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Leake And Watts Artists Display Work In Yonkers Exhibit

YONKERS, N.Y. -- For someone with an intellectual or developmental disability, art can prove to be a vital outlet. The Yonkers Public Library is embracing that art with a new gallery celebrating the artists of Leake and Watts Day Habilitation Program.

The Yonkers Public Library presents “Speaking Through Art: An Exhibit of Visual Works by Individuals with Disabilities” from Sept. 1-14.

The Yonkers Public Library presents “Speaking Through Art: An Exhibit of Visual Works by Individuals with Disabilities” from Sept. 1-14.

Photo Credit: Contributed

“Speaking Through Art: An Exhibit of Visual Works by Individuals with Disabilities” presented by Leake and Watts will be on display from Sept. 1-14 at the Yonkers Riverfront Public Library, 1 Larkin Plaza. The library will host an artists reception from 6-7:30 p.m. on Sept. 10.

The artists depicted their perception of the world by creating collages from cups, magazine pages, and papier-mache, as well as letters, numbers, a needlepoint, painted masks, and paintings. Other pieces were group efforts, including a garden of giant paper flowers replete with a flurry of butterfly wings.

“Art gives the men and women in our program an avenue to express themselves,” Ruth Tokarczyk, director of Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities Services at Leake and Watts, said in a statement. “Many of adults are non-verbal or have limited verbal skills, yet they speak through these pieces. The works are beautiful and creative.”

The Leake and Watts’ Day Habilitation program “Without Walls” currently supports 26 men and women from Bronx and Yonkers living with families or in group homes. The program allows its members to spend much of their time in the community working on individual activities or in small groups.

More information on the Leake and Watts Habilitation program is available online at leakeandwatts.org. Information on the Yonkers Public Library and its programs can be found at ypl.org.

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