Posted By Janet Lawson, MFT on September 30, 2013

Steven and Dr. Brian Kennedy

So much news…where to begin? Let’s start with a party!

Last week we held a very special event at Autistry – The Scientists and Artists Party!

It began as a simple thank you party to Brian Kennedy, CEO of the Buck Institute as several of our Autistry students had internships at the Buck this summer. And we also wanted to thank Ken Pontac, local screenwriter and animation director, for his many visits to Autistry to speak about working in the world of comics, cartoons, and animated features.

Angelique Benicio and Ken Pontac

So we combined the two parties into an amazing celebration of creativity. The over 120 guests enjoyed presentations by Janet and Dan about the history of Autistry and their exciting plans for the future, a great introduction to the research being done at the Buck on the impact of aging on disease, and a lively talk and fabulous karaoke performance by Ken.

Salmah Nakuda, Maureen Block, and Jill Robinson of the Ryder Foundation with the Red Ryder Racer

Several other scientists were in the crowd including Gordon Lithgow (Buck Institute), Robert Hendren (UCSF), Barbara Kalmanson, and Mark Eastham.

Local artists included Angelique Benicio, Archie Held, Rufus Stechman, and Jennifer Fearon.

Jen Hirt of Sugar Pie Bakery created an awesome Scientists and Artists cake – gluten free/dairy free and absolutely delicious.

Autistry student projects were on display and the students themselves were on hand to discuss their work. Several of the students went on stage to sing their favorite Karaoke songs. Dan gave a preview of the racetrack that will be featured at the Autistry Faire.

More photos from the evening can be found on the Autistry Flickr account (and we post lots of photos on our Autistry Facebook Page). It was a wonderful, magical evening and all agreed that we must have more parties.

Video from a test flight over the party with our quadcopter with attached GoPro camera.

Tin Man with Autistry Heart by William Brent

A story with heart: Several months ago William Brent, an artist friend of Ken Pontac’s had heart surgery. Ken asked us to send uplifting, humorous, artistic messages to lighten Bill’s spirit. So Jack drew a mechanical heart with a cheery message. Alex sketched the tin man with a note saying “Just ask the wizard!” And, Amelia and Dan created a heart of gears out of wood on the ShopBot. Bill is recovering well from his surgery and last week he sent us a beautiful painting of himself as the tin man with his Autistry heart! This has been an amazingly creative communication between folks who speak from the heart.

It’s almost Faire time! Autistry students and staff are gearing up for our annual fundraiser – the Autistry Faire: Cardboard Carnival. This year the faire is bigger and better than ever. A 40-foot long racetrack is under construction and we are building custom designed radio-controlled cars to race on it. There will be dancing in the street to live music from Beso Negro and Marble Party. And in keeping with our Car and Cardboard theme a wonderful twist on the haunted house – The Little Auto Shop of Horrors! Courtenay returns to create fabulous facial art and we will have lots of games of skill and chance. There will be great food, wine and beer and a wonderful Autistry Bazaar filled with cool crafts and vintage items for sale. Oh, and belly dancers – Raks Rosa returns! Tickets to the Faire are on sale now.

Also this month: the Oak Hill School “We Are Family” Wellness Day, Sunday, October 13th at the Bay Club in Corte Madera. The Autistry Studios workshop program will be represented and this is an event for the whole family and features:

• Abram Rosenblatt, PhD, UCSF Professor, will preview the UCSF-Oak Hill Autism Outcomes Study.
• Barbara Kalmanson, PhD, founding clinical director of Oak Hill School, will discuss teaching skills for independent, healthy living for children and adolescents.
• Clifford Saron, PhD, researcher at the Center for Mind and Brain at UC Davis, will address the issue of sensory processing and how neurologically different children experience their world. Dr. Saron will also describe his related research on meditation practice with children on the autism spectrum and their mothers. For more information visit the Oak Hill page.

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This entry was posted by Janet Lawson, MFT on Monday, September 30th, 2013 at 6:01 pm and is filed under Studio Newsletters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.