Imagine where you are going to be in four or five years. Do you have a clear image, and if so, are you completely certain of its details? Perhaps you want to pay a visit to the Student Gallery in the Vaughn Eames building. Kean University alumna, Christina Symanski, is living proof of the turns that life can take, and her endeavor has transformed into art that she hopes will inspire. In the summer of 2005, Symanski, a 24 year old elementary art teacher at the time, suffered a diving accident that rendered her permanently paralyzed from the chest down. Despite being a quadriplegic, Symanski was driven by her ambition to inform and express to the world what the life of someone with paralysis is like. Using only her mouth, Symanski uses brush and oil medium to depict her dreams, fears, strength and advocacy.

"They are a message of education," says Stuart Topper, a former professor in the department of design and personal friend to Symanski. "Her work is an extremely personal view into her life, into someone's life who has endured. They are more than paintings, they are statements."

While some of Symanski's works are deeply personal, some are also strong political statements. Veto, a 2008 painting of Symanski's, targets the subject of stem cell research. Her goal for the exhibit is to not only spread awareness of those living with spinal cord injuries (SCI), but to get others involved with funding and finding a cure for them.

Symanski says, "I hope when people see my work that they gain a small understanding of what it's like to live with paralysis. I believe if people are educated about paralysis (spinal cord injuries specifically) they will be more likely to support research for a cure."

For Symanski, having an exhibit at Kean is especially dear to her. She shares her alumna status with much of her immediate family and, despite being a commuter student, she remained quite active on campus. For her, she says, Kean has been like a second home. Symanski adds, "So many people I've met through Kean have been there for me since my accident. I don't think too many people could say that about another University."

This is Symanski's third exhibit since September 2008. Last summer, Symanski participated in a group showing at Arts Unbound, a community gallery in Orange, NJ dedicated to displaying art from the physically and mentally disabled. This will be her second solo exhibit. The exhibit will continue to run until October 1, 2009, and will be open weekdays from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. in the Student Gallery.

When not organizing exhibitions, Symanski is deeply involved with spreading awareness through her cite www.myspace.com/sci_cure. This site includes articles on SCI's and paintings from Symanski's collection. The site serves as a forum for people to obtain information about the cause as well as show support and find ways to get involved. Symanski wished to share this closing thought with the student body: "Every now and then, it's important to take a moment to appreciate all the small things we take for granted. Because in the grand scheme of things, it's the things we take for granted that can have the biggest impact on us once they're gone.