"Outside the Box" Artists from Community Access to the Arts (CATA) and Seven Hills Pediatric Center
On view: October 8, 2019- January 9, 2020
Opening reception: October 9, 12:30 - 2:00 pm
Creativity meets Technology
Discover the incredible paintings created by artists using adaptive art-making techniques— and explore the processes that allow them to bring their creative vision to life. "Outside the Box" highlights work by artists using Artistic Realization Technologies (A.R.T.), a process developed by artist Tim Lefens, and Free Expressions, a technique derived from the A.R.T. process.
These innovative techniques give full artistic control to people with significant physical disabilities through the use of laser pointers and close collaboration with a trained “tracker” who acts as the artists’ hands. Through these techniques, artists are able to express their creative ideas and create stunning works of art.
The tracker – artist relationship
Trackers prompt A.R.T. artists with a series of “yes” and “no” questions that give them authority over each artistic decision in the creation of a painting. The artist decides the size of the canvas, the composition and orientation of the work, the color and thickness of the paint, and the tool and speed with which it is applied to the canvas, using a laser pointer followed by the tracker or plotting points on the canvas until an image emerges.
“As a tracker, you have to commit to being present and not lead and not act on your opinion. What you like, they might paint over. It makes you realize that it’s truly their process, that you are the hands but the painting doesn’t belong to you.”
- Michael Wolski, CATA Tracker






