an individual considered by some to have a disability, Barbara hasn't been given many opportunities to speak, or be heard. Well, things are changing. Thanks to the endless efforts of Minds Wide Open creator Bruce Burris and his associate Crystal Bader, Barbara has already begun to experience the benefits of Latitude, Lexington's latest vehicle to empower, connect, and enrich individuals and communities within Central Kentucky and beyond.
On Monday, April 16th, Burris and company will publicly unveil Latitude at Lynagh's Music Emporium hoping to raise both awareness and start-up costs for this much-needed program.

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Latitude's Mission
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After amicably parting ways with Minds Wide Open several months ago, Lexington artist/activist Bruce Burris and recreational therapist Crystal Bader began the groundwork for Latitude. In its current form, Latitude exists as a mobile think tank aimed at collaborating with various programs in the Central Kentucky area to provide outlets for expression for individuals considered by some to have a disability. In its fully realized form, Latitude will serve as a prominent voice in a national dialogue influencing local, regional, and national communities with an emphasis on empowering and listening to each individual's story. In discussing the potential benefits of Latitude, Burris says, "We must motivate both sides to connect the fragmented parts." Helping others become proactive is great. A receptive audience is even better.
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So far the response has been promising. In just eight weeks, Latitude's collaborative efforts with Everyday Matters, a day program serving those thought to be disabled, have led to a public poetry reading at the Kentucky Coffee Tree Café in Frankfort, Kentucky. Two months ago, no one had heard the stories of Hannah Hart, Amanda Jones, Clifford Gritton or Barbara Moore, at least not from their perspectives. By encouraging and providing opportunities for these individuals to tell their own stories, Latitude and Everyday Matters enabled five previously 'silenced' individuals to tell their own stories.

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In discussing the wonders of unrealized potential, Burris exclaims, "Thirty random people with 'disabilities' show up at a recreational art program. Three will have the ability to have an art career! Thirty refined MFA students? Maybe one will have a chance. 'Disabled' individuals have the unique ability to live outside the box; they've developed this skill out of necessity."
However, thinking outside the box, Burris explains, is a skill that can be learned. By enabling those considered disabled, the community's collective identity grows. "Right now we are all losers because we haven't heard these stories yet. But by becoming aware, we can reconnect with the community." Barbara Moore writes, "Wings/ They can fly anywhere" but "Opened black eyes mean/ Nothing nothing." Awareness is everything.
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Disabled or Unique?
In the context of Latitude, 'disabled' interestingly begins to lose meaning. It certainly doesn't seem to apply in the case of Barbara Moore and those associated with Everyday Matters. Burris beams, "No one gift from one person is greater than another. We are all connected, and we all lose equally when individuals aren't all given the chance of expression." The passion with which Bruce works is evident in his words. Enthusiastic by any measure of the term, Burris, along with Bader, doesn't mind devoting his time, energy, soul and money to Latitude. In his opinion, "We should all expect to give to the community. We shouldn't expect a pat on the back; assume that you're doing the right thing."

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Latitude's Fundraiser will be held at Lynagh's on Monday, April 16th from 7:30-11:00 PM. Admission is $5.00. Info, 859.254.6736. The fundraiser will include a silent auction sponsored by Isle of You, Mecca, and 3rd Street Stuff, as well as song and dance by Catawampus Universe, Club Dub, Rakadu Gypsy Dancers, and the Flamenco

Sharing Gifts The State Journal ,June 2002

Sharing gifts
People 'thought to have disabilities' show their ability to create
Philip Case, State Journal Columnist
Susan Riddell Photos
The State Journal, Spectrum, June 10, 2001

Danny McNabb and Hannah Hart applaud Angela Elders after she reads her poem at a recent rehearsal.
They say it every time ... every time ... they refer to those of our fellow human beings on this planet to whom we once referred as "retarded," and then "mentally challenged," among other things even less complimentary.
"These folks are people just like us,'' said Bruce Burris, "and they're ‘people thought to have disabilities.’”
Burris and his associate, Crystal Bader, say - no, they insist - it's just plain wrong to "label'' people. After all, we all have some sort of "disability,'' and we’re supposed to be "normal."
Burris and Bader are the founders of "Latitude," a company that works with "people thought to have disabilities." While based in Lexington, the pair comes to Frankfort a day and a half each week to work with clients at Everyday Matters on Broadway, a program operated by Kelly Hawkins, Virginia Brislin and others that seeks to keep people out of institutions and in their communities.


Joe McNabb, above listens as Bruce Burris offers suggestions to poetry readers. Below, Hanna Hart reads her poem as Crystal Bader helps her with certain words.
Today at 4:30, some of the fruits of their labors will be offered to the public as their students of Latitude and Everyday Matters read original poetry at the Coffeetree Cafe, 235 Broadway.
I heard some of the poems as they practiced last week. Their work lent a great deal of weight to the notion that these folks are thought to have disabilities.
Formerly associated with Minds Wide Open in Lexington, Burris and Bader formed Latitude a few months ago.

Latitude, according to a recent article in Lexington's Ace Magazine by Mark Heidinger, exists as "... a mobile think tank aimed at collaborating with various programs in the Central Kentucky area to provide outlets for expression for individuals considered by some to have a disability.''
Gathered around tables at Everyday Matters, people thought to have disabilities do artwork, laugh and talk, write poetry, and enjoy each other's company. When I dropped in they invited me to join them at a table and view some of their work.

"We appreciate the new perspective they bring to each day,'' said Bader, almost 27, a recreational therapist with a degree from Eastern Kentucky University.
Burris, described by Ace as an "artist/activist,” is either 45 or 46. He's been around, having come to Lexington seven years ago after 20 years or so in San Francisco. His wife is the Aging Services Coordinator for Fayette County.

Burris veritably bubbles with excitement when he talks about Latitude and what it can offer.
"The problem." said Burris, "is that people who work with people thought to have disabilities just don't see what's there. We want to show; the world the great potential and abilities in these folks.''

It was Burris' enthusiasm that first attracted Bader to his program.
"I got off an elevator one day at a place where I was working and here comes this man down the hall waving his arm’s, all excited about what he was doing," she said, offering an element of calm to, the obviously compatible duo. ''I knew that was the kind of' person I wanted to work with.
“I thought ' what an enthusiastic man!’”

Bader said Latitude is all about realizing "ability, not disability.
"We see the potential in all people and want to help others recognize this."
It's unfortunate the whole world doesn’t view dealing with others who aren’t exactly like us in a similar fashion, celebrating the heterogeneous nature of this Creation instead of constantly seeking homogeneity.

Like any teachers, Burris and Bader tryu to bring the best out of people thought to have disabilities, especially with writing poetry.
First of all they listen.

"Then we ask questions and allow them to tell their stories,'' Burris said, "it must be their story and it takes support to get it out of them."
''Poetry,” added Bader, “is a wonderful way to tell a story without coming out and saying it (in prose). It's very positive; very realistic.”
And, of course, the arts provide a "release," no matter if that ''art” is visual or word-oriented.
"The dam just breaks,'' said Bader.
"We want to help these people thought to have disabilities take their gifts and show them to the community,” said Burris. "This is not about disabilities, it's about talented people."

Here’s a poem that will be read today:

“You are cute and beautiful
you are very pleasant
It’s hard to figure out
Just something strange
Just one of those things
Just something I’ve never done before.
I sky
Fly high
Try to fly high in the sky
You are very pleasant
It’s just the way it is.”

People with disabilities?
I must agree with Burris and Bader:
They’re only thought to have disabilities.

A can-do Latitude, Lexington Herald-Leader 2002

Lexington Herald- Leader, January 10, 2002
She's got a can-do Latitude
Recreation therapist helps disabled connect with community, their own talents
By Barbara Isaacs HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER

Crystal Bader was working as a recreation therapist with a Lexington adult day care organization when she heard her calling -- loud and clear.
It was the voice of Lexington artist Bruce Burris, who was then at Minds Wide Open art center, an arts program for the disabled that he founded.

``I stepped off the elevator, and there was this loud -- and some people might say, obnoxious -- voice,'' Bader said with a smile. ``He was just full of enthusiasm -- he was exciting, he was positive. I knew I stumbled onto something great. It was all about seeing the potential of the people he served.''

Bader, a certified therapeutic recreation specialist, soon became assistant director at Minds Wide Open. Then, nearly a year ago -- the anniversary is Jan. 26 -- she and Burris left Minds Wide Open to create a new program, Latitude, which strives to offer creative direct care and community inclusion to those considered to have a disability.

Three months ago Latitude began offering a ``day habilitation'' program based at Mecca, 209 North Limestone, a downtown dance studio/community arts space. Latitude offers flexible, ongoing services three days a week; its 10 clients can drop in for a few hours or for as many visits as they like. It also offers enriched programming at area adult day programs, including Lexington's Close to Home and Frankfort's Everyday Matters. It also can add additional clients.
At 27, Bader is now co-owner of a business and is working in a challenging field, something she never likely imagined for herself.

``I feel honored that I've been led into this field,'' Bader said. ``It's hard work, but it's work that really does have a reward. Lexington can't do without us. We're serving people and giving people what they really need -- community exposure and self-esteem. We truly believe in the potential of all people.''

Latitude, as its name indicates, offers a wider vision than just exposure to the arts, though that is also a main component. ``Latitude's focus is on finding a person's story and connecting that person to the community,'' Bader said.

She is already deeply connected to the people she works with, as they are with her.
``She's genuinely caring and kind,'' said Melissa Amaral, 32, who was working on a watercolor painting at Latitude on a recent morning. ``She's always helping me.''
Burris, Bader's Latitude partner, said Bader brings some important skills to the program.

``I think she's a critical thinker, which is all too rare in this field,'' Burris said. ``And she's kind. Those things sound boring, but they're not.''

Bader can easily list several achievements: Chris Heidgerd, one of Latitude's clients, recently began creating greeting cards with a house motif that are being sold at Third Street Stuff. One of the men Latitude works with in Frankfort, Charlie Clayton, has a show of skeleton drawings at the Transylvania University student gallery running through Monday.

She hopes to have Latitude clients ``experience spontaneity'' -- something that is not often offered in the structured settings where many disabled people live. Bader admits that offering the opportunity for spontaneity takes a great deal of energy as well.

``The door is the key to the community,'' Bader said. She and Burris often take the group everyplace from galleries to the public library to coffeehouses.

``The response is activity versus inactivity, interest versus disinterest. I really think we've created something people will remember 10 years from now.''

2 articles by Jane Hart The Kentucky Gazette 2002

FROM THE HART
No Gimmicks, No Mirrors. No Tricks.
Just Life‑Changing Experiences
The Kentucky Gazette November 12, 2002

I'd like to tell you about a few talented, busy, involved Kentucky friends of mine. Last year, labels like helpless or hopeless, difficult or disruptive were hurtful. This year, they clearly are senseless. Thanks to simple lifestyle adjustments, Lexington's Charlie Clayton, Melissa Amaral and Clay Michael are not merely accepted. They're lauded. It's a miracle! A miracle that came from opportunities ‑ instead of meds, reprimands or further restrictions.

Take Charlie Clayton, who will be Artist in Residence at Transylvania University the last three weeks of the spring semester. For three weeks, Charlie will create his own work in a studio on campus. Meanwhile, he'll be associating with Transy professors, holding workshops to show Transy students what he does and how he does it. And finally he will exhibit the work created during his tenure in a one person exhibition. All while earning an excellent stipend!
Then there's tall, athletic, beautiful Melissa Amaral, who lately lived a very restrictive life due to a disabling event during college. Latitude, an Arts Plus project, has worked with Melissa to find appropriate technology and therapies to allow Melissa to attend college again via the internet, perhaps through Kentucky Virtual University. An excellent artist, Melissa has participated in three group shows during her year at Latitude; where she also practices movement, meditation and yoga.

On a recent Monday morning at 10 a.m., Clay Michael sat down to write a poem. At 10:30, his poem was finished. Next, via the Internet, he shared his new poem with 10,000 to 17,000 other poets and poetry lovers on the "Poetry Comer."
"Latitude is not just about technology" .Clay said, "After finishing a poem I can walk a block and add to a mural that Latitude, Third Street Stuff, local architects and others are creating. It's about being a part of a very real, active community."
Latitude, an arts‑based program in Lexington, has enabled these three people to step from the shadows, into a bright new world, By doing what they are good at, and love to do, they’ve become a vital part of their community.

But that's only the beginning, folks! This fiscal year, Project ASSET‑11 (Advancing Supported Self Employment Techniques) will help five more Kentuckians with disabilities start, own and operate their own creative enterprises:

Tim Maynard's "Speedway Hobbies" shop in Pikeville is located on US 23, the route is used by many race fans on their way to NASCAR International Race Track in Bristol, Tenn. Tim will sell plastic race‑car models and supplies; radio‑controlled models: NASCAR hats, jackets and other inventory. Family and friends are helping Tim secure a business loan. Speedway Hobbies is approaching its Grand Opening,

Chris Heidgerd may soon be known as Lexington's “Community Garden Guy," the working title of his project. Latitude, Lexington Parks and Recreation, UHDI, and many other caring partners are working together to help Chris create and manage a downtown community garden. Anyone who wants to grow plants and agrees to maintain it regularly is welcome. Chris is also working on a for‑profit component to this in which Chris will be selling ~'green products" such as recycling units, green household cleansers, and the like.

Hannah ‑Harts "Office Lunch Express (OLE!!)" will pick up orders from five or six popular Frankfort restaurants and deliver them to staff and visitors of the state Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation services. OLE!'s business plan, preliminary marketing to customers and restaurants, and logo design are all completed. Since MH‑MR is only one of five different state agencies in the same building prospects for expansion look good.

It took 50 years to advance from "Please Hire the Handicapped" to Sheltered Workshops, decades more until Kentucky became one of ten states given federal grants to create a Supported Employment program in Kentucky called Project ASSET. ASSET hired and trained job coaches to prepare and support people in real jobs for real salaries. Though hampered by meager funding, Supported Employment has been a wonderful way for the limited num­ber of lucky people it has touched to dive right into the mainstream.

And now ASSET-11 will help jobless people make their own jobs. Like ASSET (Kentucky's supported employment project), ASSET-11 is coordinated by Carol Estes, for the Dept of Vocational Rehabilitation in the Cabinet for Work Force Development.

Co-sponsored and partially funded by KY Developmental Disabilities Council ASSET-11 is guided by Supported Employment agencies. Consultant's from Kentucky's Small Business Development Centers have played a key role in developing the business plans, while UK's Human Development Institute, families and friends are helping the new business entrepreneurs get started. Everyone is united to assist in the birth arid growth of Kentucky's first five, self‑employment ventures, as well as others conceived in the coming years. (More details about these and other projects as they develop.)
By Jane Hart: Jane is a parent of an adult with disabilities and is chairwoman emeritus of the Kentucky Disabilities Coalition
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Published Tuesday, February 5, 2002, in the The Kentucky Gazette
By Jane Hart

A Mecca for artists, other creative people

Three months ago, no one knew what to do with 20-year old Charlie Clayton. All Charlie wanted to do was draw. Instead of watching TV. Instead of learning about money. Instead of games. Last October, Charlie started coming to Latitude. This is an art-based program for people whom "some other people consider disabled," as artist and Latitude co-director Bruce Burris puts it. "When Charlie's here, he's the most gifted person in these three buildings."
Last month, Charlie showed a series of his skeleton drawings at Transylvania University's student gallery.

"They're cartoonish, but sophisticated," Burris says. "They have a brilliance that anyone with an art background recognizes immediately. If Charlie keeps coming here twice a week, he'll gain more recognition for his art and find more opportunities to contribute to the community.
"This happens at Latitude time and time again," Burris says. "Everyone is involved in connecting to the community. Beverly Baker is getting ready for a show of her wonderful marking-pen drawings at the Singletary Center. UK professor Arturo Sandoval collects Beverly's drawings. Many professional artists would love to be in her place. When she has exhibits and people admire her work, Beverly is thrilled. Her parents are thrilled that she is giving to the community.

"We want to see what interests people," Burris continues. "What they want to do, what they can contribute. When we agree what that is, we figure out ways they can merge into the larger culture. We don't use art as a craft to keep people busy. We use it as a way to open up their world, to explore and connect however they can. Everybody is creative. I believe Latitude artists are more creative than most people."

Crystal Bader, Latitudes other co-director, is a 27-year-old therapeutic recreation specialist. Caught up in Burris enthusiasm about the potential of people with disabilities, she joined him as assistant director of the Lexington art program he founded, Minds Wide Open.
A year ago Bader and Burris left Minds Wide Open to form Latitude. Bader wants Latitude artists to "experience spontaneity, not a usual factor, in their lives."
Burris calls her "a critical thinker, who is kind and works like a horse."

Since last October, Latitude has been based at Mecca, a dance studio and community arts center in downtown Lexington. Latitude also offers a day of enriched programming at an adult day-center in Frankfort and in Lexington. At Mecca, people are offered supported employment based on their interests and those of the businesses within a five-block radius of Mecca.
Chris Heidgerd of Lexington came to Latitude interested in trash and finding a job, not in art. He drew houses quite well. "We knew a great gift store two blocks from us, Third Street Stuff," Burris says. "So we suggested to Chris that he might make some greeting cards. He did. When they sold out, we took more up (to the store). Now he has a contract with Third Street Stuff to sell his cards, and he's started drawing garbage trucks. He's out in the community; working and using his interest, trash.

"Latitude is helping Chris with research into ecology and recycling, helping him define his point of view on trash. We're learning what he can do. If he wants to, we'll find ways for Chris to share his opinions on these issues in a letter to the editor, a poem, his art to have some give and take with the wider community. How can he go farther? His limits are out of sight."
Latitude artists have contributed to three poetry festivals, numerous performances, radio readings, community wall murals, parades, festivals, solo and group public art exhibits.
Bader talks about Tim, whose pleasant campus bike ride was interrupted by a collision with a car. Tim went through many surgeries to make his physical impairments more manageable. But his brain injury made it harder to manage an independent life. In and out of institutions, Tim was socially marginalized. He began brushing up on social skills when he came to Latitude nine months ago.

In nine months, Tim has formed friendships during regular visits to local coffeehouses and has volunteered at a local arts agency. He took ceramics classes and showed his work in a group exhibition. He's had a photograph and an editorial published in a local newspaper. He visits art galleries and attends receptions.

"I feel honored to be in this field," Bader told a Lexington Herald-Leader reporter. "Its hard work ... that really has a reward. We're giving people what they need, community exposure and self-esteem. We believe in the potential of all people."

"Crystal and I believe that every single person at Latitude can contribute in an amazing and real way, can give more than they take," Burris agreed. "That's why we made Latitude for-profit, to get away from the charity thinking. How can we find and where can we place the small but brilliant thing this person can give to the larger community. These folks are outside-the-box thinkers. Who's going to benefit from this thing she does so well? Someone who has a high-tech or an architectural firm? A gift shop? We know there's someone out there who would thank us for the discovery. They don't know how to look for it. But we do.

"We want to train staff when they first come into the field, before their minds are made up," Burris continues. "Have them spend a week with Latitude before they go into a job. We want to provide that shock of recognition, then guide them through the steps. Folks in Latitude write a novel. And we get to read it as they write it. If they lead us to a tree, we have to find the reason. What does this tree represent to them? Growth? Timber? Carving? Writing on paper made from wood? Of all the things that this tree represents, what interests you most?

"They take us on a journey. They're guiding us, if only we'll listen. It's like reading a novel or looking at a painting. This does not take a genius. We believe that everyone can learn to figure this out. Whether they will or not is up to them. Then, when they are placed at an agency, they can call fellow Latitude alumni to share resources and support each other. That's how we can change things. That's a way to go. I'm not talking about now, but maybe sometime in the future."

Bader and Burris encourage people to call and visit Latitude, at 209 North Limestone St. in Lexington, within five blocks of eight restaurants, two coffeehouses, five art galleries, City Hall and the Lexington Public Library. Reach them at (859) 806-0195 or bru41@msn.com.
Jane Hart of Frankfort is the parent of an adult with disabilities and is chairwoman emeritus of the Kentucky Disabilities Coalition, which she chaired for eight years.

Beverly Baker at Carnegie Center Dec. 2002

Lexington Herald-Leader
David Minton
Sun, Dec. 29, 2002

Her art disproves her 'disability' Carnegie Center exhibits drawings once dismissed as 'scribblings'

Next Sunday, after we've sorted through the lineups of winter and spring shows galleries have

sent us, we'll bring you a selective and subjective forecast of which ones appear the most promising in the coming months.

In the meantime, here's what is interesting in the immediate future:
Beverly Baker: Recent Work, opens Jan. 9 at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning, 251 West Second Street.

"The fact that Beverly is considered by some to have a most significant developmental disability does not diminish or trivialize her efforts," writes Latitude, an agency dedicated to helping people with disabilities gain autonomy over their lives.

"Beverly Baker is an artist, period," says Latitude co-owner Crystal Bader. "Beverly uses Latitude in precisely the same way as any artist would use her own studio. We provide an assortment of media for her to choose from, and the rest is up to her."

Baker received an Independent Artist Professional Development Grant in the spring from the Kentucky Arts Council. She had a solo show in The President's Room in the Singletary Center for the Arts in April.

Baker's mother, Wanda Baker, is quoted as saying she used to consider her daughter's drawings mere "scribblings" -- until the Latitude staff told her it was art: "People used to ask for one of her drawings, and we'd say, 'Sure, take one.' But now we say, 'Here's how much it costs.'"
Reception: 5 to 7:30 p.m. Jan. 9. On view through Feb. 15. Carnegie Center phone: 254-4175.

Art Wirh Perspective- Ace Weekly 2004

A Lotta Latitude -

Art with perspective

Ace Weekly

By Sarah Tackett

Latitude, like any studio downtown, is busy with artists working towards upcoming projects. They are currently presenting a studio showcase at ArtsPlace, that opened last week, and will continue until September 2nd.

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Bruce Burris of Latitude was invited by Jim Clark, president of LACC to put together the show—a typical request of any arts collective or gallery rep.
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Latitude is a group of local artists. They are people of the community who strive to make it a richer place to live and work. This is recognized by several local businesses and galleries, who buy and exhibit their art as well as collaborate on community engagements.
The only difference is that these artists are viewed as disabled.

“Disabled” or “artists with disabilities” are the labels that stick, but they don’t really fit. “Among the novel objects that attracted my attention during my stay in the United States, nothing struck me more than the general equality of condition among the people.

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Feelings and opinions are recruited, the heart is enlarged, and the human mind is developed only by the reciprocal influence of men upon one another.”
–Alexis de Tocqueville 1835
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It’s a matter of perspective, a key word that Latitude incorporates in their title, Latitude: movement/perspective/autonomy. Great words, right? Thinking words. Inspiring words. Words that seem more associated with French philosophers than habilitation programs containing disabled people.
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unfortunately, “contain” is what most of these programs do. Latitude is usually seen as an anomaly, a feel-good irregularity, rather than the rule. Burris explains, “Most of the articles written about us are fluff pieces, but there is a critical element to our work as well that needs to be addressed.”

*

He speaks of a university professor who admits that 99.3 percent of the community habilitation centers he studies are not places where anyone would want to spend the day. (Not one day, much less every single day).
*
Burris adds, “My point is that 9 out of 10 of these places are really not fit for human beings.”
Latitude is different. It’s an attractive, welcoming environment.
*

Located downtown, the studio has high ceilings, and the walls are covered in vibrant artwork.
People work intensely and independently between conversations, while the Rolling Stones blare in the background. It is a pleasant place to work for anyone.

The whole building has a pleasant energy about it. It is the same energy that anyone feels in being busy, humming along, working towards a goal. And what better goal is it to help the community in which we all live.

*

Latitude does not expect charity, rather it wants to be charitable.
It’s the whole Kennedy and country thing that got lost somewhere in the 80s—to find itself popping up in the middle of Lexington over 40 years later. Wow is right.
*

As Burris explains, “We chuck the whole charity attitude in order to increase the credibility of the people we serve.”

The people he is speaking of, not only includes the “disabled” artists, but the community in entirety.

*

Speaking of the exhibit at ArtsPlace Burris explains, “If we thought it was charitable, we would never do it . . . We are not begging for contributions. Considering these people less fortunate undermines the legitimacy of everything they do.”

*

The artists at Latitude are actual, legitimate artists who sell their work to people who need it ... people who need to fill their life with alternative perspectives.
Meet the Artists
*

Two of the most recognized artists in the exhibit are, Jessie Dunnahoo and Beverly Baker. Jessie Dunahoo is blind and deaf as well as gifted and brilliant.
He uses common plastic bags stitched together to create larger than life shelters. These shelters not only define environment, but raise consciousness about the environment considering the medium.

*

Artist Arturo Sandoval says of Dunnahoo’s work, “Spatially these linear elements are as remarkable as a spider web,” and describes Dunnahoo as a “genius.”
Beverly Baker, considered to have severe developmental disability, has had her work exhibited at both the Carnegie Center, and the Singletary Center for the Arts. Her drawings are as vivid, intense, and emotional, as anything you would see hanging on the walls at the MOMA in New York.
*

Since this exhibit is more of a studio showcase several other artists are included as well—different artists with different backgrounds producing completely different work.
Burris claims that one of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to the people he works with, is that they are of a homogeneous mind-frame.

*

If you go to the exhibit Burris states, “You’ll see everyone’s work is represented. Everyone has a specific style, and a specific point of view.” It all goes back to perspective.
When asked about their plans for the future, Crystal Bader, Burris’ partner at Latitude, revealed her excitement about collaboration projects.
*

These are projects where local businesses can benefit from the creative perspectives of those minds at Latitude. Burris commented that most people don’t think as creatively as these people do. Bader went on to say, “We need the community’s awareness more than anything. We need everyone to know that we don’t want them to serve us, we want to find a way where we can serve them.”

*

Burris adds, “These people have a lot to offer and we’ll help you see it.”
And it’s true.
*

Slowly but surely, the people of Latitude are finding their place, benefiting our community. It is funny how awareness expands outward. Latitude is located behind the Opera House. Already the downtown community has embraced their work — including Third Street Stuff, The Carnegie Center, and even Starbucks. Hopefully these positive ideas of community will reach all over Lexington and then, who knows? But first go down and see the exhibit. Maybe you’ll see something you want to buy.

Ace Weekly Mayor's Proclamation: Accessibility Awareness Day 2006

Ace Weekly Sept. 2006

Mayor’s Proclamation: Accessibility Awareness Day, September 28

Whereas More than 635,000 individuals in the state of Kentucky have a sensory, physical
or cognitive disability; more locally, approximately 36,000 individuals within Fayette County have a sensory, physical or cognitive disability.

Whereas The remaining population within the state may also benefit from accessible and universally-designed environments, including
homes, buildings, restrooms, streets, roads etc., as our population ages.

Whereas Technological advances in medicine and also engineering have allowed not only Kentuckians, but also individuals with disabilities to live longer, more prosperous lives and become more integrated within the community.

Whereas Support Groups and Organizations, such as Latitude Artist Community, Project Easy Access Lexington, and the The Human Development Institute at the University of Kentucky have dedicated years of service in their ongoing efforts to advocate regionally for appropriate education of and adherence to the principles for accessible communities as outlined within the
American with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Whereas these groups remain committed to their cause and to educating their community
in the principles of universal-design and and ADA compliance.

Whereas access for all people throughout Lexington requires more education and understanding of the difficulties encountered by many of its citizens.

Now, Therefore, I, Teresa Ann Isaac, Mayor of LFUCG, do hereby proclaim September 28,2006 as Accessibility Awareness Day for the City of Lexington, Fayette County Urban Government.

Belinda Seller recieves Unsung Hero Award Ace Weekly Sept. 2006

Ace Weekly Sept 2006

Belinda Sellers recieves Unsung Hero Award

Lexington’s Unsung Heroes were celebrated
at last Friday’s Gallery Hop, with the
opening of Blythe Jamieson’s Unsung Heroes
photography exhibit at ArtsPlace.
Over 100 people were nominated for this
award and 12 were selected.
In a partnership involving The
Humanitarium, Lexington Habitat for Humanity
and LexArts, award winners will be involved in
various community events such as a touring
photography exhibit of the winners.
Belinda Sellers received a “Lexington
Unsung Hero” award. She was nominated by
Latitude in recognition of her work in creating
Project Easy Access Lexington.

Ace Weeky- Access Lexington- Sept. 2006

ACCESS LEXINGTON

Ace Weekly

Accessibility Awareness Day could be celebrated everyday
By Bruce Burris

The wheelchair plunges into a hole created by a
displaced paving brick, and due to its momentum jackknifes left; my hands are wrenched from the chair handles, and Belinda is almost thrown from her chair onto the wet pavement. This is this not an unusual event; it is a very normal part of walking in downtown Lexington for many of us considered to have a disability.

After catching our breath and checking for damage, we look at each other, and in Belinda’s gaze
I noticed something other than resignation. Belinda is angry—
and rightfully so. We were two people who’d just spent part of a fine late spring morning viewing
art at a downtown Lexington art gallery, and then, we had fallen into a hole where a paving brick had come out.

PEAL’s Brick Squad
Belinda Sellers has amazing perseverance, and as we
talked about our experience, Belinda asked what we might be
able to do about this problem, and the Project Easy Access
Lexington (PEAL) BrickSquad was begun.

A trowel, a plastic bag of sand, and some paving bricks
in a canvas bag are the tools we have been using to restore
sections of brick sidewalks in downtown Lexington. Gaps in
brick sidewalks and slick surfaces are just a few of the problems
associated with these sidewalks. Recently, as we were
replacing bricks in front of the Police Station, a young man
came out and told us of a woman taken to the hospital after
having fallen in that very spot two or three evenings previously.

In an article about PEAL’s first community accessibility
rally last September the Lexington Herald- Leader noted that
a woman who was entering Triangle Park fell due to missing
bricks during the presentation.

From Boston to San Francisco advocates for those of us
with disabilities have stressed the hazards that paving brick
sidewalks pose to all of us. And this is an important premise;
in advocating for more accessible communities we are creating
more efficient, environmentally sensitive communities for
all of us.

The PEAL Bricksquad is really a symbolic activity as
there are far too many missing bricks for us to repair; however,
paving bricks are only the proverbial tip of the accessibility
iceberg.

Another PEAL project this summer involved surveying
the traffic light at the intersection of North Broadway and
Short Street.

PEAL members observed this light changing from green
to red for 100 cycles during various days during the first two
weeks of August. We were stunned to find that 106 cars ran
the red light in 100 cycles. This ought to make any pedestrian
or bicyclist think very hard before trying to negotiate traffic
anywhere in the county. And as with all accessibility related issues, the danger or
impediment is not limited to those considered to have disabilities.

Take An (In) Accessibility Tour In Our Shoes

When I was looking for a location to house Minds Wide
Open art center, an arts program aimed at providing adults
considered to have disabilities an opportunity to create art in
an environment that was truly a part of the downtown community, a local gallery owner recommended Victorian Square. The management at Victorian Square could not have
been more helpful, and soon Minds Wide Open Art Center
was providing arts opportunities for people considered to
have disabilities downtown.
I

think this tells a lot about how many of us simply do
not see the obstacles to access with which many of us are confronted. In fact, I believe this is a truly difficult thing to SEE
(sometimes even to those most affected), because lack of
access is actually the norm.

This was certainly true of me at Victorian Square.
Eight years ago when I was there, the fact that 12 of 13
entrances to Victorian Square were not accessible to people
using manual wheelchairs did not register as a particular
inconvenience to me.

Today, with a different perspective, this seems absolutely
absurd. Automatic doors are really necessary for doors designed
for commercial use, but most prominent and high traffic
buildings in Lexington do not have them, and the ones that
do seem to distribute them randomly. (For example, the
Radisson hotel has two major doors, one on each side of the
building. The Vine Street doors are automatic but the South
Broadway doors are not.)
Festival Market in downtown is similar to VictorianSquare in that it contains many professional offices, shops and restaurants. To their credit, they do have one fully functional automatic
door; however, this brings you into a lobby where in order to enter
the main retail area you must pass through a door which—you
guessed it—is not automatic.

Things do not get better from here, and rather than numb readers
by telling of curb cuts which jettison people into moving traffic,
telephone poles located in the center of sidewalks, or manhole covers
which are sunk many inches below road/sidewalk level, I’ll just say:
it’s bad out there!

For the past year PEAL has been offering an (In) Accessible Tour of downtown. On it we explore many of the issues mentioned above. Last year Jay Whitehead, LFUCG’s
CAO, took a somewhat similar tour, and while operating a manual wheelchair discovered how difficult it really is to open a manual commercial door—such as the one he tried on the new Downtown Arts Center. The automatic door since installed at the Downtown Arts Center marks the one significant change we have noticed during the year since PEAL’s first accessibility rally.
Recently Miriam Powell, a graduate student at the University of Kentucky took PEAL’s tour.

“Taking the tour was a real eye-opener. Even as a member of the helping-profession, it’s amazing how oblivious one (or a whole society) can be to the barriers in the community
that exist to people with physical or cognitive disabilities. Awareness of these barriers is definitely the first step to ensuring fairness for our
whole community.”

Tip of the Iceberg
One of the most difficult things of all is to admit how very few of the real accessibility issues have been examined here. Yet it is fair to say to say that Lexington is beginning to address some of these issues. Mayor Isaac and LFUCG CAO Jay Whitehead in particular
have been very understanding of the real importance of these issues, but without more of a push from city government and community leaders our very real problems concerning accessibility will never be fully realized. The American with Disabilities Act (ADA) is the 500 pound gorilla that no one wants to bring up, but in many communities, it has only been through lawsuits (or the threat of lawsuits) that accessibility standards have been implemented. This does not
have to the case in Lexington, nor should it be. (As the tragedy of
Flight 5191 recently demonstrated powerfully, Lexington is an incredibly caring community.)
Correcting existing accessibility flaws, while building with current accessibility standards in mind, will ensure that all of Lexington’s citizens will have access to everything our city has to offer. ■
The LFUCG has declared by proclamation September 28, Lexington
Accessibility Awareness Day. A Rally will be held at Triangle Park