Art with Heart
Enrichment Center and Roger Wyan combine for new art exhibit
[Posted: December 31, 1969, 5:00 pm]
Words by Tom Price
Photos by Roger Wyan
The raw emotion and expression of the day was not lost on him.
Roger J. Wyan sits back in his chair and glances up at the ceiling. He smiles, it’s what he always does when he talks about that day.
Wyan, a local photographer, has seen a lot through the lens of his camera, but nothing quite like this.
He spent a day at the Enrichment Center, an adult day program for persons with developmental disabilities. They provide instruction in and a forum for exploration in the arts. It’s one of only a handful of adult day centers in the state that focuses on art.
Wyan along with program director Shannon Essig, wanted to capture the clients in the process of creating their art and then display it at Wyan’s studio-gallery.
“It was every bit of what I expected it to be,” says Wyan, who is also a photography professor at UC Merced. “They are so open and in the moment and they bring that to their art.
“It’s not overthought and there is a wonderful spontaneity and freshness to it.”
The exhibit, which opened during the last Art Hop, is a collection of original art created by nine Enrichment Center clients and photos taken that day by Wyan.
The art is fitted in simple black frames and hang on the white walls of Wyan’s Gallery 7 located at 1812 Canal St.
One of the images is a snapshot of Sue Thao wearing a mask she made. She’s holding the colorful mask in front of her face with her plaster-covered hands.
“There’s a transparency about them and their work,” says Wyan. “The individuality of every person really shows.”
The response to the exhibit has been strong in the two months since the Art Hop.
Wyan says people are struck by the purity of their work and how it sheds many of the unnecessary complexities of modern art. He says it’s pure, it’s simple and it is heartfelt.
On opening night, all the participating artists showed up to see their work.
Most, Wyan says, were excited to see their work on display.
“There was one guy who was wondering what all the fuss was about,” laughs Wyan.
The exhibit will remain on display through December and is open to the public Monday through Friday.
