It marks the official start of Holy Week, which chronicles Christ’s passion, death and resurrection.

Holy Week culminates the liturgy of Easter.

Locally, Palm Sunday services are marked by large processions of joyful, palm-carrying parishioners, symbolising Christ’s journey into Jerusalem before his crucifixion on Good Friday.

“Palm Sunday is a drama in itself because people love a procession with palms. You will get that in all of the parishes,” says Roman Catholic priest Fr Garfield Richard.

He said according to sacred scripture, Jesus Christ went into Jerusalem where the people greeted him by cutting palm branches.

“In that way, he was fulfilling scripture there. That is what we begin Holy Week with, ‘Blessings on Him who comes in the name of the Lord, glory in the highest heaven.’So, it is a messianic kind of forecast that he was coming to fulfil.” Symbolically, Rochard said Palm Sunday is followed by Holy Thursday, in which Christ washed the feet of his disciples and shared his last supper with them before dying on the Cross.

Holy Thursday sets the stage for the Easter Triduum: Good Friday; Glorious Saturday and Easter Sunday.

Rochard, who is based at Mt St Benedict after having serving some 14 years at the Church of the Assumption, Maraval, said Mass is not celebrated on Good Friday.

“But we have the Word of God and the Passion,” he said.

“We also have prayers for special intentions as well as the unveiling and veneration of the Cross and communion.” Rochard said on Good Friday, Christians also re-enact the Way of the Cross in different arrangements, either through a public display or within the confines of the church.

“There is no recessional hymn on Good Friday and churchgoers usually depart in silence,” he added.

Rochard said Glorious Saturday should be spent in quiet reflection until evening.

“It is a quiet day because it represents Christ in the tomb and then after sunset, we celebrate the rising of Christ from the dead.

That is a very special ceremony because it lights a new fire to give us the paschal candle flames to signify Christ rising from the dead.” Nine readings chronicling the history of creation to salvation with Christ are a highlight of Glorious Saturday, Rochard said.

“In a very precise form, it tells you how God began to save man after man’s sins in the Garden and goes straight to the announcing of Christ rising from the dead.” The priest said on that night, adults who desire to become Catholics are also welcomed into the church while the faithful renew their faith.

Rochard said the Easter vigil was a very long ceremony “but lazy Catholics do not go to long ceremonies so they wait until they get a shorter celebration which normally is the Easter Sunday morning.” “For those who like to get involved in the ceremony, they will go to the Easter vigil. But those who like to fulfil their Catholic obligations will take Easter Sunday morning, then spend the rest of the day partying and whatever else.” Asked about the significance of Easter on the church’s calender, Rochard said: “It is the most important feast of the year, the most important of all our celebrations.” Easter, he said, also symbolised newness as it occurs at a time when the northern regions of the world experience spring.

Rochard, said there also was a secular side to Easter, which often superseded the importance of the occasion “Easter is about the resurrection of Christ. But then it falls on long weekend and the climate is right for sun, salt, swimming. It is a time for kite-flying and other social arrangements,” he said.

“It is a holiday time and the holiday does not reflect how we celebrate it because Christmas is a celebration of family and gatherings and Easter, while it is not much about family gatherings, we gather in the church and outside of the church services, we recreate.

That is the way society responds to it.”

Speaking to Sunday Newsday, Rochard said there generally has been an increase in attendance at church services throughout the archdiocese during Lent – a trend he predicts is likely to continue during Holy Week into the long Easter weekend.

“We have had great turnouts.

I am on the Mount (St Benedict) and we have had packed congregations,” he said.

Rochard, who last served as parish priest of the Church of the Assumption, Maraval, regarded the increase in attendance as a good sign.

He attributed the trend to the recession.

“I presume it is because things are not so good in the country where people now have to turn to prayers. Easter has its own clientele but even with Lent there was a bigger turnout that we have found.” The development comes at a time when the local Catholic church may very well be in transition in the wake of the resignation of Joseph Harris, 75, as Archbishop, last month. Pope Francis is yet to respond officially to the archbishop’s resignation.

Rochard said since the beginning of Lent in March, priests throughout the archdiocese have been taking head counts of people attending services “and we are now waiting on the results of that to hear what the story is to show much of an increase we had.” Rochard, who has been a priest for some 47 years, lamented the trend of people turning to the church only in times of crisis.

“Because things are troubling in the country with the crime and recession, people losing work, they are more conscious.

So, if I have a job, I am holding on to it as long as possible,” he said.

“The social climate makes people to pay closer attention to God and prayers because when they are too comfortable, they forget. When they too comfortable, they forget. They get numb they get numb.

“So, the increase in attendance is a good sign. Crisis brings people to a deeper consciousness of what should be.”

Speaking at the opening of the Rotary and Rotaract Clubs of St Augustine West Health Fair at the Sforzata Pan Yard yesterday, Deyalsingh said, “the next apocalypse” to hit global health was the over use and misuse of antibiotics in human and veterinary medicine.

He said bacteria, viruses and fungi were becoming resistant to antibiotics in many countries around the world, which could “throw us back to the dark ages.” “If we don’t tackle that now by policy intervention, any of you here can die because the antibiotics we currently use would become useless…

(it) has placed the world in a very precipitous position.” Deyalsingh said he convinced Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and the Cabinet to set up an Anti- microbial Resistance Committee, and activities would begin on April 10 with a lecture and consultation at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex.

“We have to get the data which would feed into policy recommendations as to how we intervene now, not 20 years too late, not five years too late, but intervene now to stop the indiscriminate use of antibiotics in human medicine and veterinary medicine.” “What we are trying to do at the Ministry now, is to turn our health care delivery model upside down from one of treatment to one of prevention and to that end I spent the first year in office negotiating the US$51 million loan through the IDB (International Development Bank) to fight NCDs.” Meanwhile, Deyalsingh said the country could be judged internationally by how it tackles HIV/ AIDS, infant and maternal mortality, and NCDs.

He stated that 55.7 percent of the population was overweight or obese; that there were 3,440 beds in the nation’s hospitals to serve a population of 1.3 million; that 370,248 people, many treated for hypertension and diabetes, passed through the Accident and Emergency departments in 2016; and that there were 551, 245 outpatients at clinics, where most NCD patients go to manage their disease.

He said part of the push to control NCDs in Trinidad and Tobago was the banning of the sale of sugary drinks at schools, as well as a reduction of the sugar content in some locally made soft drinks and juices.

Deyalsingh added that it was necessary to get the population to reduce their addiction to smoking.

He found it ridiculous that intelligent, knowledgeable adults chose to smoke and then the State had to provide facilities and treatment for lung cancer. “A lot of this is preventable. The solution is not only to build new hospitals but to decrease demand on our overburdened health system.” In addition, he said for the past 18 months, infant and maternal mortality rates had decreased across the nation. In fact, he said there were no maternal deaths at the Mt Hope Women’s Hospital so far for the year.

Also at the fair opening ceremony were St Augustine MP Prakash Ramadhar, chairman of the Tunapuna/ Piarco Regional Corporation Paul Leacock, and former Health Minister Dr Emmanuel Hosein.

He was speaking yesterday following the biennial MATT elections held at the TSTT booth, Queen’s Park Oval, Port-of-Spain.

Asked by the media whether he would consider changing MATT to become a union Ramesar, a CCN TV6 producer and broadcast journalist, said he believes that would be “counterproductive”.

Other new executive members also pointed out that some members of the media already have a representative trade union.

The election was held simultaneously in Tobago and San Fernando via video conferencing. In Tobago TV6 reporter Elizabeth Williams called for the executive to have more meetings in Tobago, adding that this has been a problem in previous years. A similar call for decentralisation from Port-of-Spain to South and Central was also made by a San Fernando MATT member.

Ramesar in response promised that the second executive meeting would be held in Tobago and to also have meetings in South and Central. He also thanked the previous executive, led by Francesca Hawkins, for “stabilising the ship”.

Both Ramesar and newly elected vice president Joel Julien were elected unopposed. Julien, a Guardian senior reporter, told the media that he was disheartened that he was unopposed but was glad that the previous executive had reached out to Tobago; Patricia Nicholson, a CNMG news producer and reporter and one of two new floor members, is from Tobago.

A seven member executive was elected yesterday and will serve for a two year term.

The 30-year-old, in only his sixth ODI, blasted a scintillating unbeaten 91 to help West Indies pull off a record run chase of 309 and beat Pakistan by four wickets with an over to spare at the Guyana National Stadium.

“That’s the best feeling I’ve ever had in international cricket,” the Trinidadian said afterwards.

“Although I got 90-odd today, getting the winning runs was the best feeling I’ve ever had in international cricket. I just pray to God that my team can keep this belief and let’s have a couple more feelings like this.” Chasing Pakistan’s imposing 308 for five, West Indies found themselves struggling to keep up with the required run rate at 158 for four in the 34th over.

However, Mohammed arrived to play a blinder, smashing the second fastest-ever half-century by a West Indian against Pakistan, to fire his side to victory.

All told, he faced a mere 58 deliveries and struck 11 fours and three sixes.

“Coming into bat, we were under a little bit of pressure in terms of the strike rate and stuff,” he explained.

“But I knew that as long as I played myself in, rotated the strike and gained momentum and try and take it down to the end as much as possible then we could see what could happen in the end, and that’s exactly what we did as a team.” He added: “I always tend to start off a little bit slowly. I’m a momentum player and I know so long as I get my game right, it’s going to come off. I try and work the ball around at the start and of course I can try and power the ball once I get in so that was my plan to today and everything worked out excellently.” Mohammed’s superb innings followed on the backs of two half-centuries in the threematch ODI series against England last month, as well as a good run of form in the Regional Super50.

He said his game had come together well over the last year as he had matured as a player.

“Starting from CPL last year with Guyana Amazon Warriors, my whole game and everything has changed a lot,” he noted.

“I’ve really gained a lot of confidence and a lot of momentum.

I went on the [A-team tour] and did very well as well. Just knowing my game a little better in terms of maturing and knowing certain things and how to play certain situtions have brought me a long way.” Mohammed was well supported in the run chase by left-hander Kieran Powell who stroked 61 and and opener Evin Lewis who gathered 47 — two knocks he said had been invaluable.

He also praised tail-ender Ashley Nurse who blasted a 15- ball unbeaten 34 at the death.

“We knew as long as we kept a positive mind set and have a good start, we were guaranteed to chase down the runs,” he pointed out.

“Well played to Evin and to Powell who set it up really and I think Ashley played a really special little innings in the end to help us take it home.”

Skeene was flawless in dismissing Alyssa Pascall 4-0, 4-0 in an U-14 clash. Skeene is the heavy favourite to take both age group titles. Also starting with a win in the Under-14 Girls class was Tobagonian Nicholette Orr with a battling victory over Isabella D’Arcy 1-4, 5-3, 4-0.

In the Boys Under-14 round robin category, Liam Sheppard got past Kamran McIntosh-Ross barely, coming from behind to scrape a 2-4, 4-2, 5-4 victory.

McIntosh-Ross returned to the court later in the day, though, to brush aside Enoch George 4-0, 4-0 to keep his campaign alive.

Abigail Chin Lee was in good form yesterday, picking up two wins as the Girls Under-10 round robin action served off as well. Chin Lee took care of Avila Marshall 4-1, 5-3 and dropped just one game in beating Brianna Harricharan 4-0, 4-1 in her later fixture. Earlier yesterday, Sports Minister Darryl Smith opened the tournament which runs until Thursday.

Smith was happy to see the number of participants and the parents that came out to support.

He thanked the president of Trinidad and Tobago Tennis Association, Hayden Mitchell, for working alongside the Ministry to push the development of the sport at the primary school level.

He stated that the Ministry is developing plans for clay courts as this will be better for young tennis players in the sport. He thanked the main sponsor Catch and all other sponsors for their continued support over the years.

Mitchell stated that it is the vision of the Association to have their players be among the top 150 in the world by 2026. He said this is in part made possible by sponsors like Catch, who have over the past 29 years contributed to the Championships.

Other results: BOYS U-14 – Alijah Leslie def Nathan Valdez 5-3, 4-1; Ebolum Nwokolo def Ryan Conyers 4-1, 4-0; Shae Millington def Ty Mitchell 4-0, 4-1; Ethan Wong def Nicholas Ready 4-1, 4-1; Kyle Kerry def Aron Cato 4-0, 4-0; David Rodriguez def Christopher Roberts 4-0, 4-0; Emmanuel Porther def Ryan Conyers 4-1, 4-2; Nathan Valdez def Tyler Chamberlain w/o.

GIRLS U-14 – Emily Lawrence def Chelsea Riley-Moodoo 4-0, 4-1; Maria Honore def Isabella D’Arcy 4-0, 4-0; Janay Sealy def Alexis Bruce w/o; Isabel Abraham def Gabriella MacKenzie 4-1, 4-0; Aalish Alexis def Charlotte Ready 4-2, 4-1; Kaela Frank def Haleigh Fabres 4-0, 5-3; Jade Ali def Alyssa Pascall 4-0, 4-1; Charlotte Ready def Kryshelle Cudjoe 4-2, 4-1; Cameron Wong def Gabriella MacKenzie 4-1, 4-0, Shauna Valentine def Janay Sealy 4-2, 5-3; Nicholette Orr def Isabella D’Arcy 1-4, 503, 4-0; Charlotte Merry def Chelsea Riley- Moodoo 4-2, 4-0.

BOYS U-10 – James Hadden def Brian Harricharan 4-0, 4-1; Leeum Chan Pak def Varel Wilson w/o; Leeum Chan Pak def- Brian Harricharan 4-0, 4-0.

GIRLS U-10 – Jaeda-Lee Daniel- Joseph def Brianna Harricharan 4-0, 4-1; Inara Chin Lee def Eva Pasea 4-1, 5-4.

In the Boys Under-20 section, Fatima hammered East Mucurapo Secondary 55-28, with Luke Darwent hitting a game-high 17 points while Adam Tang-Nian chipped in with 10.

East Mucurapo, who trailed 37-11 at the half-time break, got nine points from Ashton Ramsarran and eight from Josiah Gill.

Fatima had a tougher task on their hands in the Boys Under- 15 category, but prevailed 45-30 over the West Mucurapo Secondary outfit.

Fatima, who had a 19-11 edge at the half, were paced by Jiel Young’s 16 points while Erhan Smith buried four three-pointers in his 12 points tally. Jahiem Furlonge notched 15 for West Mucurapo.

Lily Stauble had six points to lead International School of Port of Spain to a 13-4 victory over West Mucurapo in a Girls Open encounter.

And Morvant Laventille Secondary earned a 20-0 win, by default, over Tranquility Secondary in a Boys Under-17 meeting

It has been nominated for the CODE Burt Award for Caribbean Literature, a young adult writing prize.

Last week Sunday Newsday spoke with Allen-Agostini, also a poet and journalist, to discuss her nomination and her work. At times while thinking, Allen-Agostini, 43, closed her eyes tightly, likely in concentration.

She explained the novella is geared towards readers between the ages of 14 to 19 though, like her, many adults also read young adult novels. She said the themes make it suitable for black, African-American and Afro-Caribbean children in and outside of the Caribbean, but stresses it is primarily for girls.

The protagonist is a girl in her mid-teens and growing up “somewhere that looks like San Fernando”. She is bright, though not a particularly good student, and begins to be depressed. Overwhelmed by depression she attempts suicide and in response her mother decides to send her to Canada by an aunt, who is a lesbian in a relationship.

In Canada, the protagonist is treated for her illness but still suffers from panic attacks. Allen-Agostini explains the character comes to terms with her illness and how to live within her skin and also makes sense of the family she finds herself in, after having no previous knowledge about LGBT people and their community.

The “spark” of the novella came from a story she heard a long time ago about a girl whose family sent her away to Canada to recover from depression. Allen-Agostini also visited Edmonton as part of a feminist exchange programme and lived with a lesbian couple and also worked at a LGBT community centre.

On the story’s main theme, she said in cases of attempted suicide by adolescents, families are ashamed and the issue is not dealt with well, and is even ignored. She lamented that adolescent depression and mental health disorders are often overlooked and left untreated.

“Not because parents ‘bad’ but because a lot of parents don’t understand how it manifests in young people. You have this child who sour, don’t want to go nowhere, don’t talk to nobody. And that can be depression.” She continued: “And you have this situation going on with a young person and you don’t understand it and you just tell them ‘snap out of it’ but they can’t because they might be actually depressed. So it’s under-diagnosed, it’s under-treated and it’s taboo.”

Allen-Agostini hoped that through her story, young people would be aware that they are not alone but there are resources to help them. She feels strongly about the issue as a mother of a 23-year-old and a 17-year-old, and as a person who has suffered with depression and anxiety.

Her previous works are the young adult science fiction novel The Chalice Project (2008), a co-editor and contributor to the crime anthology Trinidad Noir (2008) as well as a collection of poetry, Swallowing the Sky (2015).

Allen-Agostini said she likes young people and enjoys spending time with them, and this was shy she was drawn to stories about them.

“I think they are cool, interesting, and they have a nice fresh way of looking at the world.” She also enjoys science fiction and fantasy as well as watching children’s films.

“I’m just childish,” she said laughing.

She also said it was easy for her to get into the young voice for her work.

In 2009, she founded The Allen Prize for Young Writers, a local NGO. Its aim is to improve writing in TT by giving prizes, seminars and workshops to teen writers, and publishing their works. It ran from September 2010 to 2015, but is now on hiatus pending changes to its administrative and funding structure.

Returning to Waiting on the Bus, Allen-Agostini expressed hope that people will primarily enjoy it.

“It is a really beautiful book. I like the writing in it (which) can be at times quite lyrical.” She also hoped it will help people to think more closely about how they judge others, and how looking within family relationships for affirmation can be destructive.

“Think more closely about who people are and what they really need.” Allen-Agostini first wrote the story in 2007. She had taken the manuscript to a publisher but they felt it was too short while she felt the novella length was acceptable in the young adult genre. She took back her manuscript and parted amicably with the publisher. Last year, when the word length of the Burt Award prize was reduced, she decided to update and submit the novella which had been “laying about”.

Allen-Agostini said she was “quite pleased” to be short-listed for the Burt Award which is not only lucrative but ensures that copies of the book are sold.

“That’s the real prize.” She recalled The Chalice Project received good reviews but distribution was a problem, adding that in Caribbean it is difficult and expensive to have books distributed from island and island.

The assistance of the Burt Award, she said, “goes a long way to ensure the books are available” and noted that through the award the writer will be put in touch with a publisher.

Asked about authors she liked, she cited Trinidad-born Samuel Selvon, “one of the most formative Caribbean voices I have read” as well as American novelists Harper Lee and Alice Walker. She also cited two of her mentors, Trinidad-born, British writer Monique Roffey and Trinidadian writer Wayne Brown.

Her advice to writers? “Write.

But also read. But write.” Correction: On April 2, Sunday Newsday reported Trinidadian author Kevin Jared Hosein was nominated for the Burt Award for Caribbean Literature for his novel, The Repenters. He is nominated for the manuscript, The Beast of Kukuyo. The error is regretted.

EVEN before we see it, we learn of it. It is endless, we are told. The largest asphalt lake on the planet, its pitch goes all over the world. Some say it has been used to pave the road in front of Buckingham Palace; others the tarmac at La Guardia Airport in New York. What better symbol was available to me when the time came to title my third book of poems, a book that places Trinidad at the rim of a bristling world? Everybody in Trinidad learns about the Pitch Lake in school. But few Trinis actually set foot on its strange surface; see its swathes of tar, water and mud; bathe among the lilies in its sulphur ponds; witness its effulgent discharges. Somehow we don’t need to. We have an idea of it in our mind, just as things we have never experienced can inhabit us powerfully.

Locals might take the lake for granted, but not tourists. Ambitious estimates place total visits at 20,000 annually. While tar-like deposits can also be found in Venezuela, Indonesia, Canada and the US, the Pitch Lake is the only source of commercially viable asphalt. As unglamorous as it is, it is perhaps one of our finest exports, up there with Angostura Bitters. It is important when we speak about economic diversification.

No continent has been left untouched. Trinidad Lake Asphalt Limited has dealings with the US, UK, Canada, Brazil, Suriname, Germany, Nigeria, India, Japan. Its output has reached the copper mines of Chile, the asphalt roofing industry of South Africa, and the bridges of Hong Kong. The biggest demand is in China.

Will the pitch really last forever? The official line is that the lake is not inexhaustible, though it sure comes close. The asphalt company estimates that at the current rate of mining it will last another 400 years. It has been around even longer. VS Naipaul’s The Loss of El Dorado describes Sir Walter Raleigh’s encounter with it in the 16th century. Raleigh wrote about pitch that, “riseth out of the ground in little springs or fountaynes” with “many springs of water and in and among them fresh water fishe”.

It’s hard not to feel this place has a connection to something ancient and infinite.

Every now and again a tree, perfectly preserved, rises at its centre as if straight from the past. The skeletal remains of animals, too, come to the surface: pitch lakes are death traps. Over the hundreds of years the lake has been used, the texture of the pitch has remained exactly the same. Quantity surveys are conducted from time to time and, despite regular mining, the lake’s residue is often slightly more than what analysis suggests it should be. Either something is going wrong with the accounts at Lake Asphalt or something else is astir.

The tar is not the only remarkable thing about the lake.

This place is incredibly noxious yet it is host to a dazzling array of life beneath its surface. A 2011 study describes, “an active microbial community of archaea and bacteria, many of them novel strains”. One study from 2011 describes a fungus that lives on nothing but asphalt. Imagine it: a microscopic monster, literally fuelled by oil. According to scientists, these creatures illustrate what life on other planets might look like under similar conditions. The Pitch Lake resembles the surface of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. It should be no surprise that the closet thing to ET on this planet resides in Trinidad and Tobago’s melting pot. Everybody wants to be here! The implications are profound. If the function of life – as contended by cosmologist Sean Carroll – is to hydrogenate carbon dioxide, then the lake presents us with some of the most primordial beings we have ever discovered.

Its organisms straddle the boundary between rock and man.

None of this is to say I’ve tackled any of this explicitly in my book of poems. As I was writing Pitch Lake, I was mindful of Alfred Mendes’s 1934 novel of the same name. In that astonishing book, the lake is mentioned just once by the narrator. No character speaks of it. No part of the story involves it. Yet it haunts the novel.

Its materiality only emerges by the book’s devastating ending, and even then it remains a figment: it is an all-powerful curse. I opted to keep the lake just out of sight and, in this way, let readers see it in their own minds; make it more seductive, more dangerous. We are certainly living in dangerous times. Perhaps Rimbaud’s “systematised disorganisation” is now required.

How long did it take to write this book? The answer depends on how you define writing and writers. Does writing happen when a pen is put to paper? Or is a writer someone who lives life, who absorbs all that happens to her, who synthesises and analyses and lets ideas and experiences lay fallow? In one instance the process of writing took four years, in the other instance it took a lifetime.

And do we judge writers by individual pieces of writing? Is the process of assemblage not also a part of writing? A book of poems is a different beast from a poem.

A book allows the poet to curate spaces between the poems, to explore ideas inside the collection’s ecology in a way that looks inward as well as outward.

I like the idea of the Pitch Lake as a symbol of language, of sexuality, of society, as well as of the mysteries of life. Somehow the lake is real in our shared imagination.

But just as no person will ever experience the pleasures of sea-bathing in the exact same way, so too life and this lake.

Today, we can confidently say the lake was created by the process of subduction, when the Caribbean continental plate was forced under another plate over thousands of years.

But before any of us knew anything, the Amerindians had their own stories about the origins of “piche”. They perceived it not as a geological phenomenon, but as a link to the source of life: the gods.

One of legend involves Callifaria, who fled her tribe to be with to her lover, Kasaka, a prince of the rival Cumana tribe. Her father, Callisuna, attacked Kasaka’s tribe, kidnapped his daughter, and forced her to return home, tied to a horse. The winged Arawak god, Pimlontas, was so angry that he sunk the village under pitch. But one story was not enough for this lake.

Another story relates to the Chima Indians, who lived in La Brea. After winning a battle, the Chimas celebrated by feasting on hummingbirds, forgetting that hummingbirds were the spirits of their ancestors. As punishment, the winged god opened up the earth and summoned the Pitch Lake to consume the village.

This has always been an angry, dangerous place. A place where justice is done on behalf of ancestors and queer lovers. A fantasy space where creatures sink deep into the earth and then rise again, centuries later, in full flight.

Pitch Lake by Andre Bagoo is published by Peepal Tree Press. It will be launched at this month’s NGC Bocas Lit Fest on April 27.

The exhibition was held at Horizons Art Gallery in St James from March 21 – 25 and featured 35-year-old Jon Williams, who has Down syndrome, poor mental health, and early-onset Alzheimer’s.

Jon’s mother, Arlene, said she introduced her son to painting as a form of therapy two years ago after he had a psychotic breakdown.

It did not matter to her whether or not any of his exhibited paintings were sold because the point was to let people see what he was doing, and to make people aware that people with mental illnesses have abilities.

“It shows the fact that there is ability regardless of what is perceived as a disability. I think the fact that Jon has been able to produce this work is a clear indication that, in some instances there may be people who we may write off because we see them as disabled, and we think they are not able to produce. But Jon’s work is proof that this is not so. If one person goes away from the exhibition thinking, ‘Let me give this person a space to see what they could do’, that’s enough.” However, by the end of the exhibition, public awareness was built and 43 of 44 paintings, with prices from ranging from $1,350 to $2,500, were sold.

Arlene said because of the media promotion prior to the start of the exhibition, friends and strangers acknowledged and encouraged Jon in his art. “This type of change won’t come as a wave but as a gentle ripple. I like to think that Jon has thrown a pebble into the pond, let’s watch for the ripples. If one person with intellectual disabilities or mental illness is now encouraged or allowed to stretch themselves, then we’ve succeeded.” In addition, she said the recognition allowed Jon’s “sense of self ” to grow, and he became increasingly excited leading up to the exhibition , which she described as exciting, overwhelming at times, and exhausting.

“I didn’t know what to expect, and I was blown away.The place was filled to capacity for the duration of the event. People were outside waiting for people inside to leave. Jon was talking to people, taking pictures with people, mingling.

As his mother, it warmed my heart. I watched him, this young man who had struggled mightily sometimes just to function, moving easily through this appreciative throng. Many of our friends and family members came that night and there was much physical and verbal appreciation of Jon and his work.” Arlene said 21 pieces were sold on opening night and by the last day of the exhibition only one piece remained. Part of the paintings’ proceeds will go to the Down Syndrome Family Network and the remainder will go towards caring for Jon.

While she would not say no to another exhibition of his work, she stressed that he paints as a means of expressing emotions and desires he may not be able to otherwise express, rather than for exhibition. Therefore much depends on his health and level of interest as she would not push him to produce art work.