Accessible Arts, Inc, and the Kansas State Board of Education are proud to announce awards in arts and disabilities for the year 2001
Since 1984, Accessible Arts (AAI) and the Kansas State Board of Education (KSBE)have been recognizing the valuable work of Kansans who include children with disabilities in art experiences. The AAI Awards Committee, chaired this year by Board Vice President Kathleen White of Prairie Village, is responsible for selecting the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award. Honorees for Educator of the Year are nominated by their peers across the state. Making the presentations will be representatives from Accessible Arts and the Kansas State Board of Education at a ceremony March 13, 2002. If you would like additional information about the ceremony, please contact Accessible Arts at 913/281-1133 or by e-mail.
Lanell Finneran, Special Education Teacher at the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center in Lawrence, Kansas, has been selected to receive the award for Kansas Educator of the Year in Arts and Disabilities. Finneran is especially recognized for sharing her talents with children so that through her programs, they have expressed imagination, gained confidence and experienced success. She has consistently integrated the arts in her tireless work as a therapist and teacher, giving children the joy of creating art and the knowledge that to be 'different' is to be worthy and unique. The award for Distinguished Service in Arts and Disabilities will be given to Bob Ault, Ault's Academy for Art in Topeka. Ault has consistently demonstrated leadership, commitment, and dedication to quality arts programming for people with disabilities, and through advocacy and education has raised public awareness about arts and disabilities, effecting meaningful change and enhancing the quality of life for all Kansans.
Lanell
Finneran, 2001 Kansas Educator of the Year in Arts and Disabilities
Lanell Finneran
is recognized for her outstanding contributions through her years as an educator,
integrating all the arts, especially visual art and drama, into the learning
experience. She was especially commended for mentoring future teachers and creative
arts therapists, and for her recent drama workshops for children and adolescents.
For the past two years, she has been Artist-in-Residence, responsible for "Let It Show" drama workshops for 9-13 year olds, a part of the Van Go Mobile Arts program for children and adolescents at risk in Lawrence. She encouraged her students to participate in this as well as in other art fairs and community events. Frequently, the teacher takes her students to such events. She also encourages her students to apply for work through Van Go JAMS ("Jobs in the Arts Make Sense") which inspires students to grow artistically.
Finneran has been a leader in bringing the arts to educators, health professionals, and mental health professionals nationally and across the state of Kansas. She has served for six years on the Board of Directors of the National Association for Drama Therapy, and is currently Chair of the NADT Membership Committee. In addition, she has organized and presented at numerous conferences, and teaches summer courses at Kansas State University.
Sally Bailey, Assistant Professor of Drama Therapy Department at Kansas State nominated the teacher, saying, " I can not think of anyone who has worked as tirelessly for children and adolescents in our state as Lanell Finneran, nor can I think of anyone who has integrated the arts (drama, art, music, movement, and poetry) more completely and consistently into everything she does for and with others." Finneran was also nominated by two Kansas State graduate students, Nadya Trytan, and Angela Martin.
Bob Ault, 2001 Kansas Distinguished Service of the Year in Arts and Disabilities
Bob Ault was previously honored in 1985, as Educator of the Year in Arts and Disabilities for, among other things, his work in art therapy at the Menninger Clinic, for being instrumental in forming the American Art Therapy Association, and organizing the Kansas Art Therapy Association. When he recognized that the University of Kansas was far from starting an art therapy program, he created and directed a Master of Science in Art Therapy program at Emporia State University.
This year, Ault is honored for his continuing contributions since retirement. At Ault's Academy for Art in Topeka, he provides instruction to approximately 50 students weekly. Through this work, Bob has developed new, innovative techniques, individualized for people who are working through mental issues. He is also being recognized for outstanding work on behalf of individuals with disabilities through therapeutic arts programming. Until recently, Ault also did eight hours of weekly art therapy at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Topeka, where he developed an arts program that includes a very successful family night.
Recently Bob was working with a patient who was very depressed. After a long career as an educator, the patient learned that all previous work left with the employer had just been put through a shredder! It was as if all those years and experience were for naught. Bob encouraged the patient to collect photographs; they were also put through a shredder. The patient then carefully wove the pieces back together into an acrylic weaving that became a beautiful work of art. Since then, Bob has adapted this technique to other patients with different circumstances and in his own art.
One
of his most poignant stories is of a patient who had been a photographer in
the Marine Corps. After being shot down, he made it to a foxhole where he held
a wounded buddy. When they were finally rescued, they found that the soldier
he was holding had already died. From the rescuing helicopter, another photographer
snapped a picture of the Marine holding his buddy. The Marine carried that picture
in his billfold for 20 years. In the creative arts clinic, he did a painting
from the photograph. When completed, a viewer realized he had left out an important
part. The missing part was a teardrop running down his cheek. For the first
time, the patient was able to connect with the pain of the experience and then
begin the healing. Ault continues to exhibit his art several times a year and
continues involvement in and presentations for numerous conferences.