Setting a wheelchair painting world record at Abilities Expo

Abilities Expo has been taking place in Los Angeles every year since 1979, but this year they're trying to set a world record: the largest wheelchair painting ever done, at 2,400 square feet, measuring 120 feet long by 20 feet wide.

The organization's president and CEO, David Korse, explained how their wheelchair painting works.

"We have some adaptive devices that actually connect to the front of the wheelchair or the power chair," Korse told KPCC. "They have a variety of rollers and tools on them, so that as you direct your wheelchair over the painting, the actual devices has a roller head which we put the paint on, and then as you steer your wheelchair around the area of the painting, it lays down the paint in whatever shape or size that you, the person in the wheelchair, decide."

Korse said they have a variety of colors of paint, with people in wheelchairs taking turns painting. Korse said that it looks "psychedelic."

"It's a lot of very bright colors. There's a lot of purple, and a lot of orange, because those are kind of our show colors. Tons of swirls, and some patterns. I think some people have been doing wheelies, some people have been doing spins," Korse said. "Think of somebody doing a freestyle gymnastics or ice routine, but in a wheelchair, with paint on the wheels of the wheelchair and on the roller, leaving marks. It's kind of cool."

The rest of the expo focuses on products, services and resources for people with disabilities, Korse said, as well as their families, caregivers and health care professionals.

Korse explained what people who attended the show liked about it.

"It's kind of like a Toys 'R' Us for the weekend for the community. It's a fun place to be, lots of things happening," Korse said. "People who've come for the first time who are, say wheelchair users for example, say 'I've never been in a place with so many people like me before. I feel so comfortable. Everybody's got a challenge. I'm not the only one,' or 'I'm not the minority.' So it's a comfortable place to be."

One young man who came last year saw a demonstration of an exoskeleton, which allows paraplegics to walk with a robotic leg system — and this year, he's the one in the exoskeleton, Korse said.

"He got so inspired that he found out how to work with one, found out how much money he needed to raise for funds, he did a year-long fundraising campaign, and now he's the one demonstrating the product at this year's show. So last year seeing it, to this year he's able to walk in this exoskeleton instead of being just in his wheelchair. It's a pretty cool story," Korse said.

The expo has everything from accessible sports and dance to a 25-foot accessible climbing wall, that even someone in a wheelchair can use, Korse said. They also offer free workshops and free resources, with a third of their exhibitors being not-for-profit organizations such as the city of Los Angeles and organizations for muscular dystrophy and cerebral palsy, as well as disability rights attorneys and those providing assistive tech.

The expo will be open at the L.A. Convention Center on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission is free.

Watch video of dancers from previous Abilities Expos, from children in wheelchairs to partners doing their version of "The Phantom of the Opera":

Children in wheelchairs

The Phantom of the Opera

"And he danced!"