When I’m not making art, I have lots of fun with other things.
You can see me doing them in this video.
Music makes me dance.
I have friends who can’t hear. I practice sign language so that I can talk to them.
In Yoga I stretch my arms and legs.
I have a job. I work at the Coffee Shed. I make change and work the cash register for people who buy coffee. Here’s what my job looks like.
Common Ground is the name of the people who run the Coffee Shed. They do other things for me and my friends. Watch this video to see how.
I like doing plays. I get to dress in different clothes and be different things. Once I was a Lion.
DANI are the people who put on the play. Once, they threw a parade for me!
Because of Covid, months of DANI programming were conducted via Zoom. So the DANI staff decided to form a car parade and drive by the homes of each participant.
Here are Rita’s drawings of the DANI staff at their two locations on Clark Avenue and Magnetic Drive in the Greater Toronto Area.
The 9 Reflections of Rita
1. Rita’s answer for pumpkin dental problems
Helen: The pumpkin looks worried.
Rita: Why?
Helen: Maybe he’s worried about his teeth.
Rita: Ok, well tomorrow I will paint a dentist!
2. Rita’s Post-COVID plans:
3. Rita’s note to telemarketers which she leaves beside the phone:
4. Why Rita loves yoga
5. Rita’s text to her sister Rachel about the Jewish high holidays:
6. A Goat in “The Little Mermaid?”
Rita thought that one of the characters in “The Little Mermaid,” was a goat, so she painted it. It was actually an eel. But, Rita thought it sounded like a goat. Another outside-the-box moment for Rita.
7. Catnap for Danny
Click on the image to watch a video that raises a question that Rita is constantly pondering, “what is a catnap?
8. Rita wants to paint a hot island!
Rita: I want to paint a hot Island!
Helen: You mean you want to paint a tropical Island?
Rita: No, where Uncle Mark is.
Helen: You mean Fire Island!
9. Rita wants to paint “a road to recovery!”
Helen: How is your cold? Are you feeling any better today?
Rita: Yes I am feeling a bit better. I think I am going to paint a road to recovery?
