Creative Growth Art Center
Nonprofit arts organization based in Oakland, California From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Creative Growth Art Center is a nonprofit arts organization, based in Oakland, California, that provides studios, supplies, and gallery space to artists with developmental, mental, and physical disabilities.[1][2] It is one of the oldest and largest art center for people with disabilities in the world.[3] It is currently located at 355 24th Street in Oakland, California.
.jpg) Ceramic projects at Creative Growth Art Center | |
| Formation | 1974 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Florence Ludins-Katz, Elias Katz |
| Founded at | Berkeley, California, US |
| Type | Non-profit |
| Location |
|
| Coordinates | 37.813078°N 122.264202°W |
| Website | creativegrowth |
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.[4][3][5] Roughly 160 artists work at the center.[6]
History
In 1974, the husband and wife pair of Florence Ludins-Katz and Elias Katz founded Creative Growth in their garage in Berkeley.[6] Ludins-Katz was an artist and Katz was a psychologist.[7] The center moved in 1978 to a former auto-repair shop in downtown Oakland, where it currently operates.[6] Between the 1950s and 1960s, the mass closure of psychiatric hospitals in California caused many patients to be deinstitutionalized.[6] And in 1967, the Lanterman–Petris–Short Act was signed and it blocked involuntary hospitalization for many former patients.[6] There were not enough accommodations made after the release of the former patients and many ended up homeless or imprisoned.[6] 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.[6]
Creative Growth was featured in Elle Decor (October 1990 issue) in an article tilted "Aimed Straight From The Heart" written by Susan Subtle.[8] Subtle reviews the organization and compares the style of art made at Creative Growth to Outsider, Primitive, Naive, Brut, and early-American folk art.[8]
In 2010, Matthew Higgs, Director/Chief Curator at White Columns, 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.[9]
In 2018, a segment in the ninth season of television series Art21, talks to some of the artists and administrators involved with Creative Growth.[10]
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 co-founder Kim Hastreiter and Target Chief Creative Officer Todd Waterbury.[11]
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, Washington DC (with artist Judith Scott, 2018); Venice Biennale (with artists Dan Miller and Judith Scott, 2017); Brooklyn Museum (Judith Scott, 2015);[12] Museum of Modern Art (Dan Miller, 2008); and White Columns (with artist William Scott, 2009, 2006).[13]
References
External links
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