Feel Good Friday - Creativity Explored

Happy Feel Good Friday! If any of your New Year’s resolutions involved exploring your creativity, take a moment to get inspired by the artists at Creativity Explored.

Creativity Explored (CE) is a nonprofit organization located in San Francisco, California where artists with developmental disabilities create, exhibit and sell their work. It was founded in 1983 by Florence and Elias Katz “on a belief that art is essential to life. We exist to provide developmentally disabled people access to the human right of creative expression.”

CE serves 130 artists and operates a studio space in the Mission District where these artists come to take classes and create their artwork. You can see the space, the artists and learn about the impact of CE in this short video.

When Covid-19 came to San Francisco, the staff at CE offered virtual classes. Now that the studio is open again, artists can take classes either in person or online. Since the pandemic began, CE artists have held a sold out gallery show, displayed their work at 38 exhibitions and earned nearly $200,000 from their art. 

Looking back at all 40 years of Creativity Explored, hundreds of disabled artists “have seen their work exhibited in museums, galleries, and art fairs in over 14 countries and have earned over $2 million from their art.”

You can learn all about the artists and view their work at this link and if you live in the SF Bay Area, you can attend one of the upcoming CE events. I’m especially interested in the collaboration with the Artist-in-Residence Program at Recology to see how trash is transformed into art. You can learn more about that Recology program in my FGF blog post from 2012. 

There are many fun ways to get involved with Creativity Explored and show your support. Apply to be an artist or register to volunteer. You can also shop for art, make a donation and amplify their work on social medial. Follow Creativity Explored on their Facebook page, on Instagram @creativityexplored and on Twitter @creativityxplrd. #ArtChangesLives