Pioneer Center shows artistic side

CHILLICOTHE – The more than 100 pieces of art lining the walls of the Pump House Center for the Arts represent not only a variety of styles but also a range of abilities.

The paintings, drawings, sculptures and pottery pieces in the Pioneer Center's second Art Showcase were created by students and adults with developmental disabilities, some of them in collaboration with community volunteers and local high school students.

A gallery opening and silent auction March 12 at the Pump House will help kick off the Pioneer Center's celebration of Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month. The exhibit will remain on display through March 22.

Betsy Parker and Judy Weilbacher, members of the Chillicothe Art League, volunteered their time once a week for the past several months to help students at the Pioneer School create their contributions to the show.

"Our first challenge was to figure out the capability level of each student," Weilbacher said.

"We were trying to teach the students about different media and different techniques," Parker said. "Some students worked better with acrylics while others preferred pencils. For some kids, it was more a matter of, 'How far can I go with this?' "

Paul Lincke, who teaches a developmental disabilities unit at Chillicothe High School, said some of the students were reticent at first, but once they realized it was a way to express their creativity and point of view, their efforts took off.

"They all wanted to paint a typical landscape with a tree and a mountain and be done. But after we pulled up some examples of abstract art and explained how their art could be anything they wanted it to be, some of them got into and then they couldn't stop," Lincke said.

One of Lincke's students, Blake Tinker, 17, explained his piece Wednesday while his class was visiting the Pump House to cast their votes for their favorites. His contribution was a painting on a small canvas featuring the words "Autism Society" and "46 years." The painting is a nod to the Autism Society's upcoming 46th annual national conference.

Tinker and his father attend the conference every year. They've been to Pittsburgh and Indianapolis and will travel this summer to Denver.

"It's a very good conference," Tinker said.

The show also features art created by Pioneer students in collaboration with students from other schools. One group worked with Unioto students to create sculptures made with aluminum cans, while another worked with Pickaway-Ross Career & Technology Center students to make digital pieces of art on computers. A third group worked with students from Chillicothe High School who taught them how to paint with watercolors and later applied their own designs using permanent marker.

All of the pieces in the show will be for sale for prices ranging from $5 to $125. The works that received the most votes from Lincke's class and members of Pioneer's day-habilitation group will be set aside for the silent auction.

The show also features 15 pieces created by Easter Seals consumers. They are not for sale.

If you go

• What: Opening reception for the Pioneer Center Art Showcase

• When: 7 to 9 p.m. March 12

• Where: Pump House Center for the Arts on Enderlin Circle in Yoctangee Park

• FYI: The event is free and open to the public and will include light refreshments.

Selected schedule of public events celebrating Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month

• Dance for teens and adults at the Ross County Service Center, 475 Western Ave. Snacks will be provided. Cost of admission: one non-perishable food item to be donated to Good Samaritan Food Pantry. (5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday)

• Sing & Stretch, a special Music Time and Yogamotion event for children ages 1 to 5 at Ohio University-Chillicothe's Early Childhood Development Center, 101 University Drive. No preregistration required. (6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday)

• Provider Fair at the Ross County Service Center, 475 Western Ave. (4:30 to 7 p.m. March 12)

• Open house at Pioneer Center's new administrative offices, 167 W. Main St. (Tours at 3 and 3:30 p.m. Grand opening ceremony at 4 p.m. March 20)

• Pioneer Center Awards at the Ross County Service Center, 475 Western Ave. Refreshments provided. (5:30 to 8 p.m. March 26)