While artist Kate Snow was on the couch unable to work on her typical painting due to a chronic illness, she dreamed up Living Room, a room-sized game designed to provide an idea of what it is like living with chronic illness.
Players navigate brightly colored carpet squares surrounding a couch, chairs and a coffee table with instruction cards for the game.
“When they’re going around the game, the cards will tell them, ‘Oh, you know this happened,’ sort of Chutes and Ladders-style, where they get kicked to the center of the game and they have to wait,” she said. “And other people will be playing the game around them while they sit and wait and wait and wait, which is sort of what the experience of chronic illness is like.”
Snow, a Cleveland Heights resident, also designed the game to be inclusive of players with specific needs. For instance, the game board is wheelchair friendly, the squares have traction to prevent slipping and Braille game cards are available.
“I'm hoping to do things for two audiences. One, for anyone experiencing disability, I want them to walk in the room, feel welcome and feel like this is for them. I want them to feel seen.” Snow said. “For anyone unfamiliar, I want this to be an educational moment.”
Snow’s game is part of “Unique Voices,” a new community art exhibit in Beachwood that unites artists who experience a variety of challenges.
“Everybody has struggles and challenges in their lives, but it doesn’t prevent you from being creative and artistic,” said Leah Gilbert, the chair of the Beachwood Arts Council committee that organized the show.
This exhibit is one of four the Beachwood Arts Council organizes annually, and it provides an opportunity for local artists to also sell their art. Featured artists include Blaise Eitman, John Casini, DeLeone Hollman and Sam Silverman working in a variety of mediums.
“It’s our privilege to showcase the work by these artists that will hopefully raise community engagement about who makes art,” Gilbert said.
Silverman of Cleveland Heights said his artwork is influenced by synesthesia, which he described as seeing “sound” and hearing “shapes and colors.”
“When I have a lot of overwhelming thoughts or, like, racing thoughts, and then I sit down and I start to paint or create, it's enormously helpful to me,” Silverman said.
The “Unique Voices” show runs through Jan. 2 at the Beachwood Community Center.
