[Missouri-l] Blindness Isn't Black'

[Chip Hailey]

To follow up on Peter's previous e-mail.
this article is from the Nevada Daily Mail:
'Blindness Isn't Black': Anthology of work by Missouri writers and 
artists who have
disabilities
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Nevada Daily Mail
* Nevada woman's work is included in book.
"Growing up here in Nevada, I had teachers who challenged my 
imagination and encouraged
me to dream." says Melissa Earll, one of 23 writers and artists with 
disabilities
from across the state of Missouri whose work is included in a unique 
new publication,
"Blindness Isn't Black."
"My teachers fostered within me an appreciation of the written word 
that continues
to this day. I seek out works whose characters or plot or setting or 
theme triggers
a
c
omfortable resonance of familiarity within me, a recognition that 
reminds me, deaf
or not, I'm no different than anyone else." The work included in this 
publication
speaks to that connection we all share, as well as to what is unique 
about the experience
of disability.
"My blindness isn't black," writes DeAnna Quietwater Noriega in the 
title poem for
this unique publication, "I don't wander the world in darkness. 
Sometimes it is silver..."
Noriega, a 60-year-old Native American grandmother of six, is just 
one of the 23
Missouri writers and artists featured. Noriega has been completely 
blind since the
age of 8 and has always loved to tell stories.
St. Louis poet Barbara Sullivan Mangogna opens the book and sets the 
tone with her
lines: "boneless, here I am no longer broken/ but dance, to the music 
of memory/
flaunt my living flesh, my crutchlessness/ celebrate the legs, that 
still carry me
to morning." The work here speaks to many things, none of them about 
being broken.
And celebration, perhaps surprisingly, is definitely a theme.
In her biographical note at the end of the book, writer Elisha Jensen 
from Lee's
Summit says, "I was struck by a car when I was almost 10. I spent 
almost six months
in a coma and then one day I came back laughing."
"Blindness Isn't Black" welcomes readers into a diverse world. One 
where wheelchair
users, people with schizophrenia or retardation, those who are blind 
and those who
are deaf celebrate life and convey the message that they are just as 
diverse, talented
and as creative a bunch of folks as any. Their work does not shy away 
from exploring
some of the depths of frustration inherent in disability experiences, 
but these writers
and artists do not dwell there. "My deafness has a direct correlation 
to my creative
work," says Melissa Earll. "In the absence of sound, I rely on my 
imagination to
imagine, perhaps, how a blade of grass whispers to cerulean sky or a 
tree branch
roars in a windstorm. There are no rules to restrict me, no 
limitations to what I
can create."
Earll's work is striking in its exploration of a world without sound. 
Other writers
in this book share everything from a wonderfully hilarious story 
about a "Chicken
Lickin' Dog" to poetic interpretations of freedom. The art work is a 
stunning and
engaging mix of paintings and photography by both professional and 
emerging artists.
Published in March 2009, by VSA arts of Missouri, this publication is 
the first effort
of its kind in the state.
As noted in the introduction by Janie Ellen Ibur, literary editor for 
this effort
and a well-known poet on the St. Louis scene, "People with 
disabilities have historically
been shunned, ashamed, locked away, considered incapable of 
contributing to their
families, communities or their own lives." While attitudes about 
disability have
changed in recent years, there is still a need to reconsider the 
potential that people
with disabilities have to contribute to our communities. This, in 
part, is the intent
of the anthology.
"VSA arts of Missouri is dedicated to access to the arts for people 
with disabilities.
It is an organization in its early formative stages," said Deborah 
Mashibini, who
is working to help get the organization off the ground, "and we are 
very excited
that support from the Missouri Arts Council, the St. Louis Regional 
Arts Commission
and VSA arts' national office in Washington, D.C., has made this 
publication possible."
"The only guidance I offered for the visual art selection committee 
and the literary
editor was to choose the best work," says Mashibini.
"When we sent out the call for submissions we intentionally left the 
theme open so
that the "voice" represented would be what contributors wanted to share.
Similarly, the people who helped make this collection come together 
-- including
Jennifer Gaby of the St. Louis Contemporary Art Museum, community 
artist William
Burton, Jana Harper who is on faculty at the Sam Fox School of Art 
and Design at
Washington University in St. Louis, and poet Jane Ellen Ibur -- were 
given no expectations
regarding the theme."
Mashibini, who spent close to 20 years working with VSA arts 
affiliates in New Mexico
and Arizona before re-locating to the St. Louis area in 2007, 
recruited visual artist
Leslie Holt to assist in facilitating the project. Holt has also 
agreed to serve
on the organization's founding Board of Directors.
To obtain a copy of "Blindness Isn't Black," or to find out more 
about how you can
participate in the development of VSA arts of Missouri, contact the 
organization
at:
vsamissouri at gmail.com
  or call (314) 920-9701. To learn more about the dynamic 
international network of
VSA arts affiliates visit
www.vsarts.org