Creative GrowthGallery Artists
May 28 - July 4, 2015
The Apartment is very proud to present an exhibition of recent work by gallery artists from Creative Growth. For over 42 years, Creative Growth Art Center, in Oakland, California, has served as a studio space and gallery for people with developmental, physical and mental disabilities. Believed to be the oldest and largest such program in the world, the Center’s philosophy is to allow for the creative talent in every person to develop. Currently serving over 160 artists, it has been a model program for numerous others world-wide. Creative Growth’s goal is to have its people be seen as leading contemporary artists, and is proud to have three of them to be the only artists with developmental disabilities to have their work acquired by the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
In conjunction to this exhibition, The Apartment has partnered with Inclusion BC to present an on stage discussion about the accomplishments of Creative Growth. The Apartment director Lee Plested will speak with Creative Growth director Tom Di Maria about their impressive record of launching the careers of artists with developmental disabilities. The discussion will focus on the expansion of Creative Growth's physical resources, strategic plan and trajectory of the artists who participate in their programs by placing their work directly into the commercial art mainstream. The conversation will then open up to a larger discussion with Amy Nugent from Inclusion BC and internationally renowned Vancouver-based artist Gareth Moore.
We would like to thank Tom di Maria, Amy Nugent, Christina Hirukawa, Gareth Moore and Inclusion BC for organizing and facilitating this program.
John Hiltunen, Untitled (Chicken in Jungle), 2015, collage
Lawrence Choy, Untitled, 2015, ceramic
Discussion with Tom di Maria, Lee Plested & Inclusion BC Thursday, May 28, 2015 4:30-5:30pm Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre Pavilion Ballroom 1088 Burrard St Vancouver, BC V6Z 2R9
Opening Reception Thursday May 28, 2015 6-9pm
The Apartment 119B E Pender Vancouver BC V6A 1T6 +1.604.336.4046 theapt.ca