Countryside Association to showcase clients' artwork

During the school year, Catrina Chapa, 29, of Rolling Meadows volunteered every week in the lunchroom at Quentin Elementary School in Palatine. That is when she wasn't competing in sports, working out or dancing.

In recent years, however, she has discovered a new interest to add to her resume: art.

Chapa is one of 78 clients with the Countryside Association for People with Disabilities, out of the 180 they serve in the Palatine area, who participated in its art program this year.

The best of their work will go up for sale, in the agency's third annual "Art in the Countryside" silent auction and reception, taking place from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Friday, outdoors on the facility's parklike campus, 21154 Shirley Road in Palatine. Admission is free.

For the past several months, clients have worked in makeshift conference rooms, with push carts filled with their supplies, to explore an array of media, including oil, acrylics, watercolors, pastels, and even some fabric art.

"There's something about painting that everybody loves," says Nichole Visconti, program coordinator, "no matter what kind of disability you have."

Visconti and two other staff members made sure that the clients themselves designed their individual pieces. In some cases, participants had to use sign language or their adaptive communication devices to communicate the colors they wanted to use.

In Chapa's case, she chose to work in fabric art, creating a framed piece from the fabric scraps donated by families of clients.

"It's a different medium, but it suits her," Visconti adds. "Catrina works really fast, and talks fast, so her piece really reflects her personality."

Increasingly, Countryside officials are learning of the benefits of art, both as therapy and for its ability to boost confidence and self-expression.

This weekend's "Art in the Countryside" silent auction of their works, gives the artists another added benefit: the chance to mingle with supporters in an outdoor reception, before reaping some cash proceeds from the sale of their works.

Seventy percent of the proceeds will go directly to the artist, with the remaining 30 percent going back into the Countryside art program, to purchase more supplies, Visconti says.

Initially, the art auction was conceived as a way to showcase the creativity of people with disabilities, says staff member Michele Fitzgerald. However, staff members say they have seen it grow into an event that uses the common ground of visual art, to bring the community together with people with disabilities.

"We live in an increasingly diverse society," Fitzgerald says. "Art in the Countryside serves as a vibrant and accessible event for the public to interact in a meaningful way with people with disabilities."

If you go

What: Art in the Countryside silent auction and reception

When: 5:30-8 p.m. Friday

Where: Countryside Association for People with Disabilities, 21154 W. Shirley Road in Palatine

Call: (847) 438-8855 or visit www.countrysideassn.org