A community exhibition and program called I Have Marks to Make will be the focus of Free Family Day on Dec. 12 from 1-4 pm at Telfair Museums’ Jepson Center. Celebrating the power of art to transform lives, the exhibition features the work of artists with disabilities and individuals from rehabilitation programs throughout Savannah and includes all age groups. It includes work from Telfair's community outreach classes, art produced by local organizations and rehabilitation centers, and work from local schools.

Marking its 21st year and one of the museum’s longest running programs, I Have Marks to Make began as an exhibition of art from the city's Therapeutics Department. Later, it grew to include art from rehabilitation programs at local hospitals, students from Savannah-Chatham Public Schools, and in particular, Telfair Museums’ outreach programs to agencies that serve individuals with special needs.

“The ‘Marks’ exhibition underscores the idea that people of all ages, backgrounds and skill levels can have truly meaningful experiences through the process of making art,” said Harry DeLorme, Senior Curator of Education for Telfair Museums. “More than an art therapy exhibition, this is a celebration of art as an activity that has the power to heal and transform lives.”

Schedule for I Have Marks to Make celebration:

Saturday, December 12

Free Family Day

1-4 pm / Jepson Center

Free Family Days are a fun and educational way to engage the entire family in hands-on creative activities. This event includes art-making activities for families and a demonstration by Kenneth Martin, a longtime I Have Marks to Make artist and teacher. Martin first began his journey as an artist after a debilitating car accident some 40 years ago. He took up painting as therapy during recovery from the accident, taking classes with a realist portrait painter in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He also studied at the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit and earned a Bachelor’s degree in social work from Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich. He now teaches at the Department of Veterans Affairs—Savannah Primary Care Clinic.  Martin and others will provide activities in painting and drawing that challenge participants to find unique ways to make their own marks.

Funding is provided by the City of Savannah and Georgia Power Foundation, Inc.

Opening Program

2 pm / Jepson Center’s Neises Auditorium

This year’s program includes poetry and prose readings, testimonials, spoken word performances, and music by members of the Savannah community. Speakers include representatives from the artists’ group that has developed at Savannahs’ VA Clinic; their instructor, local artist Kenneth Martin; and local poet Robert Cohen, who will read selections from his new book.

“At each ‘Marks’ opening, a remarkable, moving experience happens for the artists and the audience,” said DeLorme. “No one leaves without a sense of the importance of art’s power to heal and to bring us together as human beings.”

The name of the exhibit originated with one of the early participants in the program, Katharine Hartwig Dahl. In a poem about her struggle to overcome traumatic injury and return to her practice of making art, she included the sentence “I have marks to make,” describing how art supported her rehabilitation. The director and education staff were taken with her words, embracing it as the theme for the exhibition.

“Participants in ‘Marks’ illustrate that people are empowered by art,” said Delorme. “Our goal for the exhibit is to capture that empowerment and share this message with the community.”

The exhibit will be on display until Jan. 3, 2016.