Dozens of dyslexic students from across the Bay Area have created artwork to be shown at an exhibition in San Francisco’s Arion Press Gallery beginning Dec. 14.
Gil Gershoni, executive producer of Dyslexic Dictionary that includes the student show, says his goal is “to change the prism through which we, as a society, but especially our youth, view dyslexia.
”Yes, dyslexia makes a few things — like reading and writing — more challenging,” says Gershoni, who has dyslexia. “But it also supercharges our abilities in many other ways. The goal is to reframe dyslexia as an asset, a hyper-ability, rather than a disability.”
Students chose a word that represents what dyslexia means to them and paired it with evocative renderings that capture their experience as dyslexics.
Students in the Bay Area with dyslexia have been and continue to be invited to submit their artwork as a postcard after downloading the template from DyslexicDictionary.com. The project will continue through 2023, and after the Arion exhibition closes, the postcards can be seen online.
Among exhibiting students, Robin Zellweger, age 13, said, “The inspiring art I saw made me think that one of the benefits of having dyslexia is creativity. I hope the whole world notices that dyslexia is an advantage.”
”The exhibit made me feel like dyslexia is appreciated,” said Alizee Picault-Haulin, age 12. “There was one piece of art that was a dress made out of wood. That showed me one way that people with dyslexia think differently.”
Ex // Top Stories
The man was found wounded on July 20, 2020 in the area of Innes Avenue and Phelps Street, and he died at a hospital six days later
An independent San Francisco theater chain will keep its projectors on after meeting a six-figure fundraising goal in a little more than a week
The North County Fire Authority reported search crews were called on Thursday night to Linda Mar Beach to search for the surfer
{span}According to the International Dyslexia Association, people with dyslexia experience difficulty reading but also struggle with spelling, writing, pronouncing words and other language skills. It affects people of all backgrounds and intellectual levels. Dyslexics can be capable or even gifted in areas such as art, computer science, design, drama, electronics, math, mechanics, music, physics, sales, and sports. Some well-known figures with dyslexia include Albert Einstein, Muhammed Ali, Stephen Hawking, Robin Williams, Cher and many others. {/span}
Gershoni, who developed the Dyslexic Dictionary, is owner of Gershoni Creative, a San Francisco design agency whose clients include Apple and Spotify; Gershoni is also the founder of Dyslexic Design Thinking.
The students’ exhibition at Arion overlaps through Dec. 22 with the Dyslexic Dictionary show by Gershoni and eight dyslexic artists “invited to explore and redefine how their minds experience language.”
They include California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Nigerian artist Adeniyi Akingbade, Dutch graphic designer Christian Boer, San Francisco artist Adam Eli Feibelman, English writer and illustrator Sally Gardner, Marin artist and designer Martin Grasser, Philadelphia sculptor and neuroscience lecturer Rebecca Kamen, and London sculptural womenswear designer Kelsey Ann Kasom.
San Francisco production artist Michael Strickland comments on the exhibition: “I’ve been working professionally with graphic artists for decades, and most of the great ones are dyslexic. They comprehend the world more through visual symbols than letters.”
About 20% of the population has dyslexia of various forms, though many people go throughout their entire lives without a formal diagnosis. Dyslexia paints the world in different colors and tones for those who are affected by it.
