Disabled find expression through A.R.T.

"I have a lot of great ideas!" exclaimed Isabell Villacis, 25, looking up from the painting she's working on in a studio at 185 Nassau St.

Villacis, a local artist, has been preparing her paintings for a show taking place next September at the University Art Museum. Like many artists, Villacis normally paints on paper or canvas, but she has lately been experimenting with painting on mirrors and is looking to try sculpture.

Unlike many artists, Villacis is confined to a wheelchair and has limited use of her arms and legs. She realizes her artistic vision through the hands of tracker artist Jonathan Becon.

Villacis is one of many artists who have been empowered by Artistic Realization Technologies (A.R.T.), the brainchild of local Princeton artist Tim Lefens. Horrified by the severe limitations on the freedom of people with physical challenges, Lefens started this nonprofit organization in 1995, hoping to enable people of all ages and physical abilities to create art.

A.R.T. involves pairing a physically challenged person with a tracker artist who, before every stroke, questions the person about the precise shade of paint desired, which brush or tool to use, where the stroke should begin and end, whether the stroke should be straight or curved and if curved, where exactly the curve should be. While Villacis communicates verbally with Becon, many A.R.T. artists have instead communicated through physical responses, some as subtle as a blink or the movement of an eye, to indicate answers to yes or no questions.

Lefens describes the thrill of witnessing the moment when artists move from "total imprisonment to total freedom," as they realize they have the ability to translate their decisions into action and create whatever they envision. In their first experience with a tracker artist, physically challenged people often transform from inert to lively, "attacking canvases with maniacal energy," Lefens said. He has repeatedly observed parents and staff members at schools well up with emotion after seeing the artists light up with happiness.

Villacis, one of ten A.R.T. artists in Princeton, can testify to the potential of A.R.T. to change the lives of people with physical challenges. Encouraged by her successful three years of working with A.R.T., Villacis hopes to go to college to study graphic design.

Villacis is one of many artists currently showcasing paintings at the A.R.T. Space gallery, which opened last May at 53 Hulfish St. after Palmer Square allowed A.R.T. temporary use of the space. Lefens emphasizes the revolutionary aspect of the artists showcasing and auctioning their work, since many of these people would otherwise not be physically able to work and have "consumers who really want what they do."

A.R.T. artists have sold paintings for hundreds of dollars, and Lefens insists that "when people buy their paintings, they're not buying them out of charity; they're buying them because it's good art."

A visit to the gallery instantly confirms the professional nature of the organization and the quality of the artwork produced. This spring, Caitlin Horn '07 and Elizabeth Looke-Stewart '06 volunteered regularly at the A.R.T. Space gallery, explaining the program to visitors. Both were shocked to see the impressive artwork displayed at the gallery. Though Horn initially thought of it as a charity organization, she quickly recognized the most innovative aspect of A.R.T.: it proves that a group of people often alienated from society can create extraordinary products if people make the "effort of figuring out what they want and what ideas they have."

By giving people with physical challenges the power to conduct real business transactions, Lefens distinguishes A.R.T. from art therapy. Lefens believes that the term "art therapy" implies that the artists are "screwed up and need some help. These people don't need therapy; they need the power to make what they want to make." A.R.T. involves no coaching or art classes, "so that when they get their product it's their product," Lefens says.

A.R.T. has been aided by a few powerful supporters, among them former governor of New Jersey Christie Todd Whitman, who hosted A.R.T.'s first show and introduced the concept to President Tilghman in the fall of 2004. As a result of Tilghman's enthusiastic response to A.R.T., the University Art Museum will present A.R.T. artists' work in a show scheduled for September 2005.

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"Princeton has been the most powerful card I could hold up," Lefens said, explaining that with the credibility A.R.T. gained from the University's support, "all the pieces are coming together."

Lefens wishes more Princeton students could be involved with A.R.T., but says it's hard to have student volunteers because becoming a tracker artist involves extensive training and a year-round time commitment. Nevertheless, Princeton students are getting involved with A.R.T. in different ways: in addition to volunteering opportunities at the gallery, Giselle Laroque '06, president of the Stella Art Club, has discussed plans with Lefens for future collaboration between the club and A.R.T.

While A.R.T. has received extensive publicity from features in The New York Times, People magazine and CBS Evening News, the program is still desperately in need of funding. With increased funding, Lefens hopes to help establish other A.R.T. programs across America and to expand A.R.T. to include programs that allow people with physical challenges to explore photography and music composition. According to Lefens, A.R.T.'s struggle to obtain funding can be attributed to misconceived notions held about people with physical challenges and the concept of abstract art.

"It's a winning combination of people they don't like and painting they don't understand," Lefens said. "The people I work with are so repulsive to a normal Joe that they don't want to deal with the program."

Critics of the program have expressed doubts that the physically challenged people are actually creating the art if their hands never touch a paintbrush. Such criticisms shed light on the skewed logic behind programs in which people with physical challenges are instructed to paint with paintbrushes in their mouths or taped to their hands, programs Lefens calls "a complete horror."

"If an author dictates his book to his secretary, did the secretary write the book? Of course not," Lefens said. "The only thing that counts is the fidelity between the work and what's inside the artist."

For more information about A.R.T., visit the website at www.artrealization.org.