Wheelchair Art Debuts in Montpelier

Wheelchair Art Debuts in Montpelier

Jenn Jacques, who will be a senior at Chelsea High School next year, presides at the opening of a show of her paintings Aug. 11 at Julio's Restaurant on State Street in Montpelier. Fourteen paintings line the walls of the restaurant, all created by Jacques, who has no use of her hands. Instead, she manipulates her wheelchair across the canvasses, directing art teacher Joan Feierabend in the placement of paints of various colors.

hen Jennifer Jacques’ wheels are in motion, the energy they produce takes on a life of its own.

Most people call to mind an image of mental cogs and wheels turning out fresh ideas, but Jenn Jacques has more than one set of wheels. When her wheels are in motion, there is an intoxicating smile involved, endless mental thought bubbles, as well as quite a bit of paint splattering in the air as she drives her wheelchair through pools of bright acrylic paint.

During her junior year at Chelsea, Jacques discovered the power of her own artistic decisions. With a little coaxing from art teacher, Joan Feierabend, Jacques joined a high school art class, her first since the sixth grade. Doesn’t sound like a major decision, right?

But it was. Jacques is a quadrapalegic, bound to her wheel chair. She was born with cerebral palsy and communicates with a device called a Dynavox. She controls her chair and her Dynavox with two chin switches because she lacks the muscle control to maneuver the controls with her hands.

So you see, Jacques’ school days have been filled with her basic subjects and the training she needs to operate her equipment. Art in the classroom with her peers had not been part of the picture for many years.

Obviously, she could not follow the regular curriculum, take a brush in hand and paint alongside her classmates, so Jacques and Feierabend had to be creative. They experimented with a head pointer, but Jacques didn’t have much control over it. Eventually they decided to use Jacques’ wheelchair as the means to control her artistic visions.

Under her student’s direct instruction, Feierabend applies paint to large sheets of heavy paper on the floor. Jacques chooses the colors, the order, the amount. Then, once plastic has been laid over the paint, Jacques makes deliberate passes and turns over the paper in her chair. Sometimes, she stops to add more color; sometimes she spins in one place then and layer on more paint.

Artist in Control

Each painting takes up to 90 minutes to complete and Jacques is in total control of the process.

In taking control, "Jenn showed zero hesitation," noted Feierabend.

The results are bright, abstract images which lend themselves to multiple levels of interpretation There are streaks and tracks of multiple colors, soft puffs of movement, heavy, dark lines mixed with lighter images, countless levels of direction and motion punctuated with a very deliberate use of color.

Jacques has created over two dozen images and at the conclusion of each piece, she individually titled them. Unlike the paintings, the titles are not abstract, but impose a concrete picture in Jacques’ mind. Their names evoke very specific places, moods, people, and events.

There is "Continental Divide," a swirl of greens and blues resembling the sway of algae on water with definite tracks of brighter colors and soft blooms of light in one corner. The image itself is moving, but its title launches the viewer to a loftier point of view.

Other titles include "Reindeer," "Pay Cafeteria," "Stopped," "Heaven," "France," "Mr. Stein," and "Web Santa Claus."

"Wedding," which is Jacques’ and Feierabend’s favorite, is a black and white piece. A simple black square of paper is grounded by a large blur of white in the middle. A textured ring around the perimeter gives the image its boundaries, but its soft cloud-like shapes suggest that it reaches beyond the paper.

Though school ended in June, the art project has taken on breath of its own throughout the summer. When Jacques shared her work with her principal, Karl Stein, he was amazed. He called his friend, Jane Edwards, who is the owner of Julio’s restaurant in Montpelier. Edwards has a history of showing student art in her restaurant and her walls had been empty for some time. When she heard about Jacques, it was an instant match.

Opening at Julio's

Jacques’ debut in the art community took place on Aug. 11 when she officially opened her own show at Julio’s. Fourteen paintings line the walls of the restaurant and will remain on display for some time.

Edwards is thrilled to have them enhancing her popular State Street eatery. She was particularly taken with the titles of each piece

"The titles make you feel reflective and add a dimension to the artwork that I don’t know that I would have seen," she said.

On the day of the opening, Jacques spent the afternoon greeting family, friends, and teachers at Julio’s and was energized to talk about the experience.

"Art is another way for me to communicate my feelings and who I am." she said, using her Dynavox. "Even though I can’t use my hands, I can do the projects other kids do. I just do them differently. I choose the colors and where to place them and when. I use my chair to make the designs I want."

Feierabend is so proud of her student and friend. She has coordinated the details of the show and is eagerly anticipating Jacques’ return to her classroom this fall. "Art is all about making decisions and Jenn knows what she is doing," Feierabend stressed, "I had Jenn in kindergarten for art and I knew then that she had something like this inside."

The paintings are a very natural addition to the restaurant space, as they fit perfectly in the wall space above the booths, creating a border for the cathedral ceiling. Customers can peruse the show without disturbing each other and Jacques’ guests practically wore a track in the floor as they strolled a lap around the tables again and again for another look. Jacques shared stories of how she named each piece.

Gradually, friends and family began picking favorites and asking an elated Jacques if they could buy a painting. This led to silent bidding, because multiple people wanted the same piece. Now that Jacques has sold her first works, she will likely replace some of the paintings with fresh images from her supply at home.

And so the show evolves, along with Jacques’ new-found passion for art. The wheels continue to turn.

Story and photographs by Emily Marshia