The arts can be meditative, improve concentration, help with self-esteem and reduce stress. A new program in New Jersey is bringing these benefits to people with disabilities so that they can enjoy art in a way that is beneficial and accessible.
Young Audiences of New Jersey & Eastern Pennsylvania has launched United We Discover, an arts program that promotes inclusivity and creativity in education, ensuring that every child, regardless of ability, has the opportunity to explore the power of the arts.
The program includes inclusive, hands-on art-making workshops led by professional teaching artists, in-school assemblies with theater performances that present disability culture in a positive light, art-based professional learning for educators, community events for students with and without disabilities so they can experience art together while breaking down stigma, and customized programming for schools.
“I want to give students the ability to know that they can express themselves as a human being and not as a caricature of what other people think they should be,” says Erik James Montgomery, photographer and Young Audiences teaching artist. “I’ve seen students’ lives change from the inside out. Their self-esteem grows leaps and bounds … They find out who they are. They find out what they like about themselves. They find out that they’re just like everybody else, and they really take pride in that.”
United We Discover is available in Paterson, Newark, Hightstown and New Brunswick. Programming is offered during the school day and in collaboration with classroom teachers.
The initiative is funded in part by an Inclusive Healthy Communities (IHC) grant from NJ Human Services’ Division of Disability Service. The grants help communities and organizations engaged in projects that promote the health and well-being of individuals with disabilities in the communities where they live.
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