Creative Growth Art Center

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Coordinates: 37°48′47″N 122°15′51″W / 37.813078°N 122.264202°W / 37.813078; -122.264202
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Creative Growth Art Center
Formation1974; 50 years ago (1974)
FounderFlorence Ludins-Katz, Elias Katz
Founded atBerkeley, California, US
TypeNon-profit
Location
Coordinates37°48′47″N 122°15′51″W / 37.813078°N 122.264202°W / 37.813078; -122.264202
Websitecreativegrowth.org

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.

About[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

  1. ^ "Creative Growth Art Center". Art21.
  2. ^ Lee, Taila (2020-10-22). "Creative Growth artist Juan Aguilera celebrates nature, Mexican heritage through designs". The Daily Californian. Archived from the original on 2020-10-31. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
  3. ^ a b Trefny, Ben. "Creative Growth Art Center gives artists with disabilities a place to shine". KALW public radio. Archived from the original on 2015-07-17. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
  4. ^ Nwangwa, Shirley (2018-07-25). "'This Is Who I Am in the World': Preview Art21's Report on the Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland". ARTnews.com. Archived from the original on 2020-08-05. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
  5. ^ Buckwalter, Timothy. "Creative Growth: An interview with Tom di Maria | KQED Arts". www.kqed.org. KQED.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Rich, Nathaniel (2015-12-16). "A Training Ground for Untrained Artists (Published 2015)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
  7. ^ Hurwitz, Rebecca (23 October 2016). "Creative Growth Center: An unwavering community in an ever-changing Oakland | The Daily Californian". The Daily Californian.
  8. ^ a b Subtle, Susan (October 1990). "Aimed Straight From The Heart". Elle Decor: 78.
  9. ^ "Everyone! - Creative Growth Art Center". Creative Growth Art Center. 28 January 2010.
  10. ^ Nwangwa, Shirley (25 July 2018). "'This Is Who I Am in the World': Preview Art21's Report on the Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland". ARTnews.
  11. ^ Bravo, Tony (6 April 2018). "Creative Growth's special needs clients seize the limelight at fashion show". SFChronicle.com.
  12. ^ "Brooklyn Museum: Judith Scott—Bound and Unbound". www.brooklynmuseum.org.
  13. ^ "White Columns - Exhibitions - William Scott – 'Good Person'". www.whitecolumns.org.

External links[edit]

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