In honor of an amazing milestone, we’ve partnered with our friends at Alltimers on a limited collection of T-shirts and boards to celebrate 50 years of Creative Growth.
The project includes T-shirts and boards with artwork by Creative Growth artists William Scott, Dwight Mackintosh, Aurie Ramirez, John Martin, Ron Veasey, and Joe Spears.
The partnership aims to celebrate and raise awareness of Creative Growth’s mission to promote inclusivity and representation in the arts. It will be available online Tuesday, April 16th on creativegrowth.org, Alltimers.com, the SFMOMA gift shop, and skate shops nationwide.
For further information, or if you’d like to donate or purchase some of the artists’ work click here.
Lincoln Center's Big Umbrella Festival 2024 Limited-Edition Benefit Print and Commemorative Poster Features Maureen Clay
To celebrate this year’s Big Umbrella Festival, we are pleased to present Maureen Clay’s image, Untitled (MC260) as a limited-edition benefit print and commemorative poster published by Lincoln Center Editions. Proceeds support Lincoln Center’s nonprofit mission and programming. Complimentary posters will be gifted to a limited number of attendees of the Big Umbrella Festival 2024.
Build your own festival experience by booking the individual events below! View the full schedule here.
Big Umbrella Festival returns this April as we welcome kids, teens, and young adults for a weekend of programming, designed with and for neurodiverse audiences. Launched in 2018, the Big Umbrella Festival centers our audiences by sharing unique approaches to multi-sensory, interactive, and engaging artistic experiences. This year's events include a collaboration with ReelAbilities Film Festival, the largest festival in the world dedicated to showcasing ground-breaking films by and about people with disabilities; a thrilling interactive dance piece with music, Playful Tiger; Motus' TREE, A World in Itself, a multi-sensory, interactive universe enveloped in soft light, music, and silence; a piano concert by award-winning artist Lachi; and Architects of Air’s Daedalum, an experiential labyrinth for guests to explore with winding tunnels and colorful domes.
Clay paints with a thickly brushed impasto technique, layering colors repeatedly until the entire composition has been covered several times. She has an intricate sense of color and design, and while her work appears abstract, Clay describes her images as distorted versions of fish, birds, and food. Her work holds multitudes, appearing as a deep seascape, starry night sky, or a view through a microscope. Also a proficient textile artist, Clay, similarly to her painting practice, covers the surface of her clothing with pompoms, sequins, or dense layers of thread. Clay has practiced at Creative Growth Art Center since 1991.
Art in Embassies Announces Creative Growth Collection
As the United States approaches its 250th year, the State Department’s Art in Embassies program is working with cultural institutions, artists, families, and galleries to curate art collections that promote U.S. diplomacy.
Art in Embassies announces the establishment of the Creative Growth Collection, comprised of 89 artworks created by artists from the Creative Growth Art Center, all of whom have developmental disabilities.
The Creative Growth Art Center is a nonprofit based in Oakland, California, that promotes inclusivity in the contemporary art community by providing a platform for artists with disabilities. The selected works from the new collection span various mediums, including watercolor, ink, textiles, clay, mixed media, pastels, acrylics, linocuts, and digital prints. They will immediately become available for exhibit in U.S. embassies and Ambassadors’ residences under long-term loan agreements.
The Creative Growth Art Center not only represents the diversity of our democratic society but also has received the highest critical acclaim. Its artworks have been showcased in exhibitions at renowned institutions such as MoMA, the Smithsonian, and the Studio Museum of Harlem. With the guidance of professional artists, the Creative Growth Studio provides artistic support, high-quality materials, and a workspace for over 140 artists.
Art in Embassies Director Megan Beyer and Chief Curator Camille Benton announced the Collection during Art in Embassies’ 60th anniversary dinner with ambassadors and cultural leaders at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
The Office of Art in Embassies, established in 1963, plays a crucial role in U.S. public diplomacy, connecting nations through curated exhibitions. It showcases the innovation and cultural prowess of the United States and fosters cross-cultural connections.
For more information about Art in Embassies, visit art.state.gov.
Press inquiries can be sent to Megan Beyer at BeyerMC@state.gov.