Disability

Here is my self-portrait:

Mark did several drawings while we were together. The first one below is a drawing he said was of Sunshine and me (Sunshine is on top, with the purple/pink shirt and glasses, I'm on the bottom in green and brown). He later changed his mind and said it was of Sunshine and Jill, his house mom. 

Mark just turned 37 and is passionate about music, his work – especially in the orchard –, Harry Potter, and pesto pasta. He and I worked collaboratively on this; he had so many ideas and was so fun to work with (he drew the apple tree in the background, the apples, and Harry Potter in the tree). He keeps it real and never forgets to remind me: "You're a turkey!"

For my Camphill portrait project I worked with Gaby. She is a 44 year old villager at Camphill, she has been there since she was 21 years old. Gaby works in the bakery, weavery, and in the afternoon she manages the recycling of several households. Gaby loves to read and play softball. When I visited Gaby's room she proudly showed me her softball trophies and I included one of them in our portrait. Due to my extremely limited artistic skills Riva suggested that Gaby and I work together on her portrait. I came up with the idea to draw Gaby's lyre and let Gaby draw herself. Gaby also drew some of her favorite things like fall leaves and I traced over them. After we left Camphill I added rainbow strings to the lyre like the strings that Gaby has on her real lyre.

We (All) Belong Here

Kate Hinchey ’16, McBride

***Any text in quotations is the actual words/experience of a current or former McBride Scholar. These opinions are individualized and do not claim to represent the experience of all MBs***

It was our final afternoon at Camphill and I was seated in Rose Hall adding some last minute details to my portrait of Johannah. Only I and a couple others from the 360 were in the Hall working. After a long week’s attempt at representing a woman who I had just met, I finally was starting to feel alright about the way Johannah came across on the page. 

Johannah, featured in the portrait above, has been a resident at Camphill Village for over thirty years. She is originally from New York City, where her mother and brother currently live. She is a dedicated artist and musician and friend. 

Because of the lack of detail in this photo: In the drawing above, Johannah's work is featured in frames, including a self portrait on the left-most frame and on the page in front of her. Behind her is a wintery scene, since winter is her favorite season.