Together, We Are Able

This is my midterm project. For this project I had to create a work of art that represents community and inclusion for those with mental or physical disabilities. I wanted it to be bright and colorful. I also thought it would be cool to have text in it. After some brain-storming, I came up with the idea to show people being more than their disability, and that those with disabilities should be included. I came up with the phrase "Together We Are Able". I wanted the together to be in a different font to look more like it was handwritten in. I also wanted the "dis" and "d" to be torn off to show that together people can overcome disabilities.

I started out the project by painting the background. I showed a fading rainbow with watercolor going down the paper. I purposely let it drip onto the background to make have a more interesting border. Next I printed out the words "Together", "We", "Are", and "Disabled". I drew a banner around the "together" because I think it is the most important part and I wanted to make the different text stand out more.

I wanted to have shapes and symbols representing different disabilities in the background. I was worried about having to hand draw all the symbols, so I chose to make stencils. I sketched out four symbols: a puzzle piece, a ribbon, a person in a wheelchair, and a hearing aid. I cut these out and then used black pen to trace the stencils. Looking back on it now however, I think I would have liked to have hand drawn them. I think the cuts do not look as good as they could have, and they do not have as much uniqueness as I would've liked.