All news
RHD's Lower Merion Vocational Training Center Open Studio welcomes Pa. Rep. Tim Briggs
10/25/2011 2:00:57 PM
Contact: Kevin Roberts RHD Communications 215-951-0300 (ext. 3714)
or kevinr@rhd.org
Pennsylvania Rep. Tim Briggs (D-Montgomery) will visit an Open Studio Thursday at RHD’s Lower Merion Vocational Training Center, as LMVTC unveils its newly renovated and unique art program.
LMVTC’s Open Studio will be from 9:30 am to 2 pm. Visitors can walk through the center during typical program hours, meet the artists, see their work and talk with LMVTC staff. Also attending the Open Studio are Montgomery County Commissioner Steven Lindner and Annetta Mchale, Deputy Administrator of Developmental Disabilities at Montgomery County Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities.
LMVTC is a creative program focused on arts-based skill building, education, in-house generated vocational opportunities and community involvement for people with developmental/intellectual disabilities. LMVTC is committed to an environment in which people learn, engage, create, build skills and take ownership and pride in their work and their place in the community.
“We want to be part of our community, so we’re throwing open our doors so that people can see the renovations we’ve done and see what we do,” said Lori Bartol, LMVTC director.
The LMVTC studios are engaging in a number of community activities, including tree planting along Lancaster Ave.
Lower Merion Vocational Training Center has been an RHD program since 1972, providing employment and training to people with intellectual disabilities. Last year RHD began transforming LMVTC from a vocational work program
into a creative arts program, a massive change in line with RHD’s push to embrace the creative arts approach to day programs. The new studio produces striking artwork, and impact on people’s quality of life is astonishing.
“They’ve done a 180-degree turn here,’’ said Jay McClellan, LMVTC art program coordinator. “The designs they make and send out to the world, whatever they’re trying to communicate, it’s out there. It gives them a voice, and it’s a strong voice. And it’s a voice everybody can understand.
“We want the students to interact with the community. A lot of our community involvement is us going outside. We’d like the community to come in and see what we do here.”
The plans for LMVTC include a store that will market and sell the students’ work, allowing the artists to make money for their efforts. LMVTC has always promoted community interaction, but this will be another substantial change.
“They type of imagery that comes out of our students is raw and unique; It’s fascinating,” Bartol said.
