CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Special Olympics P.E.I. is working on profiling its athletes by having them team up with local artists.
The provincial association is calling on all artists who may wish to participate in this promotion. Today is the deadline for expression of interest, and any artists wanting to be involved can contact the Special Olympics P.E.I. office or email [email protected].
“We have been branching out to different mediums and how we can make different partnerships and connections,” said Special Olympics P.E.I. executive director Charity Sheehan. “This is one way we thought we could tell the athletes’ story through a bunch of mediums and unite them with somebody who has that expertise in the arts community. That could be any medium of art.”
Stories can be told through photography, print, music and spoken/written word. Sheehan said having many opportunities to tell a story is a great option as all athletes express themselves differently.
“Some are very capable of doing that vocally, others, who may not have the ability to talk, like to express themselves and they can do it through another medium, or maybe they are shy and express themselves through painted work,” said Sheehan. “It broadens the options we can tap into, but it also allows the athletes to express themselves with the way that fits best with their way of expressing themselves.”
Project
This initiative will be highlighted during the upcoming Golisano Health Leadership Awards, which take place every two years.
The awards are part of the Healthy Communities Engagement Project, which highlights health professionals, or partners, who have made an impact with Special Olympics P.E.I. In 2018, Dr. Joanne Reid was named the first recipient for her contributions towards helping launch the healthy athletes’ program. Three partners, who have yet to be announced, will be recognized early in 2021.
“The award itself is about recognizing those that are involved in the healthy communities project," said Special Olympics P.E.I. program director Matthew McNally. "A part of the healthy communities project is our healthy athletes’ program, where athletes get screened for their health needs.
"This project with the arts community is a way of telling an athlete’s story.”
Kristen MacDonald, Special Olympics P.E.I.'s engagement specialist for the Healthy Communities Engagement Project, said the artists and athletes will tell the story together.
“What we have learned about our athletes is there are a lot of different abilities in them,” said MacDonald. “Artists have a lot of different ways of portraying heart and stories, so we thought ... why limit them.”
Backgrounds
Sheehan said some of the athletes have "amazing artist backgrounds" and have skills to share.
“This is only going to show the community even more what they can do and what they want to share, too,” said Sheehan.
MacDonald said feedback from artists has been positive. She said the purpose is to bring awareness to the Special Olympics athletes and connect people on P.E.I.
The finished pieces will be due Feb. 1.
“We have to wait and see what happens with COVID, but the hope is we will have a gallery on display where the public can see all the final pieces,” said MacDonald. “If COVID does provide restrictions, we will find a way to video it.
“The whole idea is that everyone will have artwork done at the same time, so we can have an event and share all the success and stories and make a good impact.”
Jason Simmonds is The Guardian's sports reporter. He can be reached by email at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at @JpsportsJason .
