Creative Growth at 50: A Visual Journey (1974-2024)

Join us in celebrating Creative Growth’s 50th Anniversary with a special exhibition curated by Director Emeritus Tom di Maria. This visual journey spans five decades of artistic expression, inclusivity, and community.

Experience the vibrant creativity that has made Creative Growth a cornerstone of the arts. Explore works from our historic artists and hear special remarks by @tom.dimaria

🕺 Dress up in your favorite 70’s look for the opening and get ready for a nostalgic night! 🍕 Plus, don’t miss the @eatmozzeria Pizza Truck—Deaf-owned and operated—serving up delicious slices.

🗓️ Opening Night: Friday, September 13th
👉 Member Preview: 5-6pm
👉 Public Opening: 6-8pm
🎤 Tom’s Remarks: 6:30pm

GALLERY HOURS: WED - SAT, 10-4PM

Dwight Mackintosh

The word "Ciao" is both a greeting and a parting in Italian, and it is repeatedly used in this largely nonsensical calligraphic composition. At the bottom of the page, the artist has a delightful bus image, that could also be coming or going. With the use of black lines and the only color of orange, this delightful piece is lyrical and fun--filling the page and the imagination of the viewer!

Camille Holvoet

A shimmering aqua, blue, and white swimming pool stretches straight back from the us, the viewers, as we look down on this bubbly scene of a family at play in the Avalon Hotel Pool. At the far top side and left middle side of the pool are pink waterslides. On the right side and near bottom side are purple diving boards. There are 6 figures in total, all wearing white bathing caps. Figure #1, facing away from the viewer in the lower left corner of the image, is mostly underwater except for their head and shoulders. The underwater stairs to enter the pool are just to figure #1's left, rendered in soft, slightly darker blue lines. Figure #2 is halway up on the left side of the image at the bottom of the pink slide on the left side of the pool, about to splash into the water in a reddish-orange bathing suit. Their arms and legs are spread wide, their eyebrows are raised, and they smile with brown eyes and red lips as they gaze straight across the pool to the right. Figure #3 is at the bottom of the pink slide on the far side of the pool, and faces directly towards the viewer with brown eyes and red lips, wearing a red bathing suit. Their legs are already underwater, painted over with semi-transparent strokes of aqua colored paint. Their arms and legs are spread wide, as they brace themself to splash into the water. Figure #4 is in the top right corner of the image on the purple diving board, which is supported by a metal pole painted dark blue with a shiny streak of light aqua. Figure #4 wears a yellow bathing suit that flares out at the skirt. Their left foot is touching the diving board, their right foot is already in the air stretching left towards the pool, and their right arm stretches up in the air, as they face towards the viewer, smiling with blue eyes and red lips. Figure #5 is in the pool, wearing a red bathing suit. Except for their head and upper arms, their body is underwater, and they face directly towards the viewer with red lips and green eyes. Their arms and legs are spread wide in a jumping-jack or starfish pose. Figure #6 is at the bottom center of the image in a black bathing suit, facing away from the viewer. Their arms are spread wide with elbows bent upwards towards the sky, and their legs are spread even wider, curving upward with toes pointed to the sky. They appear to be in mid-air, having just jumped off the purple diving board, about to come splashing down into the pool.

Gloria Gonzalez

Whimsical and flirtatious, this beautifully rendered ink drawing on paper is truly charming. The ethereal quality of the transparency of the couple's bodies lends a mythical quality to the narrative. The patterning in the clothing, railings, deck and chair are meticulously rendered; the bold yellow line running through the center of this piece gives it a compositional tension, and adds to the power of their dance.

Spring Outing by Eva Garrett

Spring Outing is a timeless naif compostion that evokes the warmth of a voluptuous flowering of trees, plants, fruit and youth. Family harmony is evoked with the child and her dog and elders. Rich greens, yellows and springtime pastel hues pull this serene country compostion together in a classical way--it is both fresh and familiar.

Regina Broussard

Vibrant line drawing of eight women of varying sizes wearing dresses facing to the left. Some have mugs attached their mouths. They are surrounded by circles that are colored in with solid shades of yellow, light pink, dark pink, orange, dark green, and dark blue. The entire page is filled by the women, circles, muffins, toast with circles of jam, and squirrels that also face left. Each element is colored in with rows of short, vertical strokes.