It’s been a busy Fall for the artists and staff at Open Door Art Studio & Gallery! Below are a few exhibitions we’ve been involved in:

Accessible Expressions Ohio

In September, the studio hosted Accessible Expressions Ohio, a prestigious statewide exhibition and tour of 2D and 3D art by Ohio artists with disabilities. It’s designed to change perceptions and raise awareness by presenting a show in inclusive settings, like our art studio!

Every year we submit our artists’ work for the Accessible Expressions Ohio exhibition. Hosting this year was a perfect opportunity for the artists we support to not only have their works on display for a large audience but also to meet other artists from around the state that were accepted into the exhibition.

FANART

The studio’s attention now shifts to their next creative in-house exhibition—FANART!

“Everyone is in full production mode. We are creating, organizing, and cataloguing a ton of artwork,” said Claire Smith, Program Coordinator at Open Door Art Studio & Gallery.

She added, “This exhibition will be huge!”

FANART features works inspired by pop culture icons—everyone from Queen Elizabeth II to New Kids on the Block.

The concept for FANART came from one of our artists, Sara Barton, who recognized that there are a lot of artists at our art studio who like to draw anime and use references from popular movies and TV shows.

Sara is an ultimate anime fan who has been honing her own personal style since she started at the studio and continues to make characters that are uniquely hers.

Role Reversal

FANART comes after the recent success of Role Reversal, an exhibition that was curated entirely by Open Door artists and featured artwork created by Open Door staff.

“We loved the concept of this exhibition because it offered an opportunity for our artists to immerse themselves in the behind-the-scenes world of the arts,” said Sean Moore, the studio’s Program Director.

The staff and artists had a conversation about things to look for when curating and what might look good together, including how to group pieces that had similar colors and how to create flow.

Role Reversal

FANART comes after the recent success of Role Reversal, an exhibition that was curated entirely by Open Door artists and featured artwork created by Open Door staff.

“We loved the concept of this exhibition because it offered an opportunity for our artists to immerse themselves in the behind-the-scenes world of the arts,” said Sean Moore, the studio’s Program Director.

The staff and artists had a conversation about things to look for when curating and what might look good together, including how to group pieces that had similar colors and how to create flow.

When the show had been placed, staff and artists went around the studio to measure, mark, and hang the pieces. “Some of the time I thought to myself, ‘I wouldn’t have done it that way, but I liked it better than what I was thinking!’” Claire said.

The artists’ opinions made the show extra special, and their insight and curiosity about the staff’s work made the experience a lot of fun for all the staff.

We’re inspired by the passion and creativity of the artists we support and can’t wait to continue sharing their wonderful pieces with the community!

It’s cold, but not too cold. Sweater weather, for sure.

The On the Go (OTG) group from Open Door in Union County is fishing at Richwood Lake on a crisp September morning in west-central Ohio.

The water is calm and serene, with an occasional cool breeze revealing the undeniable fact that the dog days of summer have ended.

Steve, Kenyon, Pam, and Diego are out enjoying the beautiful landscape. Each group member has found their own way of enjoying this experience.

Steve, a newer member of the group, casts his pole off the dock. He’s probably the most experienced fisherman of the group—he often goes with his brother. Kenyon, an OTG regular, is fishing too. The two are trying a variety of locations around the lake to see where the action is.

Pam isn’t much for fishing, but she’s making the most of the brisk Fall morning by listening to some music from her bench near the water. She likes antiquing and the group makes plans to do some window shopping in Delaware later in the day—an idea that brings a smile to her face.

Diego, like Pam, isn’t interested in fishing, but he’s found his fun with the rocks scattered near the lake. One by one, he’ll take a rock give it a good sidearm fling towards the lake. Plop! The ripples in the lake don’t seem to bother the nearby geese—out in full force this morning—whose audible greetings make sure everyone in earshot is aware of their presence.

Mike Simmons, a Direct Support Professional (DSP) with Open Door in Union County, leads the group. Mike came to Open Door in November of 2019, where he helped with transportation at Open Door Art Studio and Career, Activity, & Community (CAC) before starting his current role in Union County.

“Mike is an amazing DSP and is very laid back,” says Victoria Davis, the Program Director for Open Door in Union County. “We enjoy having him!”

Mike typically spends his days coaching individuals we support who work at UCO Industries. He’s proud to have honed his skills over his 37-year career in the field, which began at Goodwill’s residential dormitory.

As Diego’s rocks continue flying toward the lake, Mike reminisces about his roots in Centerburg, Ohio, and what made him want to get into the field. He first became interested in psychology during his youth when he joined a behavioral sciences book club and started reading the work of people like Carl Jung.

While in college at Columbus State, he soon realized that people with advanced degrees typically are in offices pushing paper.

“And they’re not out doing this,” he says with a smile, pointing to the group members enjoying their outdoor experience.

When they first met, Diego wouldn’t talk to Mike. But they soon discovered a shared connection: both have Native American heritage. Mike learned that Diego loves dancing at pow wows and enjoys watching video clips of others performing these dances that honor their culture.

This soon built trust between the two—and now they talk all the time! Mike hopes to take a group to a weekend pow wow and let Diego introduce his peers to his culture.

Advocating for individuals to be themselves and make their own decisions is why Mike does his job. He says a key idea for newer DSPs to grasp is that you can help folks grow without trying to arrange all the outcomes.

“Don’t think of yourself as a parent who has to provide all solutions,” he says.

No matter what an individual’s situation is, they have a set of values that they live their lives by. The best thing we can do is talk about their options and then let the individual choose what to do next.

Few things get Mike more excited than talking about data. He’s always working to articulate and implement trackable, measurable goals that represent what individuals want and help them reach success, whatever that may look like for them.

He uses words that are concrete and easily understandable rather than vague terms that can be interpreted in a bunch of different ways. The clarity in these goals help staff understand their responsibilities and is an easy way for everyone to track progress.

Out of the corner of his eye, Mike spots a great blue heron near the middle of the lake and notifies the group.

“I see it too!” says Pam. “It’s beautiful!”

Kenyon approaches Mike; he’s having a problem with his fishing pole. Mike, who comically refers to himself as ‘not a mechanical expert,’ analyzes the situation. “It’s not the line, it’s the reel,” he concludes.

Unfortunately, the fish don’t seem to be biting this morning. The combination of the cold temperatures and Diego’s rock bombardments probably aren’t helping their efforts. But the lack of fishing success doesn’t matter—the group is having fun and that’s what today is all about.

Steve offers to share his reel with Kenyon for a while before the group decides it’s time for lunch. Mike leads the group back to the van, and the group chats about where they’ll go this afternoon.

A successful morning.

Elijah Brown began attending our Career, Activity, & Community (CAC) program in January 2020.

At first, he was very shy, overwhelmed by large crowds, would hide behind the CAC stage, and often refused to eat lunch. He would say very few words and for the most part only communicated with staff.

Elijah’s goal was to become more confident and comfortable around peers, staff, and a new environment. To help him achieve this goal, we offered him a variety of community experiences and smaller staff-to-individual group ratios that didn’t overwhelm him.

Because of these changes, Elijah is thriving at CAC!

Now he’s very vocal, communicating to both peers and staff the moment he walks through the door. He’ll walk room-to-room at CAC and have full conversations with most people while waiting for his On the Go (OTG) group experience. He gives everyone hugs, asks how they are doing, and will remember their name.

Some recent successes for Elijah:

• He now wears his helmet all day when attending his day program, a goal of his that had been difficult in the past.
• Both staff and his mom have remarked that Elijah has been communicating more effectively this past year.
• He continues to socialize more every day with his peers and staff.

Elijah enjoys experiences like swimming, basketball, visiting pet stores, checking out different parks around town, going to the movies, and eating at restaurants. Elijah will now tell staff where he wants to eat, will order his food, and even talks with all the restaurant staff! (They love when he visits)

When Elijah is ready to have fun, he’ll say his newest go-to phrase: “I’m gonna turn up!” 😊

Check out the slideshow below of Elijah’s recent experiences that highlight his growth at Open Door!

View our Experiences are Everything photo slideshow below!

With one week to showtime, the smiling performers of Open Door Stage & Screen were donning their beautiful nature-inspired hats and practicing different walks, poses, and runway struts.

During the lead up to show night, Cary Johnston, the program’s director, had been keeping a secret.

“We’re saving all of the outfits for the performance,” Cary said. She kept the garments from the public eye because, in her view, the audience needed to be wowed on show night.

Individuals participating in our Open Door Stage & Screen program are always learning new things. For this performance, they focused on helping to sew and embroider their own outfits—a collection of beautiful moth, butterfly, and bird-inspired wings and capes—which were on full display for the audience.

“My favorite part was prior to the show, hearing the individuals explain why they were inspired to make what they were wearing,” said Becky Sharp, Open Door’s Chief Executive Director. “One individual came up to me and said, ‘This is the best day ever!’ And they felt that way because they enjoyed participating in the entire production.”

On the night of the performance, the lobby was devoted to volunteer Winnie Xing, whose original dress idea served as inspiration for the show.

Artwork was also a big part of the show. Performers picked their own inspiration and went for it—the only parameter was to do something inspired by butterflies, moths, or birds. The result was a hallway lined with many one-of-a-kind pieces that added light to the building and also helped bring in donations to support the program.

The impact of these kinds of donations can make a world of difference: new sewing machines, scissors, thread, and tables will go a long way in providing a rewarding experience for the individuals we support.

The group is already excited to start working on their next performance, Mystery at the Snowball Inn, a mystery/comedy show premiering December 9th, which is sure to entertain! We can’t wait to see it!

At Open Door, we’re always trying new things to help carry out our mission of inspiring life journeys. Whether that’s creating new programs, welcoming new board members, or implementing new ideas from the people we support, we understand that change is constant—and we’re always looking for ways to improve.

In each edition of our newsletter, we’ll have a conversation with Becky Sharp, Chief Executive Director of Open Door, who will share her thoughts on the progress our organization is making in a variety of areas.

In this edition, she talks with Andrew Stinson, Marketing Coordinator at Open Door, about the success of the DSP U program, our two newest board members, and how the individuals we support are shaping our strategic goals for 2023.

Andrew: DSP Day this year was a big success, despite the weather changing up our plans! What were your thoughts on the day?

Becky: Yes, one thing I was most impressed by was the resilience of our staff to bring many of the elements inside and keep everything running smoothly despite the rain in the forecast. People enjoyed the Let’s Make A Deal game and all the prizes! We had a lot of positive feedback from community members and families. All the individuals that came from Park West had a great time, and said it was the best event ever! While we wish the weather would have cooperated, I think folks enjoyed the event.

(Check out our DSP Day Slideshow below!)

We have four students—Eva Marcum, Aicha Thiam, Jasmine Thornton, and Beyonca Wright. They’ve been great! They create activities for the individuals, get equipment and supplies, and make it fun. They also attended the recent OADSP event at Scene 75. Their teacher, Mr. Huber, said that the students have come back with lots of great stories from their experience here, and they want to work in the field! That’s the whole mission of the program, so it’s going well!

Andrew: We have two new board members: Tina Pollock and Cody Myers! They each bring a unique skillset to the board.

Becky: Yes, Tina works in the field of mental health, so she does a lot of psychiatric services for folks. She also brings with her a new idea of healthcare services that are outside of our realm and brings expertise of working with nonprofits. She’s very enthusiastic and we’re happy to have her!

Cody works as an attorney for Kegler, Brown, Hill + Ritter, specifically in nonprofit governance, which certainly applies to us! He assisted with our bylaw revisions and most recently has worked with us on exploring copyright and licensing options for our theater program, Open Door Stage & Screen.

Andrew: I know we’re currently working on strategic planning for next year and the individuals we support have played an important role in our approach. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Becky: I like talking about this because it’s been the highlight of our strategic planning process this year! As usual, we met with stakeholders, did surveys, and got lots of feedback. We did two separate sessions for individual and family feedback and used a lot of pictures throughout the meetings so that everyone was able to participate even if they couldn’t read the words.

Andrew: What did the individuals prioritize during their meeting?

Becky: It was enlightening because they came with a list of things that were important to them, and everyone in the room provided input. In their words, what we do well includes: assisting with going on trips, having ‘the best staff in the world’ as they put it, helping them plan for and deal with issues, and providing the opportunity to meet with people through our Advocacy Group.

Andrew: Wow, that’s a lot of great ideas. Which individuals were involved in coming up with these?

Becky: We had 23 individuals that attended the Advocacy Committee. We met with people representing all divisions of Open Door, including Park West, Supported Community Living, Career Activity Community, Open Door in Union County, and Open Door Art Studio and Open Door Stage & Screen.

Andrew: And all these ideas will go into the strategic planning for 2023. When will the plans be finalized?

Becky: Hopefully by November 1st. We’re currently typing up all the detailed feedback and then we’ll digitize it in a document that makes sense to share. And then the idea would be to have the overarching categories posted on our website, so people can see them and hold us accountable. We’re so excited to finalize our plans for 2023 and can’t wait to share our goals with everyone!

One of our On The Go (OTG) groups at CAC decided to do a donut comparison! They tried donuts from six different area donut shops and based their reviews on price, cleanliness and friendliness of each establishment, and taste of the donuts and drinks.

Individuals involved were Gilly, Sara, Marcie, Jojo, and staff member Kelli. They used a thumbs-up (👍) rating system, 1 being the worst and 5 being the best. Here were their findings:

Tim Hortons

Price: 👍👍👍👍 Good prices!

Cleanliness and Friendliness: 👍👍👍👍 Staff were nice and restaurant was clean.

Taste/Quality: 👍👍👍👍 A solid rating for both food and drink. Only complaint was too much glaze.

Last was Krispy Kreme (👎)

Price: 👍👍👍

Cleanliness and Friendliness: 👎👎👎 The staff were not very friendly and the place was dirty. And we had to sit at separate tables because they were having a staff meeting and taking up the only tables where we could have sat together. What a disappointment!

Taste/Quality: 👍 The donuts were ok but not big and very sweet.

So according to our group, Der Dutchman was the big winner! Great donuts, great value, great service and cleanliness! It was a little out of the way but really worth it for great donuts, pastries, and baked goods! We suggest you try them! Enjoy! 🍩🍪🍰🥧☕️🥛😋

Upcoming Events at Open Door:

An Ode to the Times

You’ve read all the way to the end! Thanks for that 😊

So, how’d we do? Send us your comments at information@opendoorcolumbus.org

Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media!