At Gateway Arts, we understand the need for supporting young people with disabilities through transition. It is a tough time for all of us during these years entering adulthood, and for people with disabilities it can be even tougher.
Yet we have found a creative approach through art that makes a difference. As we have seen time and again, when students at Gateway begin to create, their confidence builds and their potential replaces their disability.
The Power to Grow
One such student is Neri Avraham, who came to Gateway at age 17. Neri attends Newton High School, loves art and has autism. One of his challenges is patience. Waiting for a bus, for example, would annoy anyone, but for him it’s a real ordeal.
Yet when Avraham paints, he can sit and concentrate for hours. He says it’s allowed him to become more comfortable with uncertainty. He’s currently enrolled in classes at Gateway which help him refine the new behaviors and skills he finds through artwork and channel them into his development as a successful artist and adult.
Neri’s mother, a strong advocate for talented young adults with disabilities, says, “…that to be in a regular society is what pushes people to improve” and, “…that it is better to be a tail of a lion than the head of a small animal”. Gateway gives all young people with disabilities the opportunity to be part of the Gateway family and the mainstream art community with the power to grow to their full potential.
Flowering Through Art
Neri loves flowers. A recent acrylic work of his has been described as ‘…a sea of flowers in many shades of blue and purple, sprouting up from grass so green it looks like it’s been showered with sprinklers every day’. His works are exhibited and sold in the Gateway Gallery, online, and at outside venues. He is also training to arrange flowers for events at and away from Gateway.
Gateway accepts diversified funding including the Department of Education, the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services, the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, the Statewide Head Injury Program, the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission and private payment. Gateway is a CARF certified service of Vinfen Corporation which provides additional administrative and clinical support.
More information at www.gatewayarts.org or 617-734-1577/x10 to set up a visit or screening.