With the initial jury process complete, more than 400 works of art from over 200 artists with disabilities will be featured in the 21st annual Art Ability Exhibition and Sale at Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital, part of Main Line Health, opening in November. Among those works on exhibit and available for sale is Grackle Flying through Red Salvia, by Robert Flatt of Houston, Texas—this year’s featured artist. Each year, a featured work is selected by a committee to best represent the mission of Art Ability and to increase public awareness of the talent of individuals with disabilities.

After discovering he had Parkinson’s disease, Flatt said that he began pursuing what he calls his “crazy passion to become a photographer.” He adds: “My disease has helped me to ‘slow down’ to see the beauty in the wild and beautiful places I travel. Now I find that I have an urgency to ‘hurry up’ and capture as much as I can photographically while I still can. I love highly saturated pictures that are full of color and with vibrant, surrealistic backgrounds. I really enjoy using my camera and Photoshop to paint pictures of birds flying, bees buzzing, and dragonflies basking in the sun.”

Art Ability is an annual juried event for artists with physical, cognitive and/or hearing disabilities that celebrates their work and encourages them to reach beyond their own limitations. Hundreds of artists from around the world submit their work to be included as part of the annual exhibit and sale.

“Art Ability has become an integral part of our hospital and how we care for our patients,” said Donna Phillips, President, Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital. “The art on the walls of the first floor of the hospital inspires our patients to reach beyond their limitations and to perceive their situation with a new perspective. Art Ability is one of the ways we seek to achieve our mission of enhancing community awareness about individuals with disabilities and advocating on their behalf.”

In its twenty-first year, Art Ability will open with a Preview Reception on Saturday, November 5 at Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital, located in Malvern, Pa. To purchase tickets for this event, contact the Art Ability Office at 484.596.5425. Beginning Sunday, November 6, the Art Ability Exhibition and Sale will be open daily and is free to the public through January 29, 2017.

Art Ability has many philanthropic partners, with leadership support from The William Penn Foundation, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and Construction Services Group, who is the 2016 Art Ability Presenting Sponsor. Thanks to the generosity of The William Penn Foundation, Art Ability is now able to offer an online sales gallery that provides the opportunity to view works for sale from our consignment inventory. Connect… Shop… Support at art-ability.org. For more information about Art Ability 2016, including group tours and the Preview Reception, please contact the Art Ability Office at 484.596.5607 or visit the Art Ability website.

Founded in 1985, Main Line Health is a not-for-profit health system serving portions of Philadelphia and its western suburbs. Main Line Health’s commitment—to deliver advanced medicine to treat and cure disease while also playing an important role in prevention and disease management as well as training physicians and other health care providers—reflects our intent to keep our community and ourselves well ahead. A team of more than 10,000 employees and 2,000 physicians care for patients throughout the Main Line Health system.

At Main Line Health’s core are four of the region’s most respected acute care hospitals—Lankenau Medical Center, Bryn Mawr Hospital, Paoli Hospital and Riddle Hospital—as well as one of the nation’s recognized facilities for rehabilitative medicine, Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital.

The Main Line Health system also includes Mirmont Treatment Center for drug and alcohol recovery; Main Line Health HomeCare & Hospice, which includes skilled home health care, hospice and home infusion services; Main Line Health Centers, primary and specialty care, lab and radiology, and other outpatient services located in Broomall, Collegeville, Concordville, Exton and Newtown Square; Lankenau Institute for Medical Research, a biomedical research organization; and Main Line HealthCare, one of the region’s largest multispecialty physician networks.

Main Line Health is the recipient of numerous awards for quality care and service, including System Magnet® designation, the nation’s highest distinction for nursing excellence, the Mid-Atlantic Alliance for Performance Excellence (MAAPE) Excellence Award, and recognition as among the nation’s best employers by Forbes magazine. Main Line Health is committed to creating an environment of diversity, respect and inclusion and has proudly embraced the American Hospital Association’s #123forEquity Pledge to Act to eliminate disparities in care. We are dedicated to advancing patient-centered care, education and research to help our community stay healthy.

Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital, a member of Main Line Health, is a leader in the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation. The 148-bed, not-for-profit hospital offers the full continuum of rehabilitation services, including acute inpatient care, as well as outpatient services for adults and adolescents. The range of illnesses and injuries treated at Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital includes traumatic, mild traumatic and non-traumatic brain injury, stroke and other neurological disorders, spinal cord injury and amputee and orthopedic injuries and illnesses. In addition, Bryn Mawr Rehab provides rehabilitation services at convenient outpatient locations in the western suburbs of Philadelphia. The hospital has also achieved Magnet® designation, the nation’s highest distinction for excellence in nursing care.