You can really feel the love for paint and brushes in this studio: only handicapped artists from the area work in the Gmunden art studio in Upper Austria. The “OÖ-Krone” visited the special talents and looked over their shoulders as they worked on their creations.
Tension is in the air when the “Krone” comes to visit the Lebenshilfe studio in Gmunden. Many of the disabled artists like to show what they can do: “Painting makes me fun!” Margarete Bamberger proudly presents her colored pencil creation. Your neighbor Andreas Krötzl is engrossed in his work on an abstract work – he often spends a week on one photo. Franz K., on the other hand, specializes in portraits, prefers to work with pastels and creates rich color combinations on paper.
“Painting, what else?”
Like his eight colleagues in the art studio, he is employed by Lebenshilfe Oberösterreich and always comes to the studio from Monday to Friday. What does he do on the weekend? “Well, paint, what else? Otherwise I’ll run out of practice!”
The exhibition “Change of View” was a great success
“It’s a normal job with fixed times that our artists pursue, and then the work is also disciplined,” says Sarah Schindelar, who runs the art studio, organizes a lot and, together with the second collaborator Sylvia Vorwagner, all kinds of things to get acquainted with art to to wear outside. A great success was recently the exhibition “Changing Views” in the Schlossmuseum Linz, which involved several creatives from Gmunden.
30th birthday
In addition, this year the company celebrated its 30th anniversary – the art studio was founded by Ferdinand Reisenbichler, who retired this year. In any case, the interest in art by people with disabilities is high: “There are many lovers of this art, and since diversity has come to the fore, it has become more normal for people with disabilities to also be involved in the art scene. .” .”
Despite the high productivity of the artists, they still have time to cuddle and laugh: “We are best friends”, Sophie Beisskammer and Elisabeth Kumpfhuber say and hug each other. The latter is the foundation of the group. Her best works are made with pop music, she prefers songs by Helene Fischer: “I’m really motivated!”
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
