Disability, Acceptance + Art

As we approach the holiday break for many, we want to share with you a story about an incredible LA nonprofit working to make real change in the lives of people with disabilities.

It’s called Tierra del Sol — and it’s a place where people with disabilities work to find their places in the world, and their voices.

One aspect of the nonprofit revolves around art; they provide a space for artists with disabilities to curate their work, while also providing a gallery space for exhibitions where their participants sell and make money.

Check out this short documentary that follows four of the artists of Tierra del Sol.

BirdMine presents, Disability, Acceptance + Art!

Transcript:

Lexington Sherbin, artist: What it makes me feel like to come here. Is that a matter?

This one is acrylic. That was my first oil painting. And these were some of my new…

Professionally, became artist, my first publishing was when I was 24. So I guess I never really was intimidated by like a blank canvas.

I was put in restraints every day, sometimes over 24 hours. I was given loads and loads and loads of medications for different things.
Very strong medicines that are illegal to give to kids. I lived very much for very many long years of with self-hatred. The things that I was told about myself by people in hospitals and different doctors and the way I was treated because I had a disability.

I seen a lot of the darkness. I seen how dark it can even get.

It stays inside, locked inside. It cannot come out except for my artwork. But the honest truth is, I feel things very strong inside. And I think my paintings show that. I know how I may not have words. But it’s there. There's feeling. There's a soul. A very vibrant soul. But by looking at us, people don't see the vibrant soul.
They cannot see the spirit inside someone. Unbeknownst to them, many of us with disabilities, we see your souls as if your body is not even… as if it’s camouflage.

I love Tierra. I think so many things about Tierra. I want places like Tierra to stay open and grow for us because we are a whole person. We are not our diagnosis or we are not our behaviors or we're not our whatever people see on the outside. People are so mesmerized by a lot of things we do and don't even believe we either wrote that or drew that or painted that because we are considered less than or incapable of or without feeling and they have no clue.

Rebecca Lienhard, CEO of Tierra del Sol

Tierra is actually a really amazing organization. I don't think people really realize the span or the wingspan of our impact, but we serve about 800 individuals on a daily basis. I think one of the things that I've enjoyed being here is the fact that we really try to listen to where people want to take their their own worlds. So we support a majority of our folks in traditional employment… that could be anything from volunteerism to paid internships to being hired by a variety of employers.

We have well over 150 partners who really recognize the value that people with disabilities can offer to their own work community.

There's people who bring beauty and culture into this world. And so there's artists. We serve about 120 artists across our organization. We have two very active studios. And when I say studios, it's not kind of one set of four walls. It's kind of a myriad or suite of studios that people can kind of move in between to really kind of find where their creative voice exists.

Kyle Johnson, artist:

I started drawing and then I've opened up my, my thing to like painting, and then I opened up further to like textiles, and then I opened up further to like poetry. It's something I've always done, always done from a very small kid. I think it's a comforting place for me. At first, I created people now I create landscapes.

Allison Norlian, reporter:
What is life like for you as a professional artist with Tierra?

Kyle Johnson: It's great, I, I have to say it's great. I try to do work in every studio. When I'm painting, I like to spend all day on it, checking it out, looking it over, checking it twice like I'm Santa Claus or something.

Allison Norlian, reporter:
What do you want to tell people about artists with disabilities?

Kyle Johnson:
Oh, give someone a chance. They may surprise. If you know someone who has a disability, give them a chance.

(More of transcript in comments section)