Give Chances held an Art Exhibition, "Into the World: Through Art" that lasted from April 28th to April 30th. The exhibition featured stunning artworks by four remarkable artists with developmental disabilities, Eunsong Ham, Sharon Choi, Alebert Kim, and Alexander Kim. Artists, parents, and over one hundred visitors all had a delightful experience. Before the exhibition, artists were anxious to meet with other people and were hesitant to present their artworks, which they thought were imperfect. However, at the exhibition, they welcomed visitors, showed them around the exhibition, and answered their questions about their artworks. Receiving tremendous encouragement and compliments, the artists had a positive experience with presenting their artworks and gained confidence. One of the artists said looking at the visitors feeling happy to see his artworks. He was also delighted that he had a great time explaining his artworks to visitors. Words of praise like “the artworks are admirable”, and “the artworks are full of delight” could be heard and the artists themselves were greatly applauded and encouraged by the visitors and staff.
The parents of the artists sent a message of gratitude for the opportunity to experience encouragement and love from the community. Particularly, for this exhibition, children with developmental disabilities visited the exhibition, dancing freely with the background music on. Looking at the children with developmental disability, dancing at the exhibition, one of the parents said, “It would be great if children with developmental disability feel liberated to express their emotions freely through this opportunity.” Give Chances hopes that the exhibition provided opportunities for promoting positive awareness of developmental disability in the community and for motivating individuals with developmental disabilities to join the community as independent adults. Bright smiles from the artists and encouragement from the visitors created a wonderful, restorative time for everyone.
