Top Drawer at the Brass: Developmentally Disbabled Artists Show Their Stuff
Monday, June 13, 2011
The Top Drawer Art Studio is tucked away in an unassuming and spacious building in Warren. The building seems as simple as its whitewashed walls.
On the inside, however, the studio is teeming. It is vibrant with color and ringing with chatter as more than a dozen artists consider their collective work, which ranges from ceramic pots inlaid with mosaics, decorated dolls, hand-sewn pillows, paintings, sculptures, and designer tee shirts.
Top Drawer studio, also know as The Brass, is an art studio for adults with development disabilities. Seamus Hames, the studio coordinator at Top Drawer, says that their artwork helps them to develop creative expression and individuality. And this week, a show opens in Providence that highlights this work at Roots Cafe.
Space for expression
Top Drawer does not just provide a space for these artists to work, but also gives them a platform for their expressions to be seen and heard. Many of the artists that have worked at Top Drawer show their work in galleries and a few have been nationally recognized for their art. Emmet Estrada (above), a painter who works mostly in simplistic figures, had a series of his paintings featured at the Kennedy Center’s Explore the Arts show in June 2010, a spot he competed for with about 500 applicants. The Smithsonian has also recognized another Top Drawer artist, Katrina Cathcart, who was featured in a three-year touring show.
This week and through the end of July, some of the artists at Top Drawer will be displayed locally at a show called “Rhythm & Rebellion” at the Roots Café in Providence. The show, which is also coordinated by Providence
Hames says this exhibit will showcase a perspective on the culture and heritage of Rhode Island from people “whose viewpoints are not often included in the conversation about the founding of our state's culture.”
Energy in the creation
This dedication to representing Top Drawer’s artists in the conversation is part of the nurturing and supportive environment at the Brass. The environment at the studio is both kind and creative—when someone sneezes (twice), the room bursts out in a chorus of people calling out at different volumes, speeds, enunciations “bless you” “bless you.”
Though there is some chatting, many of the artists are not completely able to describe their work, but rather their energy is thrown in its creation. Estrada, the painter whose work was recognized by the Smithsonian, is silently and fervently entranced with his newest project. Hames says that Estrada had never done art before he came here, but he discovered it like a “hidden talent.”
Another painter, Anthony Pontarelli, had been painting for decades before he came to Brass three years ago. A mysterious figure with long white hair, he quietly contemplates a completed painting of a woman alone in an English garden, with soft out-of-focus eyes. She is in a “dress-up hat,” says Pontarelli thoughtfully.
Recycled materials, original ideas
A sculptor named Doug Nickles darts about with ebullient enthusiasm to show off his recently completed tape and wire sculptures. He is preparing for a solo show at the Dirt Palace, the feminist art collective in Olneyville. Nickles’ work is super-hero inspired. He explains how a roll of tape can turn into magical glasses or a large pair of brass knuckles. “Soft knuckles” he says as he holds up the encased cardboard tubes.
“We use a lot of recyclable material,” says Hames, “It is an aesthetic, but it’s also good for the environment and forces creativity. You can get a lot of unexpected uses out of recycled pieces.” Nickles asks around for tabs off the top of soda cans. He wants to make chain mail out of them.
At the Brass, the artists select their materials and mediums. “We try to let them make choices in every step,” says Hames. “They are told what to do all the time in every part of their lives. They need a lot of guidance about how to live at home. When they come here, they have choices.”
See the Top Drawer artists at “Rhythm & Rebellion,” which will run from June 13 – July 24 at the Roots Café, 276 Westminster Street in Providence. The opening reception will be Thursday, June 16.
Visit The Brass studio at 16 Cutler St (behind Tom's Market), Warren. Monday through Friday 9am to 3pm and Saturday from 10am to 5pm.
Painting by Anthony Pontarelli
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