«When they pulled the cloth away from the painting, I felt wonderful. There were so many people there, and they were amazed: 'Look at that beautiful painting that girl from Rome made!'» Carla, one of the people with disabilities living at the Il Carro community, speaks with striking clarity about the emotions of their first solo show.
Two years ago, for the annual Carro celebration, we decided to organize an exhibition of paintings created by all our residents. The paintings were displayed theatrically: draped in cloth and hung with thin wires around the entire perimeter of the multipurpose room. As each artist was announced, their canvas was unveiled one by one. As a residential community, it was our first time attempting something this elaborate. In the past, we had mostly worked with tempera and acrylics on various materials—small pots, wooden or clay objects, fabrics, banners, posters, countless sheets and notebooks, and even furniture.
We had a wonderful experience visiting the art workshop of Sant'Egidio in Trastevere. We stay closely connected with the group and try to visit at least three or four times a year. Beyond the pleasure of mixing with different people and making new friendships, you're immersed in art: both the canvases produced by workshop participants and the art of the space itself, housed in an ancient church with marble busts and beautiful vaulted ceilings.
Inspired by that experience, we decided to try our hand at canvas painting too. The results are still visible today in the paintings hanging in our common room—at least until the winds of change blow through again.
What makes canvas painting different from our other creative activities is how spontaneous the work becomes.
Most other projects have technical requirements: drying time between coats when decorating a pot, protective varnish, decanting. But with canvas, once we covered the tables with protection, laid out brushes and paints, the paintings were finished in a single afternoon. The work flowed from there—sometimes starting with a theme, sometimes just a way of setting up the canvas—each resident following their own inclination while we tried to keep the desired outcome in mind. We discovered it was easier, and more rewarding for everyone, to give them as much freedom as possible. The results were often better that way. Our residents are very different from one another, with varying levels of ability. The challenge for those of us supporting them is to draw out their perspective as much as possible, so that what they create does justice to who they are. Rita, another resident, remembers being «happy painting the picture. I used all the colors—yellow, blue, light blue, green—with brushes and a sponge».
After the celebration, we repeated the canvas painting activity and will do it again this summer. People saw the paintings, and we've even received commissions!
