Monthly Archives: September 2014
Rick Guidotti To Share Message Of Humanity With Cincinnati
Over the past few months, it has been such a great experience for me to work with the Cincinnati ReelAbilities Film Festival. Their work is truly about impacting perspectives and impacting lives, inspiring people to see the greatness in everyone. Next week will be one example of how they are accomplishing that….
Internationally acclaimed fashion photographer Rick Guidotti has photographed many of the world’s most elite super models; however, it is the story of focusing hi
s lens on the beauty of those who have genetic, physical, and behavioral differences that has inspired millions around the globe to reinterpret the meaning of beauty. Cincinnati ReelAbilities Film Festival is bringing him to Cincinnati September 23 to 26 to share his message with schools and the greater community through a series of events…and will also photograph Cincinnati families who have a member with a disability for an exhibition during the 2015 Cincinnati ReelAbilities Film Festival. The events are FREE and open to the public thanks to the generosity of local sponsors the Edwards Foundation, managed by Crew Capital and Contemporary Cabinetry East.
Public Events:
Rick Guidotti – Artist Talk and Reception
Thursday, September 25
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Obscura Cincinnati lounge (625 Walnut Street, 45202)
Cincinnati ReelAbilities Film Festival presents Rick Guidotti’s Positive Exposure, The Spirit of Difference FotoFocus exhibition – opening night reception
Friday, September 26
5:00 to 7:00 pm
Art Academy of Cincinnati Convergys Gallery (1212 Jackson Street, 45202)
Positive Exposure, The Spirit of Difference FotoFocus Exhibition
Sep. 26, 2014 – Oct. 24, 2014
Mon–Fri: 9 am–9 pm | Sat–Sun: 9 am–5 pm
Art Academy of Cincinnati Convergys Gallery (1212 Jackson Street, 45202)
The Cincinnati ReelAbilities Film Festival organized by LADD, Inc. and presented by Macy’s is our region’s largest film festival that unites our community around world-class films and celebrities who explore and experience disability. It will be held February 27 to March 7, 2015. Guidotti’s visit is part of 2014 ReelPrograms-a series of events leading up to the Festival to connect people through shared humanity.
More about Rick Guidotti
Rick has spent the past 15 years working with advocacy/non-governmental organizations around the world, medical schools, universities and other educational institutions to inspire a sea-change in societal attitudes towards people living with differences. His work has been published in such diverse newspapers, magazines and journals as Elle, GQ, People, The American Journal of Medical Genetics, The Lancet, Spirituality and Health, The Washington Post, Atlantic Monthly and Life Magazine.
He is the founder and director of Positive Exposure, an innovative arts, education and advocacy organization working with people who have genetic, physical and behavioral conditions of all ages. Positive Exposure provides new opportunities for individuals to see people with differences as human beings first.
“As an artist what I try to do with every image is to reflect back at the viewer their best qualities. So now you have a new tool, when you see someone who has a difference you don’t stare or look away—there’s a steadying of the gaze and you see beauty, you see life and energy and then you see around that difference to what we share, which is humanity, that’s what we all have,” he told Houston Style Magazine.
About LADD
Living Arrangements for the Developmentally Disabled was founded 40 years ago by families who dreamed of a better life for their children who had developmental disabilities. Now, LADD serves nearly 500 adults with developmental disabilities in Hamilton County with housing, teaching life skills, employment and day programs. Our mission is to integrate people we serve into our community and support adults with disabilities in achieving their dreams. Go to: www.laddinc.org for more information.
Get Your Dog Washed For Histio Research
Joey Holt and his mom, Gina StegnerWritte
Written by Andrea Francisco
This weekend, please come and support Histio research for a local twelve year old boy named Joey Holt. Diagnosed a little over two years ago at age ten with Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis, Joey has already had to endure more than many people ever will in their lifetime. An overproduction of white blood cells, caused by LCH, had eaten away at Joey’s hip and forced him to spend months in a wheelchair, use a walker and crutches, undergo steroid treatment, and get a bone graft. Unfortunately, like cancer, there is no known cause or cure for Histio. Also, since the disease is so rare, there is no state or federal funding for research, and instead relies heavily on the families of those affected for funding.
The event, known as “Wash out Histio” will be held on Sunday, September 14th from 1 to 4 P.M. at Dirty Hairy’s Dog Spa on 18 North Fort Thomas Ave., Ft. Thomas, KY. In addition to washing your adorable, furry friends, there will be dog nail trimming, door prizes, raffles, hula hoop demos, and a bounce house provided by Maxwell Jump! Whether or not you have dogs, you can still help fund the much-needed research for this rare disorder by buying the delicious treats for sale. Please come out and support this cause; your time and donations will be much appreciated!
From Andrea Francisco: Life Lessons Learned In Guatamela
Andrea Francisco is my blog intern. She lives in Cincinnati and is a student at Indian Hill High School near me. Andrea is such a positive person and you will enjoy reading her posts. She wrote this about what life lessons she learned on a recent trip to Guatemala.
High up in the mountains, on a moist, darkly soiled hill, a few of my friends from church and I, fully clad in paint-stained scrubs, gaze 
with wonder at the bustling town of San Juan Ixcoy down below, as it pulses to the rhythm of current latin-pop music. Relaxedly sprawling on the grass side-by-side with our new Guatemalan friends, we gulp down orange flavored juices and reflect on the impressive progress made throughout a hard day’s work. Just a few hours ago, we were overwhelmed by the site of thousands of large rocks that needed to be moved all the way down a hill into a deep trench, which we also needed to dig.
“Impossible,” I secretly thought to myself.
Our ultimate goal for the day was to clear the territory around a stone, one-story building so that it could be turned into a church with a basketball court. A smiling Guatemalan teenage girl came straight to me, and not knowing each other’s language very well, we used gestures to communicate and help each other lift dozens of rocks, some of them weighing more than thirty pounds.
“Me llamo Guadalupe,” says the confident young girl, clearly a natural-born leader, as she was one of the first to make contact with us Americans. Over the next week, we would become great friends, inviting each other to play soccer games and exchanging hand-made gifts. Before we knew it, what was once a huge pile of rocks became a flat layer of soil, perfectly prepped for us to lay down a concrete foundation for a basketball court.
Before setting foot on this amazing journey down to Guatemala the summer before my junior year, I thought that the directions my life was heading were limited. However, after traveling around the world without my family and learning things I never could have imagined, I realize that my life can go any direction, if I so choose.
“When I was growing up I always wanted to be someone. Now I realize I should have been more specific,” recalls the great comedian Lily Tomlin.
When I was little, if someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up, I would say, “Maybe an artist or a farmer,” because I like to paint and play with farm animals. Now I don’t know what I want “to be”, because there are so many things I love to do, and I am content with that. All of us, from when we are very young, are spoon fed the notion that we must “choose”, as if we are ordering lunch from McDonald’s, what we are to become when we “grow up”. However, over many years, as I have garnered wisdom, strength, and a strange sense of humor from my friends, family, fellow classmates, teachers, colleagues, and coaches, I now realize that life is not about the destination, but rather the journey.
As I look back on my escapades to places like Guatemala, I recall the strange feeling that my happiest moments did not come once the building was complete, but instead as we belted out “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey while lifting heavy concrete-filled buckets towards the sky.
Tactile Artist, Harriet Kaufman, Opens Cincinnati Exhibit
There is a unique new exhibit in Cincinnati where visitors are encouraged to appreciate art through their sense of touch.
The tactile ‘Hands on Art’ exhibit at the Willoughby Art Gallery at the Clovernook Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired features the wonderful work of Harriet 
Kaufman. Over the past 16 years Harriet has sculpted limestone, walnut, birch, steel, duct tape and fabric. Her work is featured in private collections throughout the United States and abroad…including at our Cincinnati Art Academy, Baker-Hunt, Harriett Beecher Stowe House, Kennedy Heights Arts Center, and the YWCA.
Ruth’s exhibit will run from September 5 to 26, 2014 with an opening reception this Friday from 6 to 9 pm. The Willoughby Art Gallery features art by people who are blind or visually impaired and art that is tactile. Gallery hours are 8 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday, or by appointment. It is located in the Proctor Center at 7000 Hamilton Ave, College Hill in Cincinnati.
