ReelAbilities festival showcases talent of Houston artists with disabilities

Ezra Roy touches up “Mandala 1” at the studio he shares with his father ahead of ReelArt, part of the ReelAbilities Film & Arts Festival. Ezra Roy touches up “Mandala 1” at the studio he shares with his father ahead of ReelArt, part of the ReelAbilities Film & Arts Festival. Photo: Dave Rossman / Contributor Photo: Dave Rossman / Contributor Image 1 of / 51 Caption Close ReelAbilities festival showcases talent of Houston artists with disabilities 1 / 51 Back to Gallery

When Ezra Roy was a toddler, he would hold onto his artist father’s leg and look up as he worked at his easel. Years later, as Alvin Roy juggled caring for Ezra and his own career, there came a day he needed to keep Ezra busy while he worked on sketches. He handed Ezra a crayon and some paper.

His son didn’t grip the instrument between his first two fingers and thumb the way one holds a pencil. He lay it in his upturned palm across all his fingers, flipped his hand over and began to shade.

The separation between the medium and the man was minimal.

FOR HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM SUBSCRIBERS: The perfect book to help celebrate the Chinese New Year

“He’s been watching me,” Alvin thought.

It’s no surprise, really. Artists interpret, sure. But at the most fundamental level, they observe.

Today, 30-year-old Ezra Roy is not a person with Down syndrome who dabbles in art. He is an artist in his own right who happens to have Down syndrome. His works have been exhibited at City Hall; his alma mater, Texas Southern University; and most recently on the art world’s high-profile stage, New York, at the Jazz Gallery.

As part of the annual ReelAbilities Houston Film & Arts Festival, Tuesday-Feb. 21, ReelArt will feature Roy and the 22 artists of Celebration Company, an entrepreneurial program for adults with cognitive disabilities. The exhibition’s opening-night reception Wednesday gives the public a chance to view paintings, photography and other works and meet the artists behind them.

New to ReelArt: fused-glass creations, including vases, plates and bowls. Roy will exhibit mixed-media and collage pieces (he also paints). The artwork will be for sale as well.

ReelAbilities Houston Film & Arts Festival Tuesday-Feb. 21; presented by Jewish Family Service and its Alexander Institute for Inclusion. Admission to most events, including parking, is free, but registration is required. Details and full schedule, reelabilitieshouston.org ReelPeople: UP Abilities: Presentations by three inclusion advocates with disabilities, Jen Bricker, an acrobat and author born without legs; Amanda Boxtel, who had a spinal cord injury and was nominated as CNN Hero of the Year for her work with bionics; and Erik Weihenmayer, who is blind and climbed Mount Everest. Followed by Q&A sessions with speaker of audience members’ choice. Tickets, $18. 7-9 p.m. (doors open at 6:15) Tuesday at A.D. Players’ George Theater, 5420 Westheimer ReelArt: Exhibition through April 27. Meet-and-greet with visiting artist Ezra Roy and those of Celebration Company, 6-8 p.m. Wednesday at the Center for Art and Photography at Celebration Company, 4131 S. Braeswood Films: Matinee and evening screenings plus interactive panels, Thursday-Feb. 20 at Edwards Greenway Grand Palace Stadium 24, 3839 Weslayan ReelChildren: Family-friendly screenings throughout festival in partnership with Children’s Museum of Houston, 1500 Binz; cmhouston.org ReelMusic: Jazz and rock performance of professional house band joined onstage by musicians with disabilities, 7-9:30 p.m. (doors open at 6:30) Feb. 21 at White Oak Music Hall, 2915 N. Main

“They love sharing what they do,” art director Samara Rosen says of the artists who work at Celebration Company, which provides life skills and employment both on site and via partner businesses. “They take such pride in their work, and it gives them confidence.”

‘We’re artists’

Celebration Company is operated by Jewish Family Service, which puts on the ReelAbilities festival each year in collaboration with the Houston Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities and other sponsors. Through films, art, speakers, musical performance and more, the festival celebrates the cultural contributions of people with disabilities and promotes inclusion.

Such events are a reminder of the challenges people can overcome on their way to finding acceptance. For Roy, it also presents an opportunity to support his peers.

“Ezra is the poster boy for people with disabilities,” Alvin Roy says. “He and I have become advocates for folks with special needs, especially Down syndrome, to be included in the mainstream.

“… My job is to guide him through it,” he continues, referring to the finite concepts related to technique that his son is learning to master. “The motor skills are there. He has a penchant for color … His cognitive skills have blown people away.”

But Ezra does have a speech impediment. At Royal Grafix Fine Art, the downtown studio near Minute Maid Park he shares with his father, he simply tells visitors, “I’m Alvin’s son. We’re artists.” Then he lets his father do most of the talking.

Alvin touts his son’s versatility. Like any artist who’s been at it awhile, there’s a uniformity to his signature style, which emerged in college and references African, hip-hop and other contemporary influences. He may experiment, but there’s a thread running through his works.

NEW VISION ON TAP: Electronics take tap dance into the future with ETM

“Ezra has his own observations. ‘If I can’t talk about it, I’ll just show you.’ (He shows) he’s part of this period,” Alvin says.

Two richly colored paintings reveal what he observes about the role of technology in daily life. “There’s an App for That” features Roy’s hand holding a cellphone opened to the home screen’s icons; “Ancestry.com” also focuses on a cellphone, here containing versions of historical portraits. Another, not for display but that may be his favorite, hangs in his room at home — “Bunny” reinterprets a photograph from a rap magazine of a curvy woman wearing a fedora, garter belt and not much else as a beautiful nude in swirling pastels.

At ReelArt, among the works Roy will show are “Mandala 1,” an intricate, African-influenced mixed-media piece, and “Four Seasons,” a set of framed collages whose vivid colors and materials represent spring, summer, fall and winter. He’s typed up a brief explanation to read to guests at the meet-and-greet.

Alvin Roy bristles at the misperception that he does his son’s work for him. He likens teaching art techniques to riding a bike — “at some point, somebody held your hand before letting go.”

All that’s required, according to the man who created and teaches a special-needs class to teens and young adults called 1-On-1 Art, is extra patience for them to practice.

“It’s OK for a football team to practice a play 100 times — what’s the difference with Ezra?” Roy asked.

Celebration Company’s Rosen agrees. She touts the improved hand-eye coordination, fine-motor skills and sociability art sessions bring to those she works with, who range in age from their 20s to their 60s.

Exercising imaginations

Some need less guidance than others, but for those with limited verbal capability, art is an outlet.

“What’s in their imagination, to have it become reality, it helps them work through emotions, whether celebratory, a death or sadness,” Rosen said.

Or humor.

“When I do glass art, I like to make funny faces (out of the pieces),” says Becca Golub, who also finds pointillism, Seurat in particular, “really pretty.”

Melissa Shapiro will contribute a photo of flowers, among other works, to the show. “It makes me happy, the pretty colors,” she said.

And Halley Turner, who enjoys all mediums, said, “I want everyone to want my pieces.” Rosen said Turner’s tend to “fly off the shelves” of Celebration Company’s gift shop. (The artists receive a commission for sales of their work.)

TAKING CHARGE: First African-American conductor on HGO's podium in 27 years makes splash with 'Pearl Fishers'

A sense of accomplishment is the great reward — a feeling Rosen said will be palpable at ReelArt. Celebration Company’s artists are ready to show off a little.

Roy, too, is prepared. He’s practiced reading his remarks for the evening:

“Hello, everybody. I am Ezra Roy. I am an artist with my dad in Houston. I hope you like the art we are showing you.”

“A Special World” shares programs and experiences by and for the disabled community in Greater Houston.

suzanne.garofalo@chron.com