“Early reviews said, ‘Can you believe the mentally retarded can draw?’” Tom shared. “Now we’re not afraid to talk about disabilities, but their work gets beyond that.”
Anyone can cross through the door at Creative Growth to join their free programs (unless individuals have the means) and they only require people to respond well to Creative Growth’s community and demonstrate an interest in art.
Creative Growth also fills a void for those leaving the public school system (guaranteed until age twenty-one in California) without next steps toward adulthood. Their teen summer program provides access to structure to develop a professional vocation and different ages come together to form a social group for the summer.
Tom explained that professional artists—who act as creative partners, not teachers—then work with those artists to foster what is unique to each individual and help discover how they’d like to express themselves.
“We have many academically-trained contemporary artists who want to work with our artists to experience the spontaneity of our artists’ work. We’re finding our place that we are leading the field as opposed to being outside of it, it’s a beautiful thing.”
And while art sales are not the focus, any profit becomes a source of support for the artists. “People are happy to show what they are working on now because that is the expressive part of who they want to share with you as a friend. The process of art making is extremely important to our people. Sewing, touching, handling the clay, it’s process-driven. It adds to the sense of the benefit the person gets.”
To Art in Museums
Some artists are currently receiving national attention. For example, the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York currently exhibits the work of Dan Miller, a Creative Growth artist with autism. His art is a magnificent overlay of work and letter structures on big drawings that grow as his words and numbers get larger.
“He’s trying to process the information that he can’t do verbally with us. The things the autistic person might be doing, those are essential things this person has to do, as much as breathing for all of us,” Tom explained.
