Posters help create awareness of mental retardation

Winners of a statewide poster contest are now on display in downtown Des Moines that’ll soon be part of an awareness campaign on mental retardation. The posters were created by members of “The ARC of Iowa” which has 30 chapters statewide.Marsha Sears is executive director of The ARC, which represents the 80-thousand Iowans with retardation or developmental disabilities. Sears says the artists range in age from six to 30-years-old and all of the posters run with the theme “What The ARC Means to Me.”Sears says the posters on display at the Kaleidoscope at the Hub in Des Moines are the finalists. Judging began yesterday to narrow down the very best posters, which she says will soon be visible all across Iowa.In addition to the billboard campaign, the top twelve winners will be part of an upcoming ARC calendar. ARC -used- to stand for the Association of Retarded Citizens but Sears says that was abandoned to put more of an accent on people, not the disability.