Learning from our differences
2 March 2010 Spark Studio, a creative space in the Auckland suburb of St Lukes, is encouraging an inclusive society by running an “all abilities” session next term, starting on 26 April.
The Aucklander reporter Valerie Schuler attends an art class for intellectually and physically disabled people and discovers that every person is an individual from whom we can learn. This is her story. It ran in The Aucklander in February 2010 and was called Different strokes make great folks.
What is the difference between a boy and a girl? What's the difference between you and me? What is perfection?
These are some of the questions that arise during my one-hour session at Spark Studio, an Auckland charity that runs art classes for people with physical and intellectual disabilities.
I’ve come for a "drawing the human figure" class with tutor Ian Moore. I'm among the first "able bodied" people to attend.
Whittling away barriers
The New Zealand Disability Strategy aims to establish a more inclusive society by bringing people of all abilities together, thereby whittling away barriers and prejudices that ordinarily keep them apart. Spark Studio is giving this a go by opening its weekly classes to everyone.
"It's a growing trend in the disabilities sector," says Spark Studio director Suzanne Vesty. "People can be shocked when they first come into an environment like this. There's a lot of fear and people are not sure how to behave. This will help to break down some of those barriers, but we have a long history and a lot of conditioning to get over and it will take time."
It certainly takes some adjustment. I sit next to a young man called Shannon and try to look as inconspicuous as possible. The tutor, Ian, hands out large sheets of paper marked out in grids.
We start to draw. First a head, then shoulders. Slowly, something remotely resembling a human form takes shape in front of me. The guy next to me points out that my person's head looks like a rugby ball. I can't argue with that. If these people can laugh at themselves, then so can I.
"A woman's waist goes in and a man's is straight," says Ian as he adds a waist to the forming figure on the large sheet at the front of the class. "Not always," someone yells across the room. We all laugh.
What's the difference?
A young man called Jared asks what the difference is between a boy and a girl. "A female has a more pointed chin," says one of the tutors.
A woman across the room is upset. "I'm not doing it very well," she says.
The tutor reassures her we are all here to learn and the woman dries her tears and goes back to work.
Ian hands out photocopied drawings of the "perfect" male and female shape. This sparks another conversation about the physical differences between boys and girls. Jared probes on. He wants details.
"You can draw details next term in the life drawing class," says the tutor. "For now, we are here to learn the basic dimensions of the human form."
"Some are tall, some are short, some are fat, some are small," someone interjects poetically. Jared repeats this, more or less to himself.
As I look around, I realise this couldn't be more true. We are all different, but there's something valuable to be learned from those differences.