First Disability Pride art show in Fairmont
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FAIRMONT -- The very first Disability Pride Artwork show in Fairmont, "Our Stories in Color", which aims to promote pride in creators with intellectual and developmental disabilities, is being displayed now through Sept. 24, at the Red Rock Center for the Arts in Fairmont.
"[The Disability Pride Artwork event] gets the word out that people with disabilities can be creative and they have a voice. It's a way of displaying their artwork, and it gets the word out that people with disabilities are creative," said People First Ally, Pat Kietzer.
The event is part of the Disability Pride Month celebration, facilitated by People First of Martin County, The Arc Minnesota, Open Arts Minnesota and Self-Advocates of Minnesota-Southwest. "I think it's a way to show the community about people with disabilities. This is nice to get more integrated in the community," Kietzer said.
After around nine months of preparation, the show officially kicked off on Tuesday, Sept. 1, and features approximately 70 exhibits by creators, the majority from Fairmont and Blue Earth, and many more from Jackson, Mankato and surrounding areas, all with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Many of the exhibits include acrylic paintings, collages, poems and more.
Prior to the show, The Arc Minnesota hosted art workshops at Aktion Club Theater at Grace Lutheran Church in Fairmont and STEP Inc. in Blue Earth and Fairmont. At the workshop, creators with disabilities learned about Disability Pride and engaged in an art activity to later submit to the Disability Pride Artwork show.
"It's important to me as well as to the various members of People First. We want to share that people with disabilities shouldn't be ashamed. That they themselves should be proud of their disability and that they're in the community, with the community," Kietzer said.
She shared that she would like to see more art shows like this one in the future that promote upliftment and inclusion for creators with disabilities.
"I'd like to see more [events] and expand into other artwork that people have done," she shared.
The Red Rock Center is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, or by appointment. For additional information about the event and People First of Martin County, visit arcminnesota.org or contact Kietzer at (507) 525-4174.