From the Associated Press, a feature on the Escuela Mexicana de Arte Down (Mexican School of Down Art) in Mexico City.

… all the students have Down syndrome, and their accomplishments are wiping away preconceptions about what mentally disabled people are capable of, particularly in the developing world where resources for the handicapped are scarce and many struggle to be treated with dignity.

Their paintings and lithographs “shatter the stereotype that individuals with Down syndrome have no interior mental life of richness and complexity,” said Dr. David Braddock, who oversees cognitive disability research at the University of Colorado and who helped bring their artwork to the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art.

… The school is part of the John Langdon Down Foundation, a nonprofit founded in 1972 that provides education, counseling and medical care to 500 low-income students with Down syndrome in Mexico City.

The students’ work has won international acclaim, with
exhibits in Bern, Switzerland, and Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as the University of Colorado. The next exhibit is set for Warsaw, Poland.

Examples of the artwork can be seen at the school’s website. Click on ‘tienda’ (shop) to see cards, posters and engravings. Originals are not offered for sale; organizers say the school is saving them for a planned museum.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 at 10:31 am and is filed under Down syndrome, arts/music, international, public attitudes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post