Citrone Fund Aids in A Very Special Arts Exhibit

A young man stands in front of a wall covered in art. He walks through a valley at sunset and then jumps into a ballet studio where a young ballerina is practicing her plies. He then leaps into space and glides amongst the stars and through the Milky Way and then floats into a calm pond amongst lily pads and shy frogs. He admires the creations of the artists around him. He looks at his painting. His whole life he has been limited, but behind the paintbrush he is only limited by his imagination. As she sees him staring at the paintings on the wall, Jill Manczka approaches the young man and inquires upon his thoughts. He explains how beautiful all the paintings are and points out his work. “I painted that,” he explains. “That’s a beautiful painting, you are quite the artist,” Jill responds. She briefly leaves his side to go to her car to retrieve the Very Special Arts t-shirt for that years exhibit. She brings it back and hands it to him. The young man looks confused as he holds the t-shirt tight in his hands, his art creation staring back at him. “You are our winner this year,” whispered Jill. “You astounded and impressed us and took our breath away. You are the winner.” Tears fill the eyes behind his glasses, “I have never won anything in my life,” he says before he excitedly embraced Jill.

For 27 years the Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV has hosted their annual Very Special Arts exhibit at Grove City College where they recognize and showcase the talented abilities of kids with specialized needs. From the 30 participants in 1989 to the almost 1,000 they have today, children with special needs have been able to submit paintings to the exhibit and emphasize their strengths as opposed to concentrating on their weaknesses. The outcomes of the exhibit range from motivation and encouragement to continue to work hard in school to the opportunity to be a paid artist, but the most important aspect of the exhibit is the spotlight kids receive from the community and their families. For one night they are the most able people in the room. For one night they own the stage, and they brag about themselves. The VSA exhibit instills more hope and power in a young person in one day than they may have known their whole life.

With the sponsorship and funding from the Citrone Fund, VSA is able to purchase custom medals as well as backpacks full of art supplies to be given to every student who participates in the exhibit. “Our intermediate unit makes it a goal to focus on giving every kid with special needs the chance to completely succeed in their education and in their dreams,” explains MIU IV’s Director of Communications, Jill Manczka. “These kids not only surprise us with their amazing talents and capabilities, but the tears and embraces from family members at the exhibit show that they are surprising their families and themselves as well.”

Art provides an outlet of expression for children with special needs. The elaborate and colorful thoughts speak in the details of their paintings. The stories that hide within them are told in the framed pages hung along the walls of the exhibit. “They can express themselves in ways they always knew they could, but we never knew they could,” explained Manczka.

The VSA gives kids the confidence in themselves and their abilities that they need in order to feel motivated and encouraged in their education, and even more extensively, their life. The exhibit is lined with a red carpet, which the artists participating walk down. They are the celebrities of the day, and that is exactly how they feel. However, this event is more than one day. After the exhibit, teachers have reported progress in the kids schooling, and kids have been seen to go further in school than was ever dreamt of, some participants attending arts school and even college. VSA changes a life in one day. They turn a disability from a lifelong inability into a momentary hurdle. Not only do they create opportunities for kids to be successful, but they make those kids see and believe that they can be successful.