Artists with disabilities let their creativity soar at this Utah studio

Transcript

Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.

John Yang: Artists with different physical and developmental abilities sometimes have to be creative, not just with the content of their art, but also how they make it. One studio in Utah is trying to do just that. Customizing tools for each individual’s unique needs and talents. Here again is Ali Rogin with our ongoing look at the intersection of health and the arts and our arts and culture coverage CANVAS.

Michael Bingham, Founder Jump the Moon: Try it out. See what happens.

Ali Rogin (voice-over): For the artists at Jump the Moon in Logan, Utah, the only limit is their imagination.

Michael Bingham: I never ask what your challenge is, but instead myself and the other volunteers, we go to work trying to find what somebody can do. Like, what’s your strength? What do you, like, what do you do?

Ali Rogin (voice-over): The studio is named for the famous nursery rhyme. But here the cow jumps over the moon wearing a jet pack. A little extra help, which is how founder Michael Bingham sees his job.

Michael Bingham: I pretty much promise him we’ll get in there, we’ll figure out what you can do and I’ll help make it happen so there’s not a huge amount of pain in there.

Ali Rogin (voice-over): Bingham works with each artist, sometimes creating new contraptions to help them express themselves. Like this remote controlled painting pendulum.

Michael Bingham: The idea behind the pendulum was somebody who has really very limited physical ability being able to use gravity as their partner and make something amazing.

Ali Rogin (voice-over): And this paint brush equipped power chair which leaves creative waves in its wake. But not everyone needs custom hardware. Some just need encouragement.

Michael Bingham: If somebody says to me, oh no, no, I’m not an artist, I can’t do this, I’ll just sit over here and watch. Like to me that’s a challenge. It’s like, I’ll show you. You’ve got something inside of you to express.

Ali Rogin (voice-over): That was the case with Paul Prendergast, whose illustrations tell the story of a dragon named Spike.

Paul Prendergast, Artist: He was kind of an underdog. He’s different. He just don’t do what the other dragons do. For years I didn’t think I was an artist. Mike has the ability to help others bring about their imagination and art.

Lori Jenson, Mother of Alex Jenson: How many cows are on there? What was the challenge?

Alex Jenson: They got 12.

Lori Jenson: To make 12. Get 12 cows on there?

Alex Jenson: Yeah.

Ali Rogin (voice-over): It’s also a haven for 25 year old Alex Jensen, whose mom Lori says would otherwise be glued to that bane of most parents existence.

Lori Jenson: It gets him off of his device. You know that’s every parent’s problem nowadays is their kids devices. Right. So it’s something to do other than that and that he can just really get into it and have fun.

Michael Bingham: What don’t you have yet?

Ali Rogin (voice-over): Michael Bingham helped Jenson discover a talent for drawing farm animals. He’s been challenging him to see how many cows he can fit in one picture.

Lori Jenson: When he was growing up, I never thought that he would be able to have the hand eye coordination and the small motor skills enough to even write his own name. So for him to be able to draw a cow and have it recognizable as a cow is kind of cool.

Alex Jenson: Me and Michael have a great relationship.

Michael Bingham: This is just a practice one.

Ali Rogin (voice-over): For Bingham, building these bonds helps him reckon with his own youth. Growing up with what was later diagnosed as a learning disability.

Michael Bingham: I guess in some way I wished somebody when I was growing up would have just said, what are you good at? Like, just take the time and figure me out a little bit. And I’ve got all this inside I can express if I just have the right tools.

Ali Rogin (voice-over): Bingham discovered art at the end of high school and went on to art school and a career as an illustrator for Hallmark. But it was during a second career as an art teacher that he decided to focus on artists with unique abilities.

Michael Bingham: I loved working with all the students, but I insisted right away. I just thought, these special needs kids need to be in my art room.

Ali Rogin (voice-over): When that art room got too crowded, Bingham decided to narrow his scope and expand his space.

Michael Bingham: I think I went home and told my wife, Susie, I think I’m going to start a nonprofit. And I think I actually said, how hard could that be?

Ali Rogin: And then you found out.

Michael Bingham: Seven years later, I finally got official nonprofit status.

Ali Rogin (voice-over): Since it opened in 2017, Jump the Moon has invited people to bring color and creativity to their art and their life.

Michael Bingham: If you’re an artist, you can. You can change it, you can make it whatever you want it to be.

Ali Rogin (voice-over): Michael Bingham knows he’s helping his artists, but he says they give him just as much back.

Ali Rogin: Tell me about what it’s like when you see that artist who you’ve been working with really click.

Michael Bingham: Seeing them succeed at doing something that they can point to or say, that’s mine. I made that. I don’t know how to describe that feeling. You could throw in some pink or some yellow.

Ali Rogin (voice-over): But when words fail, the art says everything. For PBS News Weekend, I’m Ali Rogin in Logan, Utah.