Artists with Abilities

A Princeton Medical Center exhibit focuses on artists up against extraordinary challenges.

By: Susan Van Dongen

TimeOFF/Mark Czajkowski
Thomas Butterfoss, one of the artists in the Medical Center’s show, in his Robbinsville home with one of his paintings beside him.

   In his landmark 1975 book, The Courage to Create, psychologist Rollo May wrote about the considerable bravery it takes to be fully human, especially in troubled times or in the face of special challenges. "People attain worth and dignity by the multitude of decisions they make from day to day," he wrote.
   Robbinsville artist Thomas Butterfoss – a polio survivor since age 3, who works from a wheelchair – makes those kinds of decisions all the time. He asks himself if he has enough stamina to stretch a canvas, if his hands can reach into the center of an especially large work or if he just feels like making art today.
   For 20 years, he’s said "yes" to these questions, epitomizing the kind of courage Rollo May identified.
   ArtFirst!, a new exhibit at the Medical Center at Princeton, features work by some 80 national and international artists, all of whom create despite physical and emotional challenges. Two painted sculptures by Mr. Butterfoss are on view as part of the exhibit, which can be seen along the walls throughout the main floor corridors, meeting rooms and balcony area of the Medical Center at Princeton through May 18. Presented by the Auxiliary of MCP, the juried exhibition features watercolor, oil and acrylic painting, mixed media, sculpture, photography, woodcarving, stained glass and fiber art. All of the artwork is for sale, with a percentage benefiting the Breast Cancer Center at the medical center.
   Companion gallery talks will be held at the hospital April 11 and April 13. Caroline Cassells, the Princeton University Art Museum’s curator of education and academic programming, will discuss Degas and Van Gogh, great artists who created masterpieces while disabled. In addition, the Art Museum will present a children’s talk April 26.
   Aside from Mr. Butterfoss, there are a number of artists from our state, including Michael Hogan and John Schackerman from South Jersey, Thomas Wilczewski from the Jersey Shore and Amy Charmatz, James Iatridis and Janet Kolstein of North Jersey. Sonya Claybourne, Patricia J. Goodrich, Ashby Saunders, John Sears and Roger Weiss – all from Bucks County, Pa. – also have works in the show.
   A visit with Mr. Butterfoss reveals an artistic soul. His condo is filled with cards decorated by the works of Klimt and Renoir, and a replica of an Erté sculpture adorns a table top. These compete with all things Beatle-esque, however – a large "Sgt. Pepper" poster, a thoughtful portrait of the late George Harrison and a series of refrigerator magnets featuring the covers of Beatles albums.
   You also begin to understand his inventiveness. For Mr. Butterfoss, 53, creativity can’t be taken for granted. The act of making art requires patience and adaptability.
   "I work here in my living room, on a roll-away table, but I formulate things on my computer," he says. "It can take four to six weeks to produce most of the larger works.
   "You have to be inventive, you have to adapt to situations," he continues in his soft voice. "With one of the larger pieces, for example, I couldn’t get my hands to the center of the canvas. So I found a way to make a bridge to the center of the canvas so I could lay the tape down to create the lines and forms. I devised a way to walk my hands and fingers to the center. Or, sometimes if my hands get tired, I use mouthsticks to paint.
   "Art can be a very labor-intensive occupation. Working things out on the computer ahead of time offsets the stress as much as possible. I’m looking for an assistant to (help) with some of the more laborious aspects – someone to stretch canvas, mix paints, things like that."
   His mother and brother lent a hand previously. Mr. Butterfoss is hoping to find someone for whom art is a full-time passion, though, ideally another artist who needs some income, perhaps while they’re doing their own artwork.
   Mr. Butterfoss’ two works in the show are three-dimensional planes of free-standing painted Plexiglas.
   "I began experimenting with the technique in the early ’80s," he says. "I wanted to deal with the interaction of color and space. At first, I tried acrylic on glass, but it didn’t quite work, so I switched to Plexiglas. I like the way the colors speak to each other, are linked to each other. I like the interplay of the shadows."
   Before the transition to geometric abstraction, Mr. Butterfoss had been doing representational watercolors. His interest in architecture, as well as the interrelationships between colors, led him to his current genre.
   "I think color can be equated with human relationships," he writes in his artist’s statement. "Where colors clash, human relationships can clash. Hues that are closely balanced can represent harmonious coupling. What takes place is a dialogue between the viewer and the artist’s intent. This dialogue is made up of emotional responses based on color theory."
   Another one of his award-winning painted sculptures on Plexiglas is "Atlantic City in Ruins," which, he explains is a stylized seagull flying into space.
   "It’s basically my reaction to so much of the old architecture being torn down," says Mr. Butterfoss, who enjoys going to the resort town because the boardwalk is so easily accessible by wheelchair and brings him out in the sun, next to the ocean. He has numerous photographs of Atlantic City framed and hung on the walls of his condo. One shows the stretch of boardwalk near the Atlantic City Historical Museum at the old Garden Pier. It stands across the wooden way from the Atlantic City Art Center, where Mr. Butterfoss had a one-person show in 1998.
   He’s also had shows at the Ellarslie Museum, the New Jersey State Museum Annex and the Department of Environmental Protection Gallery in Trenton, as well as Johnson & Johnson Headquarters in New Brunswick and the Noyes Museum in Oceanville. His work has been included in shows at Avery Fisher Hall in New York, the Orlando (Fla.) Museum of Art and a group show in Moscow with the Trenton Artists Workshop Alliance.
   Mr. Butterfoss, who has a strong interest in film as well as art and music, says he wasn’t particularly artistic as a young man and had never considered pursuing visual arts until he took a course at The College of New Jersey.
   "I kind of came to it through the backdoor," he says. "I had been thinking about going into computers. I was wandering from department to department. Then, as an elective, I took a course in art history and it was all over. Nothing clicked until art came into my life."
   He names several teachers, including Bruce Rigby, a member of the design faculty, for encouraging him. After graduation, learning how to get his work seen and his name out there was a completely different kind of education.
   "I learned the marketing aspects on my own," Mr. Butterfoss says. "I basically networked until opportunities came up."
   One huge victory came when he won a $10,000 Pollock/Krasner Foundation Grant in 1991.
   "That was almost a miracle," he says. "I bought my first computer with it and created a series of 20 lithographs through the Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Papermaking, about half of which I sold."
   The Pollock/Krasner award wasn’t part of a special program for the physically challenged, but a highly competitive, international grant to any visual artist who could demonstrate financial need. That was the real victory for Mr. Butterfoss – earning respect out of sheer consideration for his artistic talents.
   "It’s not that there’s anything wrong with it, but I was a bit sensitive about being labeled as an artist with disability at first," he says. "My feelings changed, though, when I realized that different minority groups and what not have (opportunities to participate) in their own shows. As long as I can participate in both sides.
   "People with disabilities have unique problems such as transportation and access to the marketplace. So yes, in some ways, a disability can get in the way, but your artwork should stand on its own. As you let it have a life and go to wherever it’s going, it should be strong enough to speak for itself."
Thomas Butterfoss is one of 80 artists included in ArtFirst! at the Medical Center at Princeton, 253 Witherspoon St., Princeton, through May 18. Hours: Daily 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Free gallery talks with Caroline Cassells April 11, 12:30 p.m., and April 13, 3 p.m. Children’s gallery talk April 26, 11 a.m. A percentage of the sales will benefit the Breast Cancer Center at the Medical Center at Princeton. For information, call (609) 497-4211. On the Web: www.mcp.org