Full Circle preview

Untitled painting by Kevin White.

In preparation for the visual arts exhibit at Full Circle 2013 Reflections, the 20th anniversary of Matheny’s Arts Access Program, curator Scott Beil plans to “highlight as many of our artists as possible, focusing on the voices of both our current artists and many who have passed on and left their powerful artistic footprints behind. It is my deepest intention to fully highlight the strong caliber of work that our artists have quietly been creating up on this little hill in Peapack over the past 20 years.”

Many of the Arts Access artists do not have use of their hands and arms, and many of them cannot speak. However, professional artist-facilitators act as an instrument for the artists with disabilities, using an elaborate menu system of shapes, colors, brush strokes, textures, paint-application options and other techniques that can be applied, if necessary, using only yes and no signals from the artist.

Displayed on this page are but two examples of the paintings and works of visual art that will be on display during the gallery reception that will be part of Full Circle 2013 Reflections. The entire program also includes a multi-media fine arts showcase featuring dance, choreography, drama and creative writing. For more information or to order tickets, call (908) 234-0011, ext. 260 or email pcats@matheny.org.

Untitled digital work by T.J. Christian.

 

Family Day

Adult patient Jessica Evans, left, with her twin sister Jami Nuesch.

Family Day at Matheny is special. It’s an opportunity for parents and other relatives of our students and patients to visit, enjoy food and beverages prepared by the Matheny staff and relish the end of summer outdoors.

Fortunately, the weather cooperated again this year, and some families were able to cool off in our swimming pool. Thanks to the social services staff for hosting this event and to the Matheny dietary staff for preparing all the great food!

Student Tammy Boszczuk and her twin sister Tara.

 

Outsider Art Inside The Beltway

Untitled painting by Kevin White.

Art Enables is an organization in Washington, DC, that focuses on artists with disabilities, giving them the resources and support they need to be visual artists. Their artwork is exhibited and sold at the Art Enables studio, at host venues and on the organization’s website.

From October 12-November 1, Art Enables will sponsor the eighth annual “Outsider Art Inside the Beltway” show at its gallery at 2204 Rhode Island Ave. NE in the nation’s capital. And Arts Access artist Kevin White will have an untitled painting in the show. Congratulations, Kevin!

Arts Access gives people with disabilities the freedom to create in the visual, literary and performing arts.

Solutions for Schools

Therapists work closely with teachers to demonstrate techniques that can be incorporated into the regular classroom routine.

Matheny views public school districts as partners, and we offer services that districts may not be able to provide on their own. Under a program called Matheny Solutions for Schools, we provide:

  • Specialized Evaluations, for students with mild, moderate or severe disabilities who may require augmentative communication devices, assistive technology, therapy evaluations and non-standard psychological or educational evaluations.
  • Therapy Services, coordinated with regular classroom activities. Our occupational, physical and speech therapists work closely with teachers to demonstrate techniques that can be incorporated into the normal classroom routine.
  • Home-Based Services, for students who are unable to attend school due to medical issues. Our experienced, fully certified special education teachers provide the instruction, and therapy services are also available in the home.
  • Adaptive Equipment and Assistive Technology, based on a thorough evaluation of students’ needs. We adapt wheelchairs, supply adaptive physical education tools and set up new classrooms to ensure access for students with physical disabilities.

Information about all of these services will be available at The Matheny School’s Open House, which will be held on Wednesday, October 9, from  10 a.m.- noon, at 65 Highland Ave. in Peapack, NJ. For more information or to R.S.V.P., call (908) 234-0011, ext. 234, or email mathenyschool@matheny.org. For more information about Solutions for Schools, call (908) 229-7342 or email mathenysolutions@matheny.org.

Uncovering drama

Mike Christie waits for instructions from Natalia Manning, who uses an augmentative communications device.

During the summer between his junior and senior year at Gill St. Bernard’s School in Gladstone, NJ, Mike Christie spotted an online ad about volunteering in the drama segment of Matheny’s Arts Access Program. “I was doing acting in high school,” he recalls, “and I thought this would be a new opportunity.” Looking back on the experience, he says, “It gave me a greater understanding and appreciation of how art can affect people.” Arts Access gives people with disabilities the freedom to create in the visual, leterary and performing arts.

Christie, who lives in Tewksbury, NJ, appeared in a GSB production of The Secret Garden that won the Paper Mill Playhouse’s “Rising Star” award for best New Jersey high school musical production in 2008. He went on to earn his BFA in dramaturgy and MA in arts management at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He was looking for employment opportunities at theatrical organizations and other nonprofits when he received a phone call from Eileen Murray, director of Arts Access, and Burt Brooks, performing arts coordinator. After volunteering in Arts Access, Christie was hooked. So, when Murray and Brooks asked if he would be interested in facilitating drama, it was a natural fit.

“Mike was a dedicated volunteer,” says Brooks, “and now he’s a dedicated employee. He has developed strong one-on-one relationships with our clients, and they are all glad to see him and happy to work with him.”

Many of the adults for whom Christie facilitates are nonverbal. Some use augmentative communications devices, but many only have a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ method of answering questions. In working with them to create either a play or a story that can be turned into a play, Christie has to offer as many options as possible. “I ask a lot of questions,” he says, “to eliminate possibilities in order to get exactly what they want. As they’re telling me what they want, I’m typing it into script format.”

On November 2, Arts Access will celebrate its 20th anniversary at Full Circle 2013: Reflections, an event that will include a visual arts exhibit and a multi-media fine arts showcase featuring dance, drama, poetry and prose. Two plays, “Princess Amanda 2” by Luis Rodriguez and “Brother Play” by Missy Cutler, were facilitated by Christie who says he just wants to “make sure people here have the right to express themselves. Art shouldn’t exist just for able-bodied artists.”

For more information about Full Circle, or to order tickets, call (908) 234-0011, ext. 260, or email pcats@matheny.org.

Taking the plunge

Centenary student Anthony Pare sharing a humorous moment with Matheny student Mark O’Connell.

Every semester incoming students at Centenary College in Hackettstown, NJ, take part in a day-long community service project called the Community Plunge. The project is mandatory for all new students and offers them a selection of different sites at which they can volunteer. This year’s Community Plunge was held on Monday, August 26, and Matheny was one of 18 different organizations that were included.

The students spent the entire day participating in several recreation therapy activities including relay races and adapted sports. Recreation therapy at Matheny provides our students and patients with a variety of recreation opportunities and resources to improve their physical, emotional, cognitive and social well being.

Volunteers are needed to help out in recreation therapy activities evenings and weekends. Volunteers can serve as recreation assistants, classroom aides, tutors or just friendly visitors. For more information, call Gail Cunningham, at (908) 234-0011, ext. 282; or email her at volunteers@matheny.org.

Centenary student Nicolena Marrero getting ready for a catch in the egg in toss competition.

 

Fall open house

Speech-language pathologist Jaclynne Dietrich works with student Scott Gordon on his communication skills.

The Matheny School will be holding an Open House on Wednesday, October 9, from 10 a.m.-12 noon to showcase its various programs for students with multiple disabilities. These include:

  • Preschool. Supported through an adapted environment using emergent technology, communication systems and the individual education plan.
  • Elementary K-8. Utilizing a “centers approach” where students have the opportunity to participate with their peers to learn tasks via hands-on activities.
  • High School 9-12+. Study of traditional academics, such as biology and U.S. history plus transition and elective classes that help students prepare for adulthood.
  • Adapted Physical Education. Promoting fitness through all traditional sports, modified to encourage students to create their own independent movements.
  • 21st Century Life Skills. Taking what is learned in the classroom and applying it to real-life situations.
  • Speech therapy. Providing individual and integrated services as well as in-class language groups.
  • Occupational Therapy. Facilitating students’ access to their environment with as much independence as possible.
  • Social Services. Promoting the emotional well-being and adjustment of each student to maximize academic growth and physical functioning.
  • Physical Therapy. Customizing positioning and exercise routines using standing and adaptive bike riding.
  • Psychology. Working as a team with school staff and parents/guardians to understand the meaning behind behaviors viewed as inappropriate or unsafe.

For more information or to R.S.V.P., call Jill Baker at (908) 234-0011, ext. 234, or email mathenyschool@matheny.org.

Occupational therapist Wendell Lumapas helps student Michael Taurozzi use switches to access a computer.

 

Exceptional educator

Margaret “Peggy” Zappulla.

“I teach my students that, if there is something in life that you want to do, nothing should stop you.” It’s that kind of dedication and perseverance that makes Margaret “Peggy” Zappulla an outstanding teacher and the reason she has been selected as one of Exceptional Parent Magazine’s “Exceptional Educators for 2013.” Zappulla will be featured in EP’s September 2013/Annual Education issue along with the other 2013 exceptional educators from around the country.

Zappulla was nominated for this award by Sean Murphy, The Matheny School principal, who said, “Margaret Zappulla is not your typical teacher. Margaret is always aspiring to reach new heights, and some of her biggest contributions have been on our technology committee where she successfully rolled out initiatives to have assistive switches distributed to every student in the school.”

Adds Zappulla: “The students I work with work hard, and they never give up. I will not let them. I have a responsibility to provide them with the encouragement, tools and support to help them reach their goals.”

Coming ‘full circle’

Scott Beil facilitating for James Lane, an artist who has been with the program from the beginning.

While studying arts education at The College of New Jersey, Scott Beil, who grew up in Chester, NJ, volunteered in Matheny’s Arts Access Program during the summer. He was so taken by the Arts Access concept that he trained to become a facilitator, eventually becoming studio manager. Arts Access enables people with disabilities to create fine art, assisted by professional artist-facilitators.

Beil left Matheny in 2007 to join the Willow School in Gladstone, NJ, where he is art teacher, co-director of the middle school and an advisor. However, when Arts Access celebrates its 20th anniversary at Full Circle 2013: Reflections on Saturday, November 2, Beil will be returning as curator of the visual arts exhibit.

A working artist whose paintings and drawings have been shown at galleries in New Jersey and New York City, Beil received the Somerset Cultural and Heritage Commission’s “Excellence in the Arts” award in 2007. He was recently accepted into the “Connecting Collections Program,” a prestigious summer institute for teachers from around the world, hosted by New York City’s top museums including the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim and the Whitney.

As he prepares for Full Circle, Beil says he is “deeply honored for the opportunity to put this show together, and it is my deepest intention to respectfully highlight the strong caliber of work that our artists have quietly been creating upon this little hill in Peapack over the past 20 years.”

Full Circle 2013: Reflections will be held from 3-6 p.m. on Saturday, November 2, in the Robert Schonhorn Arts Center at Matheny. For more information or to order tickets ($30), call (908) 234-0011, ext. 260, or email pcats@matheny.org.

 

 

A parent’s praise

Mike and Bo Geraghty, second from right, with other members of “Team Bo” at the 2013 Miles for Matheny, an annual fundraiser and community event.

Mike and Liz Geraghty of Cranford, NJ, are the parents of Bozena Geraghty, a resident at Matheny. Bo was born with Cornelia de Lange syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes a range of physical, cognitive and medical challenges. Bo is 22 years old and has been at Matheny for four years. According to her father, “she has thrived, as the staff at Matheny has provided a level of care and opportunity we never could have imagined. Most look at Bo and see what she can’t do. Matheny turned that view on its head and looks at her for what she can do.”

A recent decision by a Superior Court judge in Somerset County, NJ, has upheld a 2011 decision by the Peapack-Gladstone, NJ, Land Use Board to reject a proposed expansion and renovation by Matheny. That rejection was based primarily on complaints by neighbors that increased traffic caused by the expansion would make Highland Avenue, the road leading up to Matheny, more unsafe and would imperil the lives of those using it.

While those decisions were disappointing to the Geraghtys, Mike Geraghty prefers to “shine a light on those who make Matheny the success it is, rather than focusing on those responsible for blocking the expansion.” He does acknowledge, though, that his daughter may have been accountable for some of the traffic on Highland Avenue because, “the Matheny staff has taken her camping, ice skating, bowling, horseback riding, fishing and to the beach. And this past year, she finished an assisted 25-meter walk at the Somerset County Special Olympics.”

He also has a message for the neighbors who opposed Matheny’s expansion and renovation. “You can attend church every day for the rest of your life,” he says, “but if you really want to see God’s work being done, then take a ride to the top of Highland Avenue.”

Let’s get physical

Physical therapist Lisa Tumminelli helps a student use a power wheelchair during a visit to the Great Meadows, NJ, Regional School District.

The Matheny School’s adapted physical education program promotes fitness for all by modifying traditional  sports to encourage students to create their own independent movements. In addition, health and wellness activities are provided to enhance decision-making skills and promote team building.

Students are able to demonstrate their skills with peers in the community via visits to physical education classes at public and independent schools. The goal of these visits is to promote interaction between both groups of students and to enable them to compete as peers.

The principal of one school that Matheny visited said her students “spoke about their experience for most of the day. I enjoyed watching the transformation from apprehension to total inclusion.”

Schools interested in participating in this program should contact Jim Hintenach at (908) 234-0011, x239, or jhintenach@matheny.org.

Wharton welcome

Wharton library director Kassundra Miller with artists Josh Handler, left, and Alex Martinez.

Digital art and paintings by 11 Arts Access artists have been on display during July and August at the Wharton Library in  Wharton, NJ.  On Friday, August 16, the artists were recognized with a special reception at which some of their writing talent was also celebrated.

Sonya Kimble-Ellis, Arts Access writing facilitator, and Peter Giessner, Arts Access transporter, took turns reading short pieces of prose that had been written by the artists.

Arts Access makes it possible for people with disabilities to create fine art, assisted by professional artist-facilitators. The art covers a wide range of disciplines, not only painting, digital art and prose, but also dance, drama, poetry and sculpture.

Arts Access writing facilitator Sonya Kimble-Ellis reads “After the Movie” as the author Karen Frascella looks on.