Creating wheelchair art to reflect the beauty of life

In a tourist shop on the coast of Lake Michigan a few summers ago, my mom spotted a sticker depicting the town’s lighthouse in the style of my favorite painting, Vincent Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night.” She suggested that it’d look cool on my power wheelchair, and she was absolutely right. I couldn’t resist buying it.

That was the day I began creating a new work of art, with my wheelchair as the canvas. Since then, my sticker collection has continually grown. Some pieces are gifts, and many are mementos from my travels: cheery reminders of beautiful destinations, fun activities, and time spent with people I love.

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Perfect placement and personalization

For much of my life, I was hesitant to put stickers on my wheelchair unless I could easily find an identical one later. I didn’t want them getting tucked away in storage with the old wheelchairs that I outgrew; that way, I’d rarely get to see and enjoy them.

That said, my wheelchairs have always been decked out with personalized details. On any given day, you might notice my patterned seat covers sewn by my grandma, golf-ball joystick handles that were hand-painted by one of my nurses, and a variety of fun bags, hand sanitizer holders, and keychains hanging here and there. Right now, there’s even a Squishmallow miniature butterfly perched on my headrest.

But by the time my mom found that awesome sticker, outgrowing my wheelchair wasn’t much of a consideration in my decorating plans. Although we may need adjustments to support my body’s needs as my SMA develops, I don’t expect to do any more literal, physical growth. With proper care and maintenance, my current wheelchair should last a long time.

That means I can put stickers wherever I want and enjoy them for years to come. But while deciding where to place that Van Gogh sticker, we found a perfect spot on my current wheelchair that even eliminates the possibility of losing the collection to a chair upgrade down the road.

On each side of my wheelchair, there’s a long, flat panel covering the mechanisms for the iLevel feature, which elevates my seat to a standing height. Stickers adhere nicely to the smooth surface of the panels, and they’re easily visible, making them an ideal canvas. They’re also detachable, so I’ll always be able to keep my art project.

Finding beauty in disability

Art is a fundamental part of humanity. I believe that even we are works of art created by God. Therefore, it’s only natural that we’d be drawn to creating beautiful things that often reflect who we are, what we’ve experienced, and what we value.

Sometimes the inspiration for our art is found in unexpected places or circumstances. For example, Van Gogh faced many hardships throughout his life, such as a lack of support for his career, heartbreak, mental illness, and the famous loss of his ear. Yet he still found beauty and painted it. Today, we consider Van Gogh’s art to be masterpieces.

Life with a disability can be like that, too. There are tangible, undeniable hardships, but even in those moments, there are still beauty and goodness to be found: the connections with others who traverse this journey alongside us, the answered prayers, the opportunities to be a part of positive change and advocacy, and the advances in medicine and technology that stem from years of research, to name a few.

Even my wheelchair is a thing of beauty in my eyes. What might look like a hunk of metal, wires, and rubber tires is much more to me. It’s an extension of my own body, helping me do things that would be impossible on my own.

My wheelchair has accompanied me through life since early childhood and carried me on the adventures represented by my stickers. Many of those adventures have inspired me to create art through writing — and now with stickers, too. On their own, the stickers and wheelchair each possess unexpected beauty, and when combined, they might just be a masterpiece inspired by my life with SMA.

Note: SMA News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of SMA News Today or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to spinal muscular atrophy.