Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Profs' Film Earns Emmy Nomination, Explores Impact of Art

By Kendra Sharpe

UNC Charlotte researcher Margaret M. Quinlan and colleagues received a regional Emmy® nomination for Creative Abundance, a film that explores how art can redefine vocational opportunities and expand the lives of people with developmental disabilities.

Quinlan, an associate professor in Communication Studies and core faculty with the Interdisciplinary Health Psychology doctoral program, is a co-producer on the film.

UNC Charlotte's Margaret Quinlan (center) shares the Emmy spotlight
with colleagues Evan Shaw (left) and Lynn Harter.
“It is a huge honor in so many ways,” Quinlan says. “It is an honor that the individuals in the film allowed us to tell their stories. This documentary draws from years of research. Dr. Harter invited me into a research project she was working on in 2003 related to disability and sheltered workshops. My passion for creating these films started with that work over a decade ago.”

Quinlan was nominated by the Ohio Valley Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in the category Documentary – Cultural/Topical, along with lead producer Lynn Harter, professor, Scripps College of Communication, Ohio University; and Evan Shaw, chief videographer/editor, WOUB.

The documentary is part of a series, The Courage of Creativity, which explores the role that artists and creativity can play in people’s well being in health-related contexts. In 2014, the series won a regional Emmy award from the Ohio Valley Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, based on the strength of a promotional trailer.

“Our research and creative activity is inspired and informed by the stories of individuals,” Quinlan says. “Storytelling is a powerful form of experiencing and expressing.”

The most recent film, the second in the three-part series, examines services in place for individuals with developmental disabilities, usually in the form of vocational and rehabilitative workshops that often are sheltered from the public eye and from community interaction.

With this research, Quinlan and colleagues have found that the use of art can help medical and other professionals understand and address the impacts on people’s lives caused by illness or disability.

“Artists do not eliminate the uncertainties surrounding illness,” Quinlan says. “Even so, they answer suffering in ways that go beyond the traditional reach of biomedicine. We hope that Creative Abundance will offer people a glimpse of creative programming that integrates artful encounters in various settings.”

The film also will be shown on PBS affiliates over a four-year period, through a national distribution arrangement with the National Education Association. The schedule for broadcast in North Carolina is not yet set.


The Ohio Valley Regional Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences will present the Emmy Awards on August 6 in Lawrenceburg, Ind. The film and various people involved with it also received three additional Emmy award nominations for videography and production.

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Kendra Sharpe is a student communication associate in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.