Digital image by Texas Artist Garners Honors as Featured Work
(Malvern, PA, September 6, 2016) — With the initial jury process complete, more than 400 works of art from over 200 artists with disabilities will be featured in the 21stannual Art Ability Exhibition and Sale at Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital, part of Main Line Health, opening in November. Among those works on exhibit and available for sale isGrackle Flying through Red Salvia, by Robert Flatt of Houston, Texas—this year’s featured artist. Each year, a featured work is selected by a committee to best represent the mission of Art Ability and to increase public awareness of the talent of individuals with disabilities.
After discovering he had Parkinson’s disease, Flatt said that he began pursuing what he calls his “crazy passion to become a photographer.” He adds: “My disease has helped me to ‘slow down’ to see the beauty in the wild and beautiful places I travel. Now I find that I have an urgency to ‘hurry up’ and capture as much as I can photographically while I still can. I love highly saturated pictures that are full of color and with vibrant, surrealistic backgrounds. I really enjoy using my camera and Photoshop to paint pictures of birds flying, bees buzzing, and dragonflies basking in the sun.”
Art Ability is an annual juried event for artists with physical, cognitive and/or hearing disabilities that celebrates their work and encourages them to reach beyond their own limitations. Hundreds of artists from around the world submit their work to be included as part of the annual exhibit and sale.
“Art Ability has become an integral part of our hospital and how we care for our patients,” said Donna Phillips, President, Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital. “The art on the walls of the first floor of the hospital inspires our patients to reach beyond their limitations and to perceive their situation with a new perspective. Art Ability is one of the ways we seek to achieve our mission of enhancing community awareness about individuals with disabilities and advocating on their behalf.”
In its twenty-first year, Art Ability will open with a Preview Reception on Saturday, November 5 at Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital, located in Malvern. To purchase tickets for this event, contact the Art Ability Office at 484.596.5425. Beginning Sunday, November 6, the Art Ability Exhibition and Sale will be open daily and is free to the public throughJanuary 29, 2017.
Art Ability has many philanthropic partners, with leadership support from The William Penn Foundation, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and Construction Services Group, who is the 2016 Art Ability Presenting Sponsor. Thanks to the generosity of The William Penn Foundation, Art Ability is now able to offer an online sales gallery that provides the opportunity to view works for sale from our consignment inventory. Connect… Shop… Support at www.art-ability.org. For more information about Art Ability 2016, including group tours and the Preview Reception, please contact the Art Ability Office at 484.596.5607 or visit mainlinehealth.org/ArtAbility.
About Main Line Health
Founded in 1985, Main Line Health (MLH) is a not-for-profit health system serving portions of Philadelphia and its western suburbs. At its core are four of the region’s respected acute care hospitals—Lankenau Medical Center, Bryn Mawr Hospital, Paoli Hospital and Riddle Hospital—as well as one of the nation’s premier facilities for rehabilitative medicine, Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital; Mirmont Treatment Center for drug and alcohol recovery; and Main Line Health HomeCare & Hospice, a home health service. Main Line Health also consists of Main Line HealthCare, one of the region’s largest multi-specialty physician networks, and the Lankenau Institute for Medical Research, a non-profit biomedical research organization located on the campus of Lankenau Medical Center. Main Line Health is also comprised of four outpatient health centers located in Broomall, Collegeville, Exton and Newtown Square.
Main Line Health Hospitals, with more than 10,000 employees and 2,000 physicians, are the recipients of numerous awards for quality care and service, including System Magnet® designation, the nation’s highest distinction for nursing excellence, and being named among the nation’s best employers by Forbes magazine. Main Line Health is among the area’s leaders in medicine, providing advanced patient-centered care, education and research to help our community stay healthy. To learn more, visitmainlinehealth.org.
About Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital
Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital, a member of Main Line Health, is a leader in the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation. As a 148-bed, not-for-profit hospital, Bryn Mawr Rehab offers the full continuum of rehabilitation services, including acute inpatient care, as well as outpatient services for adults and adolescents. The range of illnesses and injuries treated at Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital includes traumatic, mild traumatic and non-traumatic brain injury, stroke and other neurological disorders, spinal cord injury and amputee and orthopedic injuries and illnesses. In addition, the Main Line Health Outpatient Rehab Network provides rehabilitation services at convenient locations in Philadelphia’s western suburbs for patients of all ages. The Hospital has also achieved Magnet® designation, the nation’s highest distinction for excellence in nursing care. For more information about Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital, visitmainlinehealth.org/rehab.
