The Athens Advocate

On Friday I had orientation for Passion Works. It went swimmingly; the director acted warmly and the artists I saw seemed enthusiastic. I only had two slight hang-ups. One--I'm definitely no artist. Volunteers are expected to assist with drawing and painting, as well as many other motor-intensive tasks at which I claim absolutely no aptitude. But alas, it's a learning opportunity. Two, the director told me to write strictly "positive" things about the artists.

At first, I balked at this command. How could I keep things "real" if I wrote on a sunny, superficial level the whole time? After a few minutes, however, I reconsidered: by "positive," I don't think she meant to gloss over the artists' shortcomings. She simply wants me to write respectfully, compassionately. Of course I'm not going to dwell on the fact that these artists have disabilities; that would be redundant.

To use her words, I'm going to write from a "people first" perspective, conveying the stories of artists who happen be disabled, and not disabled people who happen to be artists. By the same token, that doesn't mean I'll avoid the fact of disability. It's just going to be a secondary consideration.

I took pictures of various fixtures on display, but unfortunately, due to technical issues, I'll have to wait 'til tomorrow to post them.

On another note, while researching poverty in Athens, I turned up an interesting statistic. As of 2007, 65% of people in Athens earned income below the poverty level, and 41% of residents earned income below 50% of the poverty level--a discomfiting fact to say the least.

More on that, stay tuned for the next post (after I post the slideshow), where I interview a local church about their free lunch program.