Artists with developmental disabilities take center stage in Summer Symbiosis, a collaborative exhibit from Matheny Arts Access and JSDD’s WAE Center, on display this summer at the Heidi Gallery in Livingston, NJ.
Often faced with preconceived ideas about what they can do, these disabled artists are eager to show the world what they are truly capable of: they create, they imagine, and they persevere.
Freedom through art
Veteran artist Chet Cheesman was among the first artists to participate in Arts Access when the program started over 30 years ago. In that time, he has produced a diverse portfolio of work while discovering his identity as an artist. Chet’s rich personality, his humor, sincerity, and playful mischievousness are all on display in his work. Through his use of various mediums, including paintings, sculptures, poems and plays, Chet communicates the depths of his heart and mind, helping the world to see past the disability he lives with.
Beyond self-expression, Chet’s artwork brings him other opportunities. Freedom and independence are so important to him, and his artmaking affords him autonomy to decide his own goals and outcomes. The creative process stands in stark contrast to how his disability dictates his choices in other areas of his life. Income earned from his art, through the sales of his paintings, publishing his poetry and prose, and licensing his artwork for merchandise, creates an additional means to be independent and feel the pride of purpose.
Creativity fuels exploration
Yolanda is an artist who creates spontaneously and embraces exploration in the studio at the WAE Center (Wellness, Arts and Enrichment). She is always interested in trying new media and new techniques to see what emerges on the canvas. Her work is layered, large scale and bold in color.
Esther Tanahashi, art facilitator at the WAE Center, recounts an instance of Yolanda in the studio:
“Yolanda started a new painting and apparently, she felt very adventurous in her art making. She asked for a spray bottle and covered her canvas. Then she asked for paper towels and mopped some of the paint up with them. She laid one of the paper towels down and lifted it slowly. She had a look of happy surprise when she saw that the pattern of the towel had left marks behind in that very pattern. Then she asked for bright green paint. She had no palette, so I asked her where she wanted the paint. In a bowl? A cup? “No, in my hand,” Yolanda said with a smile.
She rubbed her hands together till they were covered in paint and started making handprints on her canvas. She looked so delighted and so fully into her process. Then she sat down, green hands showing and said, “And this is what they call Art!”
The organizations behind the exhibit
Matheny Arts Access and the WAE Center at JSDD have collaborated each summer for over a decade. Both organizations work every day to help artists with disabilities discover their voice and their creative force. Through this ongoing discovery process, artists can manifest their chosen identity, moving past a disability that may have defined and confined them. It is the stories and work of these artists that are featured in Summer Symbiosis.
View the exhibit:
July 7 – August 10, 2025
Heidi Gallery | 310 Eisenhower Parkway, Livingston, NJ 07039
Opening Reception | July 13, 2-4pm
