I’ve been on my own for quite a while. I love it.

I like not being told what to do. And I love to cook for myself—clam chowder, and other things. I have to take care of my health with what I eat. And I like being in charge of that.

I really enjoyed the first PHAME production I saw. The shows are all really good, and they kept getting better each year. But I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a student, even after seeing the shows.

Contribute Now

I am so glad I’m at PHAME now.

I’m writing to you because PHAME changed my life. Once I joined, I found that, in my classes, I’m still just as independent and just as in charge—but now I’m learning new things. I’m making art that matters to me.

I’ve taken all kinds of classes at PHAME. I loved memoir writing. I wrote about growing up in Roseburg—about being outside a lot in the summertime, going to the park, swimming. I wrote about how much I loved watching Rainbow Brite.

I discovered that, especially in these times, it means a lot to make art that connects to some of the deepest, most core parts of myself.

Right now, I’m writing to ask you to make a difference for other adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. I’m asking you to change their lives too.

I hope you'll consider a contribution of $100 or more. Because of you, my fellow PHAME students and I will be able to choose from so many experiences—online or in-person classes, going to community-building Cabarets, dances, student hang-outs and more, or participating in the performances I’ve loved watching.

Please make your difference today.

The PHAME Board of Directors will match up to $7,500 by December 31, so you can double your impact when you give right now.

I’ve had the chance to explore so many different things at PHAME. Videography, and podcasting. I do podcasting on my own, even. What’s so great is having the chance to gain new experiences. Even when I’m working in a kind of art I know well, I get to learn different approaches to doing the same things. Like right now, in Videography, I’m learning Final Cut Pro when I’ve always used iMovie—and that sense of discovery you get when you learn something new is so powerful.

And having so many choices is important—in the different kinds of art, but also in how you can learn. I love the PHAME community. Everyone is so nice. In person, I get hung up on helping other students. I take all my classes online now. I can focus better, and I learn more, which is really what I want to do.

Your support makes these choices—about how and what we get to learn—possible.

For me, the thrill of learning something new balances the familiar stories that work their way into my art—I find myself returning to the same subjects again and again, the ones that make me feel even more like me.

And, at PHAME, I’m in charge of what I create. No one tells me that I can’t research animation for my podcast, even though I wrote about growing up with Rainbow Bright cartoons in Memoir Writing. I can love the things I have always loved and bring them with me into my art now. Just like any other artist.

PHAME matters because it lets me be me—totally independent, and a part of this community.

Please make your contribution today.

Sincerely,
Kelly Quinlan
PHAME Student

P.S. You can ensure that all of my PHAME friends and I have a place where we create the art that matters to us. All gifts up to $7,500 will be matched through December 31, so you can double your impact.

"At PHAME, I’m in charge of what I create"—A Letter from PHAME Student Kelly Quinlan