ARC GLOW Arts Collective

Beyond Access / Hephaestus

Our work on the new folk opera, Hephaestus: A God with a Disability, is driven by joyous music making with ARC GLOW across the western New York region. Our team, Wes Kennison (poet), Matt McClure (dancer) and Glenn McClure (musician) create 6 week residencies that both provide accessible social music and dance experiences with individual poetic storytelling. It is a privilege to make beautiful things with these musicians, dancers and storytellers at every ARC location.

Read the Sonnets Watch

The Team

Glenn McClure

(Musician)

Composer and percussionist who turns a room full of people into one big rhythm section.

Matt McClure

(Dancer)

Gets everyone moving, whether that’s in their feet, their hands or their wheelchair.

Wes Kennison

(Poet)

Listens to each participant’s story and gives it back to them as a sonnet that is theirs alone.

How a residency works

Six weeks > staff planning > shared music and dance > participant stories become sonnets > culminating celebration with friends, family, and community members

The Sonnets

Download the visual PDF of all the sonnets. The text of each sonnet is under each participant’s name below.

John

Like a cowboy John is not afraid.
John Wayne and Garth Brooks live within his soul.
There never was a scary movie made
That made him spill his popcorn from his bowl.

One time in snowy winter he recalls
The car that he was in began to spin.
He thanks his lucky stars that after all
No one was hurt. The cowboy rides again.

A dinosaur named Barney was his friend.
His mother nursed the souls of those in need.
His father shoveled dirt and clay and sand.
Today his housemates are his friends indeed.

So if beneath your porch you hear a clunk,
Cowboy John will come round up the skunk!

Eric

Ask Eric about Eric and he will sigh,
From Broadway’s Cats to lions proud on stage,
Through Special Olympics and golf balls in the sky
And Polar bears near the monkey cage.

On to Darien Lake where boneless wings
And funnel cakes with cinnamon he finds.
At camp he runs from bees that want to sting
While chased by chipmunks and those porcupines.

His life has brought some sadness. This is true.
He lost his dad but he recalls the fun
Of splashing in a backyard pool, getting new
Ski-boots, and riding bikes in the evening sun.

Ask Eric about Eric and he’ll inhale
A deep breath, sigh, and tell a funny tale.

Zachery

In spring the bunnies dart past trees so green
Where Zack and grandma walk the park so bright.
The school of deer and birds complete the scene
As mom leads down the track with steps so right.

When summer comes, Zack takes longer hikes
The sun the breeze the fresh air fill his heart.
He brings home every color that he likes
And with colored pens creates his art.

In fall the trees turn bright, the cold sky blue.
So Zack likes Scrabble, Uno, GI Joe
the polar bears and rhinos at the zoo,
and stops for cheeseburgers on the way home.

When chilly, winter walks leave shoe-shaped marks
Zack brings a bone to give the dog that barks.

Ashley

A cheerleader in life with cheesy kurds,
bloomin’ onions, funnel cakes at the fair,
And roller coasters flying with the birds,
And K-Pop music shaking up the air.

You’re sad remembering Katrina’s tricks.
And witches, zombies, aliens appear
In your favorite animated flicks,
but nothing seems to fill your heart with fear.

Camping in the forest with bears and skunks,
Nearby coyotes, and the alligator’s eye,
Fishing walleye and laughing at chipmunks.
Your stories fill the earth, the lake, the sky.

You share big feasts at holidays and lend
your patient, gentle care to older friends.

Anthony

“Hey, I like jokes do you like jokes,” he asks.
“I do! It’s good to laugh when feeling low.”
Lots of jokes he hears while working tasks,
in Dansville raking leaves and shoveling snow.

“Hey, I like work do you like work?” he smiles.
“I do! I’m neither lazy nor afraid.”
“Me too. I like all kinds of work ’cause while
It’s lots of fun, I also can get paid.”

“Hey, I like food do you like food?”, he grins.
“I do! So, Tony, tell me what you eat.”
“All kinds of food. All kinds of food with friends.
And I got friends who smile when we meet.”

But when the table’s set and dinner’s ready,
Our Tony wants five meatballs and spaghetti.

Sandra

Sandy has a tiny voice that makes you
listen well. She isn’t very loud.
But then she smiles with eyes so bright they take you
on a joyful flight up above the clouds.

Her whisper tells us that she’s sad she lost
her old brown dog. Chappie made her laugh.
The smile comes back when her path is crossed
By family, friends, and especially the staff.

But Sandy isn’t always quiet. Her voice
Will sure be heard on Sunday singing hymns,
And with the grandson of her friend rejoice
at hockey or when she shouts “GO BILLS” and wins.

She once packed boxes filled with lemon pie
and sent them out so all of us could try.

Rebecca

Becky lives in Geneseo, not far
From here, where sunsets make her smile a lot.
She loves her gameshows when they win a car
And ice cream sundaes and chicken wings, NOT HOT.

Downtown she likes to be with folks, They’re good
those students, except when they do naughty things.
“Stay out of it” is her advice. You should
Stay home and wash your dishes. And maybe sing.

Our Becky likes to sing a lot, she knows
Each camp song ever sung. And round
come the holidays with presents and bows
she’ll sing Rudolf, Frosty, and Charlie Brown.

Go tell it on the mountain in every weather.
Our Becky wants us to sing together.

Samantha

Sammie wears a necktie, blue and green.
She ties that knot each day again.
Although she’s shy, she likes it to be seen
’cause most of all, she got it from a friend.

She watches scary movies and UH OH!
Her comes Pumpkin Head on Halloween.
Instead let’s grab some old time Rock ‘ Roll,
Italian food, and sip a cup of tea.

At home in Wayland she helped a cat that strayed
While she missed her friends from work down here.
But in kindness, she worked hard and made
popcorn in buckets for the hungry deer.

Sammie speaks with good deeds, not much chatter.
For happiness, it’s friends that really matter.

Casey

Casey earns his black belt every day,
A stance, a block, a kick, no magic wand,
Six years of Tae Kwon Do. He’s here to stay
And when there is a challenge, he’ll respond.

With confidence and joy he’ll never quit.
He teaches this to younger folks and cheers
them on to love to work at staying fit
And standing tall with courage through the years.

Casey is made of fireworks and pancakes
from grandma’s griddle and Guns and Roses and
Buzz Lightyear to infinity, and strong handshakes
And everything it takes to be a man

Who loves a roadtrip to explore and care
For others on his journey everywhere.

Laura

In Laura’s heart she keeps a list
Of names and dates of people she has lost.
She smiles when she remembers those she’s missed
Like sunshine smiles to melt away the frost.

She likes to cook up kindness in her kitchen:
Pork chops and mac ‘n cheese with bits of ham.
Don’t look for peas. She views them with suspicion.
She hugs her hungry dad and says, “I am

So glad to see you home all safe and sound.
Today I fed alpacas and a horse.
The shelter has poor animals they found.
You know I love to volunteer, of course.”

Laura loves the sweet green grass of spring
And so with hope remembers everything.

Masha

If happy little bluebirds fly above
the rainbow, why oh why can’t Masha fly
From Russia to a family full of love
In this land. Masha in her heart does try

Imagining where she began and those
She left behind. But the life she lives today
Is rich with song and dancing. As she grows
It’s Hip hop, jazz and tap, and yes, ballet.

There’s no green eggs and ham at home to eat
So Masha and her Mom make angel hair
With red sauce, meatballs, ice cream for a treat,
And after dinner, games and fun to share.

Masha asks you questions with delight.
You get a fist bump if you get it right.

Justin

On Easter Sunday, Mom and Grandma stir
Those steaming mashed potatoes that they make,
While the poodle barks and the kittens purr
And country ham (with NO pineapple!) bakes.

He loves to vacuum floors and multiply
His dollars. If you listen you may note
That guitar picker sing, “Money can’t buy
everything, but it can buy me a boat.”

Justin loves his family and his pets
And goes with them on car rides when he can
To buy some yellow M&M’s he gets
So he can share those chocolates with a friend.

Justin loves his family. This is true.
He also likes giraffes and Scoobie Doo.

Video and Photos

  • Woman playing wooden djembe drum indoors near man
  • Man holding hands with seated woman
  • man playing the percussion sticks
  • Participants playing with colorful scarves and maracas indoors
  • Smiling woman in wheelchair shaking a maraca
  • Man in wheelchair and man cheering for Bills
  • Woman playing a conga drum on couch
  • Man gesturing while leading a conga drum class

From the drum circle to Olympus

In Greek myth, Hephaestus was thrown out of Olympus by his own mother because of his disability, and became the greatest artist among the gods. That story drives our new folk opera, Hephaestus: A God with a Disability, by composer Glenn McClure and librettist Wes Kennison. Every residency with Arc GLOW informs and inspires the work: the rhythms we find together, the movement, and the stories behind each sonnet shape the music and libretto as the opera grows. The artists of Arc GLOW are not an audience for this opera. They are part of how it gets made.

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