The Towerlight, April 21, 1994

tl19940421_014 "�COVER STORY Donna De Marco The Towerlight V4e4c adeect e dedende 4i4 ant wana, nugget eager te#zea ame wand Go 414, ecioi raft caocfraten: astagea9. People ""don't think I am capable of doing something that good,"" says the 21-year-old Towson State student who has cerebral palsy. He has a talent in art that is difficult to ex-plain but very easy to recognize as outstanding. It is almost impossible for people to believe Keplinger has done such incredible art work without the use of his hands. He uses a headstick that is strapped on his head for tYping on the computer and creating his art. Sitting on his knees on the floor with all the paints around him, he uses a brush taped to the headstick so he can get the desired strokes with each movement of his head. .""Painting things is like a process though,"" he says. His first painting, appropriately named, ""Success,"" took him three months to finish. Despite the many obstacles Keplinger has been faced With over the years, he has proven many people wrong. ""I !lave the habit of if someone says I can't do it, I have to do it anyway,"" he says. According to his mother, Keplinger's dream was to be ac-cepted at a university. He figured even if he was not ac-cepted, at least he had tried. He was accepted to Towson State in the fall of 1993. Towson State had the best services for the disabled. He did take his portfolio to art institutes and ""would have been accepted but they didn't have the services,"" he explains. Keplinger has not decided on a major. His heart is set on art,.but problems with the art department have made his decision even tougher. Keplinger found out during TRIAD that he would not be able to complete all the requirements Ior the art major. Due to his disability, he would be unable aa to sculpt or weld because he cannot use his hands. Last semester, Keplinger took an art class in which he had very unpleasant experi-ence. His professor's focus was detail, but Keplinger's work is more impressionis-tic. According to Keplinger, the teacher wrote a note, at-tached to his portfolio, that ""wasn't too professional. I felt like it was more person-al... It would have been dev-astating to any artist."" He ended up with a C in the class. ""I probably could have done better but I was too stressed out to get into it,"" says Keplinger. One note from a professor was not going to stop him from pursuing a talent that he has worked so hard at. Keplinger has been going to school since he was 18 months old. For ten years he attended the Ridge School which is a special school for the disabled. Although the ""system"" wanted him to stay in this school, he knew that he was capable of much more. At the age of 16, he began attending Parkville High School. When he first started there, he was in all special educa-tion classes, but by his second semester he proved that he could keep up with the rest of the class. Although the school wanted him to stay in these restrictive classes, by his sophomore year he was out of the special education program and was making impressive grades. Keplinger was required to take a resource class which is the equivalent of study hall. This gave him extra time to do his homework, only because it would take him hours to finish his work on a typewriter because he can not write with his hands. According to the school, if a student was taking a resource class then he could not be considered for the honor roll. Keplinger changed that. Within four years he graduated from Parkville High School with honors. The students in his class wanted him to ac-cept his diploma last. When his name was called, he received a standing ovation. Fitting-ly, the graduation ceremony took place at Towson State. It was his years at Parkville in which he ""re-ally found art."" At first his art teacher was in-timidated by his disability, but ended up be-coming Keplinger's greatest mentor. ""My teacher let me go in my own direction. I would claim a corner of the room. And when I would paint, it was like going into my STYLE The Towerlight, April 21, 1994 15 %lime4414o Mike BuscherfThe Towerlight Keplinger considers this unnamed work that hangs in his dorm room to be a ""statement piece."" world because I would not hear anything,"" he explains. He uses paints, pastels, chalk and pens to express himself. He likes painting the best out of all the forms. Mainly his works are por-traits because he likes expressions. His two favorite pieces are his self portrait and the ""Shadow Box."" He likes the self por-trait because it was his fastest and he limited himself to only three colors. ""So I had to fig-ure out how to do different shades,"" he ex-plains. The ""Shadow Box"", which was con-structed by someone else, can usually be seen displayed at his dorm room window. It is full of color and Keplinger's expressionistic ideas. An added bonus to this work is that it lights Mike Buscher/The Towerlight keillIna�ers first completed art work, ""Success"" took three months to finish. up. He likes the ""Shadow Box"" especially because it is ""to-tally different."" Another piece of his amazing art is ""Siblings,""a work in chalk and pen. The portrait is of himself and his younger sister, Ashley. Those three pieces of Keplinger's art will be on display at the Eubie Blake Art Center at the Brokerage, 34 Market Place, starting April 24 as part of the annual Very Special Arts Exhibition. It is being sponsored by Very Special Arts, which is a volunteer organization whose goal is ""to enrich lives of people with disabilities through the arts,"" accord-ing to Director Nancy Carsey. Keplinger is the feature artist for this spring show. Keplinger's talent for art has not gone unrecognized prior to this point. He did his first show five years ago. His art has been shown in several places, such as the World Trade Center, the Eubie Blake, and Essex Community College. He was presented an award byVery Special Arts who se-lected him as their special artist of 1993. The Special Arts award was given by the governor. Keplinger is frustrated at the fact that last year when he was in school he painted three hours a day, plus he paint-ed at home and had about ten shows, yet, now is barely doing either. But the exhibit at the Eubie Blake Art Center could be a new start for his art work. Currently, he is working on a documentary for UMBC. When Keplinger was 12 years old he was one of six chil-dren selected to be on tape about education and main-streaming for the disabled. He got such a response from the public that UMBC decided to do a follow up on him. The project has been in progress for the past five years. Keplinger works at the Office for Students with Disabili-ties with Joan Logan. He began this semester typing for her and picking up and delivering exams. One of the most im-portant contributions to the office is his input on accessibil-ity for disabled students on campus. ""He is really a gen-uine person,"" says Logan. Keplinger likes music, movies and the outdoors. Over winter break he went skiing which is his favorite sport. With help from special instructors he has the ability to ski down slopes that are meant for any regular skiier. This summer he plans to do more sailing and horseback riding. He wants to scuba dive and go water skiing. ""He's like any other student on campus,"" says Logan. The only thing that might set him apart from other stu-dents is not his disability, but his determination to prove all the non-believers wrong. Danny Keplinger has proven that he, along with his art, is truly amazing. "