[room sounds]

[Andrew 1] At the corner of 16th and Arkansas in a large warehouse, a wash of afternoon light cascades down from above into a bustling art studio. Poet and artist Michael Bernard Loggins is working on a portrait of Batman trapped in a moment of self-doubt. He?s crying.

[Michael 1] I gave him a reason to cry.

Michael is one of roughly 20 artists with developmental disabilities that each week visits the studio of Creativity Explored II. They?re finishing up work for an upcoming exhibit called Super Heroes Super Villains. It?s an opportunity for someone like Michael to look at themselves next to the sizable shadows cast by Batman and his cronies.

[Michael] Heroes are humans like everybody else? like the rest of us.

[Andrew 3] A surprising observation, but it?s this kind of truth that Francis Kohler wanted to explore when he decided to curate Super Heroes...
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Suggested Host Lead:
It?s interesting to watch the interplay between reality and fantasy...between real people and the world of dolls and action figures. For example, Major League baseball star Barry Bond?s shoe and jersey sizes are said to have increased 24% and 18% respectively since 1994. During that time, the average male action figures? chest, arm, and leg sizes have also pumped up. But what about those of us who don?t mirror the virtues of Barry Bonds or Batman? Leaping from the pages of comic books in a single bound, Andrew Reissiger reports on Super Heroes, Super Villains, and a group of artists with developmental disabilities who blur the lines between fiction and non-fiction.