Exhibit features ‘drip art’ by Mercer Arctists
By Michele Alperin, Special Writer
Most people take for granted the choices they get to make every day, but these choices may not exist for people with developmental disabilities.
Many have their lives completely laid out for them — what to wear and eat, where to work and live. But programs in the arts at The Arc Mercer, a provider of day and residential programs for the developmentally disabled, are giving choices to those individuals, often for the first time in their lives.
”In the studio, they have full control of whatever they do,” says Joe Gleason, administrator of day services at the Arc.
One technique these fledgling artists use is drip art, which appears in a show on the second floor of Princeton Public Library, along with paintings by professional artist Jess Gebauer, whose style meshes well with the Arctists drip art. Some of the canvases already have sold, and the proceeds are split equally between the artist and the Arctist program to purchase supplies like paints, brushes, and canvases.
Here’s how drip art technique — which The Arc Mercer adopted from the SAGE Coalition, a community of artists trying to bring the arts back to Trenton — works: Latex paint in something like a restaurant ketchup bottle hangs from the ceiling, with the canvas on the floor. Swinging the bottle in different ways creates different configurations of color on the canvas.
To create a drip painting, the artists have to make all kinds of choices: what color paint to use and how thick it should be; whether to swing the container in arcs or back and forth; whether to stop it in the middle of a swing or let it go until it stops; and what the size and shape of the canvas will be.
Artists also may want to add paint to their creations by hand, or fold the canvas horizontally, vertically, or diagonally to mix and mirror designs.
The arts program got started about two years ago, initiated by board members who wanted to move beyond the “fluff” art programs available to people with developmental disabilities.
”We decided we wanted to not only expose them to the arts but also to show them a vocational track,” says Mr. Gleason.
So they hooked up with the Matheny Medical and Educational Center in Peapack, which focuses on people with both developmental and physical disabilities, and adopted the approach taken in its Art Access program, whereby neutral facilitators help the artists. “It is me assisting you to get the painting that is in your head on the canvas,” Mr. Gleason explains.
The facilitators are trained to elicit free expression of pure creativity in people with no formal art training, and they do this by using a very robotic style.
”A smile or a touch could influence an individual, and then you’re altering their painting,” says Mr. Gleason. The goal of facilitation is to leave full choice to the artists.
To work in the Arctists program, the facilitators have to be artists themselves, but not every artist can do this type of work, he says, adding, “The facilitator has to get rid of their ego as an artist to make sure they are not trying to influence the artists at all,”
Leaving full control with the Arctists also means giving them responsibility for what happens to their completed paintings.
”Arc Mercer doesn’t own them; the artist does,” Mr. Gleason says. “If the artist decides to take them and throw them in a Dumpster, they have that right.”
Also, before the paintings hang anywhere, the artists must give their permission.
When Jose came to The Arc Mercer, he initially expressed interest in many things, but once he tried them, he would lose interest. But the arts were different.
”When he got into the arts, it was nonstop,” Mr. Gleason says. “We couldn’t keep him out of the studio.”
Some people have to warm up to the idea of doing art. Mr. Gleason says he remembers one woman who it took a year to move from peeking in the art room to putting paint to canvas.
”She is somebody who would not participate and engage in other activities, but when it came to the arts, she came out,” he says.
The arts, which also have included music and acting, have given developmentally disabled people an avenue to express themselves.
”They have shined,” says Mr. Gleason, “and what has continued to impress me is the way their self confidence has built up.”
Mr. Gleason says he has seen many of the Arctists blossom and come out of their shells as their art has given them more opportunities to interact with other people.
”It amazes them that people are coming up and acknowledging them and they are getting paid for what they do,” he says, adding that these interactions not only have improved their social skills but also have increased their involvement in other programs at The Arc Mercer.
No distinction is made between the works by the disabled artists and those of the professional painters, although the presence of professionals helps to integrate the Arctists into the larger art community.
The show at Princeton Public Library is The Arc Mercer’s 16th show. In these shows 15 pieces have been sold, at prices from $85 to $500. As of the time of the June interview with the Princeton Packet, the library show had generated $2,000 in sales of five pieces.
The exhibit runs through Aug. 31. Library hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Friday; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday; and 1-6 p.m. Sunday. For more: 609-924-9529.

