Experiencing Physical Challenges First-hand

We all have aches and pains from time to time, but most of us don't experience having true physical challenges. In 2010, all three of our volunteer staff experienced some degree of additional physical challenges that made doing the simplest of things difficult. We are all seniors, so it is possible that some of this comes with age, but it is never easy to accept that a genuine physical challenge can strike anyone at any time. Winter Migration quilt by Barbara Williamson.
Part of the changes we have made in the kinds of challenges we will have each year and what other activities we will get involved with stems from our being unable to do the same level of work that was required previously. I don't think most people fully grasp what is involved in holding challenges. Curating the shows includes getting good live venues that are appropriate for our artists, and where our artists have an opportunity to possibly sell their work if they so choose; and it also includes tons of correspondence with the artists, the live venues, and other supporting people. There is also the physical side of getting in all the packages containing the quilts and then making sure they are stored adequately; shipping them to the different venues; getting them hung at local venues; being there to greet the viewers and talk about all of the quilts; and making sure they get home safe and sound once again (which includes our packaging the quilts up to go home, and they always need new packaging).

Our goal is to not just provide opportunities for the physically challenged and emerging artists, but to educate the public on an ongoing basis about the fact that just because someone is physically challenged, life as we know it does not come to an end. Most of the people who visit our exhibits are amazed that people who are physically challenged can do consistently high quality work.

There is a large degree of satisfaction that comes with watching the progress of the individual artists; watching them grow in their art, in their confidence level, and in their ability to win awards and sell their work - there is no dollar amount that could meet up with that satisfaction.

It will be interesting for us to see how the new things we are changing to will work out. We did have one challenge this last year in the new format - it was a scarf challenge, and the participants were children and adults.  The scarves could be newly made or upcycled and embellished to meet our theme, "Enduring Earth."  All the scarves were for sale at the one venue in Wilsonville, N.C. at the Community College there.  The proceeds benefited The Nature Conservancy. We have no special favorite organizations to benefit. We will just pick one organization each year as it comes into our consciousness, or one good cause.

A friend and I were talking recently about the quilt community in general. I noted that the quilt community. is amazing in its ability to remain flexible and to keep re-inventing itself as needed to create its own viable economy even in these challenging times.  It is good to be a part of the community and to be able to contribute to others as we do.  

So Where's the Nonprofit Stuff?

You might well ask that as I tend to post here the doings of everyday life, but trust that we do have a nonprofit here. We just run it very informally. My belief is that one of the most important things we do to help physically challenged fiber artists is to provide a sense of normalcy in our everyday lives. People who are physically challenged are often very isolated from the rest of society, and as such, they don't get to be part of the everyday things that go on in life. We are always trying to assist them with professional development and ways to get exposure for their art behind the scenes. There is an ongoing effort nearly daily to make sure that everyone involved is making good progress, in good spirits, and that physical health is relatively good taking into account the nature of the physical challenge of each person. Often there are other issues to be responded to that don't necessarily involve art - how to get needed medications and other medical goods that are being cut back and sometimes general boosting of spirits when someone is not doing so well with health issues outside the ones they normally have, or just plain spirit uplifting. The quilt above left is my own work.

I have always felt that a good small nonprofit like ours, operating on a nonexistent budget, with a minimum of volunteers, needs above all to remain flexible to meet the needs of the people it is intended to serve, and so this is what we do.  We have made a lot of small changes over the years; going from having as many as ten venues a year to last year having just a couple of challenges, and one of these was a scarf challenge, something really different for us. One of the ladies who has participated in our events is undergoing treatment for breast cancer, and she wanted to have a challenge that she could help with so that she would have something to think about besides the illness. So she and I came up with the idea of the scarf challenge.  This would be scarves that people could make from new pieces, or they could upcycle existing scarves.  Another new idea was that we would also encourage children to participate. Wendy Ferguson, the curator for the exhibit/sale, got us a single venue at Wilsonville Community College in Wilsonville, N.C. The above scene is the buffet at the opening reception, and the scarf hanging above the buffet table is by Barbara Williamson.

The theme was "Enduring Earth," and the pieces were to be positive in nature. We decided to use the money to benefit The Nature Conservancy. The people participating only had to send their pieces one way, and also it was very inexpensive to send them since they could be folded small and sent in large envelopes.  We had children participate, and here are some of the teens in Wilsonville who made scarves for the event. Some of them are wearing the scarves they made. We managed to raise $290 from the sale of the scarves, and only had a few left.

We were happy with the results. It wasn't about how much money we could raise, but rather that we were able to raise awareness about this good organization. We liked the idea of making opportunities for children as well as adults to participate and learn about community events. And at least one of the people who has been participating with us for quite some time was helped through a challenging health situation.

We have talked about creating another challenge this year, but if we do, it again will be a small one. I will contact the people who participate in our events and look into what people want to do.  I like the idea of the people sending their pieces to be sold in a charity event. It helps us so that we don't have to worry about getting them sent back, and all of us also like the idea of helping another charity even though it is true that ours could likely do something with funds we had. We really don't need the funds since we are all volunteers, and everyone feels good about selecting another charity to assist each year. The way we have worked things out, we are very efficient And it provides the participants who are adults the opportunity to become mentors to any teenagers or children who might want to participate. That is always good.

I hope that this helps others understand how we work and why you will often see posts that don't seem to relate to what the organization is doing on a day to day basis. Sometimes we go months like when a challenge starts, and there is very little to report daily or weekly until perhaps when the pieces start coming in so it would be boring to read the day to day happenings. Our nonprofit is very personable to the folks we serve and hopefully to others who might be able to provide some assistance such as a venue for hanging the work.

 Rest assured that when we decide on another challenge and what organization or cause it will benefit, we will let everyone know.  There may only be one challenge this year and it might not start for some more months now.  I too am dealing with some major health challenges, so I need to get a few things out of the way before we start another one.  We will have to make a number of decisions about it - theme, type, sizes, and whether we will just have one venue and if so, where it will be and if one of the other participants wants to serve as the curator.  I suspect we will open it up to children too.  It is good for children to learn to work for charitable organizations.

The Quilting World

I am a paraeducator for special needs children at an elementary school in Southern California. I have worked with physically and developmentally challenged adults and children in one way or another for many years. Many of my very close friends are physically or developmentally challenged. I think I developed a heart for this a long, long time ago when my own brother became physically challenged 100% from a brain tumor suffered in Vietnam, and later a spinal injury that left him with a steel rod in his back and PTSD. It seems like as time goes by, more and more people suffer from some type of physical or developmental challenge, and not all of them are visible, which makes it difficult for those who are not in any way to understand. I remember the first time I took a survey in a large online group of fiber artists of how many were physically challenged. I expected to find perhaps half a dozen or so, but so many responded, I was truly shocked. I was trying to write an article about physically challenged fiber artists and the things they did to adapt their sewing areas and tools to meet their needs. That article could have become a book. So that told me there was a need for some sort of special help for those physically challenged fiber artists. I had seen some post about how difficult it was to get their work out to shows because of the tight deadlines and mostly the expense. I began to think about this and it was how I came to found Fiberarts Connection of Southern California, this very small nonprofit organization.

The little quilt is the top part of the door decoration for the school where I work.  And yes, I made it. It is just a fun and quickie piece, but it is colorful and makes the children laugh.

Great Achievers: Lives of the Physically Challenged

This book has been out of print and the person with rights to the book is republishing it through CreateSpace with Amazon.com carrying it.  While it is not cheap, I am sure it is a wonderful read for any physically challenged person. It was written by Flannery O'Connor. Perhaps if this book intrigues you, you can go together with a friend to order it. Looks very worthwhile to me.