Title: "Believe in the Impossible"

Artist: Cari Altom; handprints by Meyer Center students, graduates and others affected by disability

Media: 4'x4' Acrylic on wood canvas and hand painted wood frame

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aEyvb8zbUxoXny3F1gionldxrxB-cegP/view?usp=drivesdk

About the painting:
Believe in the Impossible created by Cari Altom in collaboration with children and families impacted by disability, this work was inspired by her son Maddox, who was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy after suffering a stroke at birth. With no promise that he would walk independently or speak, Maddox defied the odds and now walks independently, talks and his overcomer spirit embodies the message at the heart of this piece.

The canvas is alive with handprints, footprints, and even wheelchair tracks, representing real children who have faced-and continue to overcome-immense challenges. Their marks tell stories of struggle, triumph, and unrelenting belief in a better future. Among them are the foot prints of a young girl, who got out of her wheelchair with the help of her mother and took steps across the canvas as a demonstration of that dream to believe in the impossible!

We are not defined by our diagnoses. We are defined by our courage. We choose to believe in the impossible.