The Spindleworks artists.

Visitors to the funky blue Victorian house in Brunswick will now find not only a room full of looms with a jumble of bright colored yarns, but also ceramics and woodworking studios,  drawing and painting areas,  and also, the most recent addition - an audio visual studio for new media.  Yes, Spindleworks has moved into the digital world; several artists are now expressing themselves exuberantly in the computer  arena - from still photos to computer art to actual film-making.  

To capture the spirit of the place, and to help celebrate this anniversary year, program manager Liz McGehee has enlisted the talents of a local young filmmaker,  Nicolai Fox, to direct and produce a documentary film - in a revolutionary way.  It is not just ABOUT Spindleworks and its artists; rather it uses film which the artists themselves are creating to tell the story.  Since the summer Nikolai has embedded himself in the Spindleworks program, getting to know the artists, and their work, and filming their creative process. The film includes interviews with the artists, as well as founding director, Nan Ross, and clips of previous films made about the artists. The documentary is part portrait, but mostly reflection on how access to technology has allowed artists with disabilities to express their creative ideas in totally new ways, including theater arts. 

In the course of the 22 minute film, the exuberance of the artists shines through, as they talk about their work, or more often, just do it.  This is a quirky way to approach a documentary, but Fox manages to pull it off.  When you watch this film, you, as the viewer, are there, in the moment; rather than just an impassive observer looking in.  You come away with an integral understanding of the power of creativity that transcends mere mental disabilities.  Entitled “everything in sight”, it will make you laugh, gasp in amazement and maybe even cry.  But it will never bore you.

One dilemma Fox and his producer, Phinn MacDonald, faced was: how do you cram everything that Spindleworks is about into one short film?  The answer is you can't.  For instance, you don't see any of the artists weaving, or sewing or drawing, and you see very little of their static art.  (For that, check out their highly graphic website, spindleworks.org, or better yet, visit 7 Lincoln Street yourself.)  There is no narrator; the images and the voices of the artists speak for themselves.   [Note: “Everything in Sight” will be shown at a special screening at the Frontier Café in Brunswick, on Friday April 4, at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.  Tickets are $5; for reservations, call 725-5222.]

Years ago, people with diagnosed mental retardation - which in itself is a catch-all phrase for a spectrum of challenges - would probably have been in an institutional setting, with, at best, some learning structure forced upon them.  Today, things are different.  And Spindleworks is a dramatic testament to how effective a relatively free and unstructured environment can open up worlds of possibilities. 

LC VanSavage, a Brunswick writer who mentored the artists in a creative writing class,  sums up her experience of working with these people most eloquently:  “I volunteered because I met the Spindleworks artists and fell instantly in love with them. I could not stop wanting to touch them and laugh with them and chat with them. They are good people, easy and kind, and forgave me all the time for forgetting their names or using the ‘retarded’ word once or forgetting to finish an assignment. Truly I've never met such a fabulous group of people.  I ‘taught’ writing there. They taught ME writing there.”

She adds that this is no coddling environment. “Spindleworks is a place that never ever treats the artists as anything but equals. No one talks down to them.  They are always called ‘the artists’ and believe me, they'd better deliver the goods or they're asked to leave. There is no vacationing with the artists. They have to work!  They have to produce! They are expected to create!” 

From her management perspective, McGhee concurs: “We see each artist as a person first, who happens to have a disability.  The artists are not their disabilities; they are artists first, and then we deal with the other stuff.”