Creative Growth Art Center is a

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

arts organization, based in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, that provides studios, supplies, and gallery space to artists with developmental, mental, and physical disabilities. It is one of the oldest and largest art center for people with disabilities in the world. It is currently located at 355 24th Street in

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

, California.

About

The director of the program since 2000 is Tom di Maria, who previously worked as the assistant director at

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA, formerly abbreviated as BAM/PFA) are a combined art museum, repertory movie theater, and archive associated with the University of California, Berkeley. Lawrence Rinder was Director from ...

. Roughly 160 artists work at the center.

History

In 1974, the husband and wife pair of Florence Ludins-Katz and Elias Katz founded Creative Growth in their garage in Berkeley. Ludins-Katz was an artist and Katz was a psychologist. The center moved in 1978 to a former auto-repair shop in downtown Oakland, where it currently operates. Between the 1950s and 1960s, the mass closure of psychiatric hospitals in California caused many patients to be deinstitutionalized. And in 1967, the

Lanterman–Petris–Short Act The Lanterman–Petris–Short (LPS) ActChapter 1667of the 1967 California Statutes, codified aCal. Welf & Inst. Code sec. 5000 et seq.) regulates involuntary civil commitment to a mental health institution in the state of California. The act set ...

was signed and it blocked involuntary hospitalization for many former patients. There were not enough accommodations made after the release of the former patients and many ended up homeless or imprisoned. The Creative Growth Art Center was founded primarily with the goal of supporting former state-hospital patients with therapeutic support, artistic/creative support, and vocational training. Creative Growth was featured in

Elle Decor ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the wo ...

(October 1990 issue) in an article tilted "Aimed Straight From The Heart" written by Susan Subtle. Subtle reviews the organization and compares the style of art made at Creative Growth to

Outsider Outsider(s) may refer to: Film * ''Outsider'' (1997 film), a 1997 Slovene-language film * ''Outsider'' (2012 film), a Malayalam-language Indian film * ''Outsiders'' (1980 film), a South Korean film featuring Won Mi-kyung Literature * Outside ...

, Primitive,

Naive Naivety (also spelled naïvety), naiveness, or naïveté is the state of being naive. It refers to an apparent or actual lack of experience and sophistication, often describing a neglect of pragmatism in favor of moral idealism. A ''naïve'' may b ...

, Brut, and early-American folk art. In 2010,

Matthew Higgs Matthew Higgs (born 1964) is an English artist, curator, writer and publisher. His contribution to UK contemporary art has included the creation of ''Imprint 93'', a series of artists’ editions featuring the work of artists such as Martin Creed ...

, Director/Chief Curator at

White Columns White Columns is New York City’s oldest alternative non-profit art space. White Columns is known as a showcase for up-and-coming artists, and is primarily devoted to emerging artists who are not affiliated with galleries. All work submitted is ...

, curated a show titled "Everyone!" that featured over 130 works made by Creative Growth artists and included each and every artist currently enrolled in the studio program. In 2018, a segment in the ninth season of television series

Art21 ''Art:21 - Art in the 21st Century'' is a PBS series, educational resource, archive, and history of contemporary art. It premiered in 2001, and is now broadcast in over 50 countries worldwide. Premiering a new season every two years, ''Art:21'' i ...

, talks to some of the artists and administrators involved with Creative Growth.

''Beyond Trend'' (2010 – present) fashion show

Beyond Trend is Creative Growth's runway extravaganza that started in 2010 as a small in-gallery showing of fashion. The 2018 show, its largest yet, opened at the 1,250-seat Scottish Rite Center, where it was chaired by

Paper magazine ''Paper'' (also known as ''Paper Mag'') is a New York City-based independent magazine focusing on fashion, popular culture, nightlife, music, art, and film. Initially produced monthly, the magazine eventually became a quarterly publication, and a ...

co-founder Kim Hastreiter and

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

Chief Creative Officer Todd Waterbury.

Notable artists

Thousands of artists have come through Creative Growth's doors over the years and a number have reach national recognition. Creative Growth artists have had major exhibitions at the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

, Washington DC (with artist Judith Scott, 2018);

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

(with artists Dan Miller and Judith Scott, 2017);

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

(Judith Scott, 2015);

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

(Dan Miller, 2008); and

(with artist William Scott, 2009, 2006).

References

External links

* {{Disability art, state=collapsed 501(c)(3) organizations Arts organizations based in the San Francisco Bay Area Non-profit organizations based in the San Francisco Bay Area Outsider art Autism in the arts Deafness arts organizations Deaf education Disability mass media Disability organizations based in the United States Summer camps for children with special needs Charities for disabled people Intellectual disability organizations Educational institutions established in 1974 Art schools in California Social welfare charities based in the United States