Able artists from children’s center in Sea Cliff given painting platform

In the latest exhibit on display at Sea Cliff’s Village Library, strokes of paint and pops of glitter play together on a multitude of paper canvases. Some bend into twisty, geometric patterns, while others form explosions of color and creativity — a child’s dreamscape brought to tangible life.

The works were produced by residents of the Robert J. McMahon Children’s Center in Sea Cliff. The facility serves local children and adolescents between ages 8 and 21 with developmental disabilities. A large percentage of the residents are on the autism spectrum.

For the past six years, art therapist Suzanna Shayer, of Long Beach, has worked with this population of budding artists in the center’s recreation department. This is the third year the facility has partnered with Sea Cliff’s Arts Council to mount an exhibit at the library.

“One of our big goals is to show the community what we do,” Shayer said. “We think it’s really important that people understand the capabilities of the kids that live with us, because they do have disabilities.”

She explained that since 80 percent of the residents are minimally verbal or non-verbal, it can be challenging for them to express themselves. That is, until they pick up a paintbrush. The show features a selection of pieces in a variety of art forms, including painting, photography and mixed media, that are created during art therapy groups.

Art therapists, Shayer said, employ a number of techniques to develop residents’ skills. “We’re working on socialization and communication, motor skills, sensory integration and self-regulation,” she said. “They’re able to express things through the visual arts in a way that they’re not able to verbally, which can be really powerful.”

Many of these new skills translate to real-life situations as well, Shayer said, and help residents learn how to be more proactive and independent. For example, “If they can wait their turn in a group and interact appropriately,” she said, “when we take them out in the community, we can teach those skills when they’re waiting on a line.”

Fifteen artists are represented in the art therapy exhibition, including a 10-year-old boy who created a photo series using the camera on an Apple iPad. Sea Cliff resident Emily Alterman, a recreation specialist at the center, explained his artistic process.

“Any individual who has autism has stereotypical behaviors where they usually enjoy certain self-stimulation activities,” Alterman said. “Some kids like to take objects and move them around for visual stimulation, which is one of the things that this boy enjoys.”

The young artist’s interest in circular, spinning objects is reflected in his photo series, Alterman said. Working with toys like a fidget spinner, a Slinky noisemaker, a Hoberman’s disk and a confetti ball, the boy used his camera lens to capture and convey the components from his perspective.

The center’s director of recreation and creative arts therapies, Shelley Feldman, of Oyster Bay, said that the exhibition demonstrates “the power of the arts.” “It makes [the residents] like everybody else, it gives them a sense of pride, and it lets people know that they’re not anything to be frightened of,” Feldman said. “They’re regular kids who enjoy regular things.”

Alterman added that giving the children a space and place to express themselves, and to be seen as artists, is important to her. “I want to be an advocate for them and give them the opportunity to express themselves in other ways — a lot of people don’t give them that chance,” she said. “A lot of the maladaptive behaviors that they display are due to frustration of not being able to communicate, so it’s important for me to be able to help them in that way.”

The exhibit will be on display at the Sea Cliff Village Library, at 300 Sea Cliff Ave., through the end of the month. Patrons can also bid on the art works silent auction-style. The money will be used for trips and campus-wide events for the children at the center.