Art for Everyone

Art Studio Patio

New Art Studio and Classroom Renovations

May 22, 2020Thanks to tremendous support from our friends at Publix, Duvall’s Adult Day Training Program opens its new Plein Air Art Studio.

Duvall Homes Art StudioMonths ago, before all attention turned to COVID-19 and the world health emergency, a special group of Volunteers from Publix Supermarket visited Duvall Homes. Offering their time, talent, and remarkable kindness, they worked to create an amazing outdoor art studio for participants in Duvall’s Day Training Program. This new space expands the current indoor ART for Everyone Studio and allows ADT participants greater freedom to explore natural subjects and lighting.

The Volunteers managed all aspects of the mural production – from design and materials purchase, to prep and painting. The colorful theme ties directly to the geometric pieces patterned by participants in their paintings and merchandise.

Duvall Homes Art

The ADT Rec Hall and Life Skills Classroom have a new look, with renovations that include fresh paint, new window treatments, appliances and furniture. Final touches are still to come!

Life Skills Classroom ADT Rec Hall

Duvall Homes Art For Everyone Coloring Book

October 9, 2019 – A very special, early release of Duvall Homes’ 75th Anniversary Art For Everyone Coloring Book debuted at our 2019 Inspiration Gala on September 27, which took place at the Sanborn Center in DeLand, Florida. Images of the works of art created by day training participants and support staff are celebrated in this 20-page project that was completed last summer at Duvall’s Opportunities Enrichment Center.

Coloring Book

The completed artworks were transformed into grayscale coloring pages so that the community could take part in this empowering Initiative developed to introduce the artistic talents of Duvall artists and their support team to a larger audience.

We are proud to share these colorful, collaborative artworks created through the eyes and hands of people with special needs. And the option to color within large or small lines, or to use removable tape for guides just as Duvall residents demonstrate (here), makes the coloring book a great gift for any age or ability.

Many of the pages in this anniversary coloring book have a repeating Crossroads focus – symbolic of the many roads taken in all Duvall programming to bridge the gap between ability and disability.

If you’re interested in supporting a great program for people with developmental disabilities through the donation of 20 or more coloring books to a classroom or school of your choice, please contact Duvall Homes at 386.734.2874 or email your information to ebhimjee@duvallhomes.org. All proceeds from the sale of the coloring book help enhance the programs and services that enrich and improve the lives of those in our care.

Art For Everyone Update

Art For Everyone
Art Instructor D. Renee Wilson leads Duvall artists in the creation of “Sounds of the 60’s”.

Art Instructor, D. Renee Wilson, joined Duvall’s Art For Everyone Program this past August, helping us break in our new Art Studio.

Wilson is an established artist from New Smyrna Beach, and a professional Art Instructor from Arts4All Florida, a nonprofit organization headquartered in the College of Education at the University of South Florida

Under the guidance of their new instructor, Duvall artists contributed to the Sounds of The 60s – British Invasion theme at this year’s Gala with individual and collaborative works.

Artist Renee Wilson also donated a one-of-a kind Twiggy: The Face of 1966, an acrylic and block printing painting on a vinyl record, which she created just for the event! One lucky winner who bid the highest at the Gala’s silent auction, went home with this groovy masterpiece!

Thank you to all sponsors, auction donors and the participating community who continue to support the programs and services that serve people with special needs living at Duvall Homes and who attend our day training. You are all part of TheDuvallDifference.

Americans with Disabilities Act

Celebrating The 29th Anniversary Of The ADA

July  26, 2019 – Duvall Homes premieres a new video in celebration of the 29th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act today. Click on Elizabeth below to see what exciting project she and other Day Training participants are working on for you and our extended Duvall community!

Art For Everyone

North Lake Presbyterian Lady Lake

Support For Duvall’s Art For Everyone Program

May 15, 2019 – Thank you to the many community church groups who, for years, have kept Duvall Homes in their prayers, and continue to support the programs and services we provide. Yesterday, the special women of North Lake Presbyterian Church paid a visit to DeLand for a tour of Duvall’s Opportunities Enrichment Center.
 
Following their tour, Linda Williams handed Duvall’s Director of Adult Day Training (ADT), Shirley Zonnevylle, a $500 check to help with programming expenses, as well as a $200 gift card for participants to go shopping for art supplies!
 
The ladies are familiar with how Duvall’s Art For Everyone program has grown during the past 4 years as they have provided funding for white boards and markers, donated art supply bags, and purchased mugs and greeting cards that display works of art created by our participant artists. Duvall’s ADT programming continues to flourish thanks to the steadfast support of people like the women from North Lake! You are part of the #TheDuvallDifference.
Look for more great art stories later this summer!! Read additional news and events like this inside Duvall’s 2019 Spring Newsletter.
Duvall Homes STEAM

STEM-Inspired Art at Duvall Homes

January 11, 2017 – New art panels debuted at Duvall Homes’ 2017 Inspiration Gala, which displayed artworks influenced by STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) subjects. The Opportunities Enrichment Center (Adult Day Training – ADT) at Duvall Homes incorporates, among other things, the cultural arts and influences of STEM subjects into their regular curriculum.

Duvall Homes

Created individually and collaboratively, the works displayed on the art panels were inspired through the observation of other art done by professional painters and photographers, by learning about and viewing images associated with current events in the news, and by exploring the natural environment surrounding Duvall’s abundant Glenwood campus.

Solar Eclipse STEAM

The Support Specialists at Duvall’s ADT center create original programming. They use various educational resources, including digital guides and personal iPads to instruct science-based events like the epic solar eclipse that passed over the U.S. this past August, or eagle nesting that occurs at Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge just minutes from Duvall’s campus.

Duvall Homes Fauna Art

Given only modified assistance when required, Duvall artists incorporated designs, figures and shapes on canvases of all types and measurements, and created an impressive collection that inspired every individual privileged to view them. Mediums of all types were used from pastels, acrylics, charcoal, chalk and ink, to rocks, twigs and recycled wood, cardboard and aluminum. We’re excited with the specialized programming that takes place at Duvall Homes and proud of the empowerment instilled on all of our ADT participants.

Art For EveryoneShould your business be interested in exhibiting works of art created by individuals with developmental disabilities from our community in our care, please view our growing virtual DeLand Art Gallery and contact Elizabeth Bhimjee, CMDO, at ebhimjee@duvallhomes.org or 386.734.2874 ext. 102.

 

 

Read full Stem-Inspired story on pages 6 and 7 of Duvall’s 2017 Fall Newsletter.

A Total Eclipse ExperienceEagle Watch & ArtArt Rocks

Posted by Lisa Habermehl
Duvall Homes I'm Inspired #iminspired

DeLand Breakfast Rotary, Women United

DeLand Breakfast Rotary & Women United

December 13, 2017 – Duvall Homes is most grateful for being awarded a 2017 grant from the DeLand Breakfast Rotary Club and from the Women’s Initiative of the United Way of Volusia-Flagler. The grants will be used to enhance the Day Training Program (ADT) at Duvall’s Opportunities Enrichment Center in DeLand.

Women UnitedMonies received from the DeLand Breakfast Rotary will help sustain Duvall Homes flourishing art program, and continued support from the Women United will help strengthen Duvall’s contract work program. Material and supplies to keep both on track are vital. The financial assistance received from each organization is deeply appreciated.

Not only does the program benefit participants in the ADT programming, but a multitude of community members across the County of Volusia are inspired by the outreach and volunteerism served by the ADT particpants. The impact tied to informing others and creating greater community awareness about issues faced by the disabled is immeasurable.

Posted by Lisa Habermehl

More Duvall News & Events

#delandrocks

DeLand Rocks – And So Does Duvall Homes!

May 5, 2017 – The growing community sensation for kids, teens, businesses, people with developmental disabilities, and really anyone who likes to stroll outdoors, paint and/or scavenger hunt, can participate in this county- and nation-wide activity created just for fun, and it’s as easy as 1-2-3:

  1. Find a small flat rock
  2. Paint the rock
  3. Hide the rock anywhere in DeLand

DeLand Rocks DuvallWith the assistance of our Support Specialists, participants in Duvall Homes’ Adult Day Training program created several one-of-a-kind painted rocks during the past few weeks. A few trips around town followed to hide these tiny masterpieces.

Get some clues on where our rocks were hidden on Duvall Homes’ Facebook Page DeLand Rocks album post. Should you find any of these rocks around DeLand, you’ll now know they were created by some very special people. #delandrocks

Learn more about the programming at Duvall Homes’ Opportunities Enrichment Center at Programs & Services.

Related Links

Pinterest Images of DeLand Rocks
Daytona News-Journal DeLand Rocks
DeLand Rocks on Facebook
Art…For Everyone

Duvall Homes I'm Inspired

United Way of Volusia Flagler County

United Way Women’s Initiative Awards Duvall Grant

Recently photographed in Daytona Beach at the United Way of Volusia-Flagler was the $2000 grant awarded to Duvall Homes from the Women’s Initiative of the United Way.

The grant was awarded to Duvall in support of expanding our Art for Everyone program, which takes place in Adult Day Training at the Opportunities Enrichment Center in Glenwood, Florida.

Through a limited grant process funded through annual fundraisers, this dedicated group of women help change the lives of others in the community with much-needed financial support.

Image: Left to right, Elizabeth Bhimjee, Duvall Homes’ Chief Marketing & Development Officer; Jessica Fox Sznapstajler, Board President Women United Volusia Chapter; and Cindy Endara, Resource Development Manager United Way of Volusia-Flagler Counties

Other News

Learn how to Get Involved.

Art for everyone

Duvall Homes Showcases Clients’ Art

December 24, 2015 ‘ART … FOR EVERYONE’ Exhibit tours the county, collects admirers

Kristin Burrhus dabs her brush into a puddle of blue paint, then stirs it into the white.

She gets lost in her art, stroking her sky-blue mixture onto paper. In an hour or so, she adds a green and brown tree, two yellow suns and a nativity scene. Painting becomes art and from there, experience has shown her, anything can happen.

Burrhus is a 50-year-old client of Duvall Homes, a private nonprofit provider of housing, health care and living skills to adults with developmental disabilities. She was born with an extra chromosome, a condition called Down syndrome that causes cognitive delays and other health problems. But Burrhus has emerged as an artist who takes her craft seriously and has sold some of her paintings.

One day this month, she was among a dozen artists working under the instruction of Amelie Bush-Rogers. The art classes are both the end of a cycle that began about a year ago with a simple showing of works by Burrhus and other Duvall Homes artists.

The classes are also the beginning of something: Painters getting instruction, materials and time to create.

* * *

Duvall Homes was looking to raise its profile in the community last year. Elizabeth Bhimjee, the director of development, said the organization agreed to host a DeLand Area Chamber of Commerce business after hours event. She got permission to host the event at the Hand Art Center at Stetson University, rather than at Duvall’s Glenwood campus, as she figured more people would attend.

“Because I had seen some of the artwork being done here, and I thought it was very good, I asked if we could showcase our artwork (at Stetson),” Bhimjee said.

Tonya Cribb Curran, director of the Hand Art Center at Stetson, said it was not hard for her to green-light an exhibit of Duvall Homes’ clients from a philosophical standpoint.

“For me, the idea of arts education is important for people of all ages and all ability levels,” Cribb Curran said. “I believe that art can be very powerful with regard to helping people express themselves. I’d like to support and give voice to them because art is for everyone.”

Much of what she saw she would classify as contemporary folk art.

“There is sort of a raw feel to these works that is really appealing,” Cribb Curran said. “It speaks to the artists’ experience, what they enjoy, what they like.”

So the event was held last February and 120 people attended, Bhimjee said. That’s more than three times the usual number.

Nick Conte Jr., executive director of the DeLand Area Chamber of Commerce, and his staff saw the response to the Duvall artists’ work.

“We said … we’d love to display it,” Conte said.

So for the month of March, any visitors to the DeLand chamber’s offices were exposed to the Duvall art.

“Some of the work they had was amazing. … Incredible abstract stuff,” Conte said. “To give them the platform to show the world is a big place and appreciates their contribution, that’s a pretty small price for those of us who appreciate the arts.”

The Duvall art program exhibit, dubbed “Art … For Everyone,” started making its way around Volusia County. In April, the Gateway Center for the Arts in DeBary showed it. In May, it went back to the Victoria Gardens Clubhouse in DeLand, then DeLand City Hall in June.

In July, the Ormond Beach Performing Arts Center displayed the collection, which then went to the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach in August and September. It has since also been part of a Duvall Homes 70th anniversary celebration, shown at the Athens Theatre in DeLand and will continue showing until Jan. 10 at the Ormond Memorial Art Museum & Gardens.

* * *

While shown, the works were spotted by a patron connected with the Bond Foundation of Winter Gardens, and before long, the Duvall Homes received a $3,000 check to support “Art … For Everyone.” An art teacher, Bush-Rogers, was hired to work with Duvall Homes clients.

“This has taken on a life of its own,” said Steven DeVane, CEO of Duvall Homes. “I don’t know if we’d call it surprising, but it is encouraging to see how it has played out. From my perspective, the biggest factor is the community engagement.”

Moving the art around Volusia County has given Duvall Homes exposure to people and places it normally doesn’t reach.

Bush-Rogers, the teacher, said she has seen growth in many of the Duvall Homes students.

“I’m 71 years old and they inspire me,” Bush-Rogers said. “I work with kids normally. Here we have a group of adults who are 50 years old and up, and I’m blown away at the growth in self-esteem I see.”

One is a client who cannot be named because of her family’s wishes. When Bush-Rogers started teaching, the student would only use red. After several weeks of classes, she now uses her full palette.

“That seems pretty small, but it’s mammoth,” Bhimjee said. “It’s hope and a whole new dimension.”

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