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The Artists of Nuvisions

Clifford Anderson ___________________________ (click here for artwork sample)

Clifford Anderson has a BFA from the Philadelphia College of Art and a Masters in Special Education from Antioch University. He has taught for 23 years in Philadelphia public schools. Clif manages to remain active in the arts, playing the double bass in the Thomas Jefferson Orchestra and Delaware County Symphony and is a winner in wheelchair tennis.

Kenneth Brooker ____________________________ (click here for artwork sample)

Kenneth Brooker of the Germantown section of Philadelphia, is a painter who chronicles our time with dramatic images. Kenneth has been painting since he was a child and received various awards and scholarships in elementary and high school, including first prize for his design in a "Hire the Handicapped" poster competition. His formal education includes the Fleisher Art Memorial and Tyler School of Art. He won Best of Show in Nuvisions 8th Annual Juried Members Exhibition. Kenneth suffers the effects of a traumatic head injury.

Dennis Coyle _________________________________(click here for artwork sample)

Dennis Coyle is a freelance photographer. He was disabled in an automobile accident and lost his right arm. He has adapted his cameras and dark room to overcome his handicap. He is now concentrating on fine art photography instead of commercial photography since his accident. He started to exhibit his work. He won a prize in the Nuvisions 9th Annual Juried Exhibit And was accepted in the 1993 Moss Rehabilitation Hospital International Exhibit for Disabled Artists.

Patricia Lynn Davis____________________________ (click here for artwork sample)

A diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis and its effects has not diminished her joy in creating. In high school, she was an art major and student in the School Art League. A Bachelor of Science, in Art Education, was earned at Moore College of Art with continued study at Tyler School of Fine Arts, The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and The Philadelphia College of Textile. Ms. Davis has been an art teacher to children and adults, all ages and with all levels of ability. Exhibits: local, regional and national with six solo shows. Work is in private collections. The Edith Ogden Harrilson Prize, for painting, Woodmere Art Gallery, Philadelphia, Ann Craig Memorial Prize for painting, Abington Art Center, Abington, Pa. are among the prizes she has been awarded. Ms. Davis remains open to possibilities, filtering subjects through personal insights and emotions, realized in watercolor and mixed media.

Stanley Dunn _________________________________(click here for artwork sample)

No biography available

Howard Edelstein_____________________________ (click here for artwork sample)

Howard Edelstein, of Northeast Philadelphia, is a graphic designer who studied at Community College of Philadelphia and Tyler School of Art. To overcome the effects of muscular dystrophy, Howard paints in watercolor, using the flat surface of his armrest on his wheelchair as a support. Howard is recognized by the Philadelphia Horticultural Society as an award-winning gardener. He is vice-president of Nuvisions.

Ray Fields________________________________________________________

Ray Fields was born in Tampa Florida. Ha attended the University of Florida where he studied art. He won first place in 1995 in the Mobile Metropolitan Art Show. He has worked with mixed media, pen and ink, airbrush and silk screen. Due to illness his artistic interest turned to the possibilities offered through painting on the computer. This is the media he now chooses to work with. Philadelphia has been his home now for 15 years.

Barbara Sills Fishman _________________________________________________

Barbara Sills Fishman, of Brooklyn, New York, has cerebral palsy and a hearing impairment. An alumna of UPC Nassau, Barbara attended community public school and continued art lessons at Hofstra University. Barbara is a graduate of the New York Phoenix School of Design, where she won the Mary Wiley Giles Award for Textile Design. Barbara's paintings reflect an intense perceptual awareness of her environment, and her sensitivity of color and fluid painting style contribute much to the quality and enjoyment of her work. Ms. Fishman's work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, and has been sold across the country.

Charles Frith _______________________________________________________

Charles Frith is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He has attended classes at the Fleisher Art Memorial, Temple University and the Barnes Foundation. He has studied advertising and design at the Philadelphia College of Art. He was disabled by an automobile accident. His chief medium are oils and he is a prolific painter executing hundreds of paintings a year. He also teaches. He exhibits extensively and has won many Awards. He won second prize in the Nuvisions 9th Annual Juried Exhibit.

Steven Johnson _______________________________ (click here for artwork sample)

Steven Johnson of Philadelphia won the Gimbels and Fleisher Awards while a student at Overbrook High School. He earned a Bachelor's degree from the Philadelphia College of Art and taught art for nine years. Using a wheelchair because of surgery for a spinal tumor, Steven draws and paints in all media. He works with his right hand although the wrist is fused as a result of his surgery.

Sonya Claybourne ____________________________________________________

Sonya Kelberg, of Fairless Hills, PA, is a graduate of the Moore College of Art. As a child, Sonya had polio. She feels this influenced her to become a teacher of special and early childhood education. Throughout the years of teaching and raising her family, Sonya continued to use her artistic talents, producing numerous oils and commissioned works of art. In 1988, she joined the Levittown Artists Association and studied sculpture with Marvin Levitt.

Rose Marcus __________________________________(click here for artwork sample)

Rose Marcus, of Northeast Philadelphia (Oxford Circle area), developed juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 14 months. A certified occupational therapist, Rose is the administrator of Nuvisions and a graduate of Tyler School of Art. She received four Second Prizes and one Third Prize from the MossRehab Hospital's International Exhibitions of Artists with Physical Disabilities. Her works hang in many private and corporate collections and in 1989 she won "Best of Show" in the Fourth Annual Artists with Disabilities Exhibit at the Camden County Cultural and Heritage Commission. Other accomplishments Include awards from the Da vinci Art Alliance Show, The TriCounty Easter Seals Show and Fleisher Art Memorial. As representative of Nuvisions, Rose was part of a collaborative mural, 40 feet wide by 7 stories high, installed this year outside of the Associated Services for the Blind in Center City Philadelphia. Rose is also secretary of the Tyler School of Art Alumni Board of Directors and serves on the Board of Directors of Sheltered Employment Services.

Mimi Nelken ____ ____________________________________________________

Mimi Nelken, of Yardley, PA, studied graphics and ceramics at Pratt Institute, Tyler School of Art and Alfred University. Mimi has exhibited at the Abington Art Center's Nuvisions shows, the Moss Exhibitions, the Harrisburg Easter Seal Art Shows and an invitational group exhibition in San Francisco. Her drawings were included in "Drawings With a Technical Pen Exhibition" at Moravian College and have been published. Mimi has had three one-person shows and her work has been included in many juried exhibitions including those of Chestnut Hill, Phillips Mill, the Hahn Gallery and the Woodmere Art Museum. She won first place in drawing at the Chestnut Hill Art Show, 1985. Mimi is a paraplegic.

Sal Panasci __________________________________(click here for artwork sample)

Sal Panasci, of Devon, Pennsylvania, is a 1971 graduate of the University of The Arts, with a BFA degree in graphic design. He started his career in advertising in New York City, but soon moved to the Philadelphia area. Over a 25-year career his work has been well respected and highly recognized, with numerous national and local design awards to his credit. His most recent position, as Senior Vice President/Design Director at Dorland Sweeney Jones in center city, came to an abrupt halt on November 22, 1995. He was a passenger in a taxi cab accident which threw him head-first through a Plexiglas divider inside the cab. Diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury, (MTBI) Panasci spent 16 months in rehabilitation. During his rehabilitation he was encouraged to try painting in watercolor, a medium he had never worked in before. He has studied at the Chester Springs Studio and has had paintings accepted in juried exhibitions at Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital, the MossRehab 1998 Intemational Exhibit. He has also been invited to exhibit his watercolor paintings at The Academy of Notre Dame in addition to completing commissions for both corporat~ and private collectors.

Kaye Schonbach ______________________________(click here for artwork sample)

Kaye Schonbach, of King of Prussia, PA, Nuvisions founder, inherited her talent and love of art from her artist mother. Kaye refined her talent at Tyler School of Art, the Philadelphia Art Museum and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Kaye was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1960 and continued to paint without hindrance until 1980 when a severe attack left her with tremors in her hands, making it impossible for her to paint her finely detailed portraits. Four years later, Kaye found a way to use the tremors as a tool and began to produce exciting impressionistic paintings. Watercolors and unusual tools such as her thumbnails, salt and credit cards are now employed in the creation of her artwork. Elated with the discovery that she was "still an artist", Kaye now shares her joy of artistic rebirth with other physically challenged artists, resulting in the 1984 founding of Nuvisions for Disabled Artists lnc. At the Moss Rehabilitation Hospital's First Invitational Exhibit of Artists with Physical Disabilities in 1988, the Cigna Corporation acquired three of her works as part of its permanent collection. In 1989, she was inducted into the Legion of Honor of the Chapel of the Four Chaplains for her work with physically disabled people. Kaye was the 1990 recipient of the "Friends of MossRehab Achievement Award," and was named "Achiever of the Year" for 1991 by the Greater Delaware Valley Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Upon receiving her master's degree in Human Services at Lincoln University in May, 1992, Kaye hopes to expand the area of support that she can provide.

John Sears ___________________________________(click here for artwork sample)

John Sears, of Newtown, PA, studied at the Arts Institute of Chicago and pursued his master's degree from Northern Illinois University. Recognized by the Rhode Island School of Design as one of the nation's outstanding art educators, he has exhibited in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago. Awards include first prize at the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Art Educators Exhibition, the Patron's Prize for Graphics at the Phillips Mill Art Exhibition, and second prize for works on paper at the Eighth international Exhibition by Artists with Physical Disabilities sponsored by MossRehab. His art is in public and private collections including Pittsburgh National Bank, Mobil Oil and Pittsburgh Copper Corporation. A near-fatal accident in 1985 left John with hemiplegia, speech disorders, double vision and cognitive deficits.

Arnie Segal __________________________________(click here for artwork sample)

Arnie Segal of Drexel Hill, PA, received most of his formal training from the Museum College of Art. He holds a bachelor's degree and a M.B.A. from Temple University. Arnie has worked as an illustrator, industrial engineer and as the Training and Development Officer for the City of Philadelphia's Water Department. Many of Arnie's unusual sculptures not only reflect his background in mechanics, but they also indicate an active, imaginative sense of humor. He received first prize for sculpture from the National Arts Program. Favorable reviews of his work have appeared in Art Matters and his works appear in many private collections. He recently had a one person exhibit at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC followed by a one month exhibit at the Glass Gallery, Bethesda, MD. In 1967 Arnie was in a catastrophic automobile accident that broke his spine and forced him to use a wheelchair. The accident, however, did not break his spirit or daunt his desire to continue to be a vital, creative person. Arnie is currently the President of Nuvisions.

Craig A. Sheely _____________________________________________________

Craig A. Sheely, of Littlestown, Pennsylvania, suffered a spinal cord injury in an automobile accident in 1977, resulting in quadriplegia. He became involved in photography 10 years later and graduated from Harrisburg Area Community College in 1995 with a certificate from the visual arts/photography program. Sheely's work appeared in the 1994 and 1995 editions of The Best of College Photography. He is a member of the Hanover Area Arts Guild, YorkArts, and the York Art Association, where he exhibits.

Sid Sklar ____________________________________(click here for artwork sample)

Sid Sklar is a self taught artist. He is visually impaired, besides having been in a automobile accident which has resulted in severe injuries and intractable pain. While he was recovering in a rehabilitation hospital his severe pain kept him up at night so he started to paint when he was not asleep. Sid is primarily a watercolorist and his favorite subject matter is landscapes. He has exhibited extensively and won many prizes. He has had one man shows at the IRA Towers and Center City MidAtlantic Bank and his art is in many private and corporate collections. Sid is a Nuvisions Board Member.

Brian Watson _____________________________________________________

Brian Watson, of Carney's Point, New Jersey, is a 38-year-old high level quadriplegic who became disabled in a diving accident in 1978. He had only dabbled in sketching and drawing up to that time. Unable to use his hands, his therapists encowraged him to draw holding a pencil with his teeth and lips. After many struggles to succeed, he saw his efforts paying off in the 1980s as people began to ask to purchase his work. He continues to make great strides working with pastel pencils.

Nancy Weiser ________________________________(click here for artwork sample)

Nancy Weiser, of Levittown, PA, a graduate of Tyler School of Art, was an art teacher for 12 years and then worked with mentally challenged adults until injury forced her to give it up. Although she has traveled widely, Nancy finds her subject matter in Bucks County. With a formal education in classical oil painting, she has found her knowledge to transfer easily to watercolor and gouache on rice paper. Exhibits include Tyler Alumni Shows, Phillips Mill Exhibitions and the Levittown Artists Association.

Druw Williams _____________________________________________________

Druw "Druwski" Williams has been developing her artistic style since her high school days. She studied photography in high school. In college she studied drawing, painting and design. During the 1980's and early 90's she taught art in various children's art programs in North and West Phila, part time. In 1993 a back injury caused her to leave her job as medical coordinator in a residential program for mentally retarded adults. Adjusting to being disabled and unemployed was difficult and she became extremely depressed. Painting brought her back. she began painting scenes of urban life using bright color and high contrast to punctuate her positive theme. Druwski began selling her paintings to private collectors in 1994. in 1995, she started showing her work at Gallery 50 in Bridgeton, NJ and studying art at Fleisher Art Memorial in that same year. In 1998 she studied air brush at C. Harris Design Studio and started adding air brush work to her paintings. In Oct. of 1998 she had her first solo art show at Gallery 50.

Robert Wotanski_____________________________________________________

Robert Wotanski, of Philadelphia, is a quadriplegic "mouth painter" who is self taught.