I am one of the 80-plus creatives affected by the recent events at Cottage Street Studios. We have been referred to as ableists. This is both offensive and untrue. Many of us or our loved ones have disabilities. And we certainly care for the clients and staff of Riverside and have for many years. We’ve opened our studios, participated in the auctions, and offered art classes that have become the Riverside Arts Program, currently exhibiting at Old Town Hall, which many of us will attend and support at this weekend’s Art Walk.

Our disagreement is with Riverside’s management, who, despite our offers to reach a fair solution and help, continue to rebuff us and paint us as greedy villains. We are willing to make reasonable personal sacrifices, but the management isn’t. Since we are painted as greedy, I’ll offer this: Although horribly inadequate, the government, on all levels, funds programs for the disabled. Artists get next to nothing. It’s well past time for government to step up.

George Shaw

Easthampton