STARTING A PROGRESSIVE ARTS STUDIO
On Saturday, November 14, 2020, Creative Growth staff and participants from across the globe gathered together virtually. Through presentations and Q+A sessions, they discussed Creative Growth’s successful model and what it takes to start a progressive arts studio.
Creative Growth Director of External Relation Tom di Maria started the day off with some background on the history of Creative Growth and its founders, Elias Katz and Florence Ludins-Katz.
Creative Growth Studio Instructor Kathleen Henderson joined Tom to discuss studio practices, philosophy, and materials.
Creative Growth Gallery Director Sarah Galender Meyer, Gallery Associate, Ryan Whelan, and Gallery Assistant, Ellen York shared a presentation describing Creative Growth policies and practices with respect to exhibitions, sales, in-house framing, shipping, and more.
SAGE Studio co-founders Katie Stahl and Lucy Gross who gained insightful knowledge at Creative Growth’s 2019 symposium, returned this year to share lessons learned in establishing a progressive studio in Austin, Texas. They talked about their backgrounds, the challenges they faced, some of their artists, becoming a nonprofit, and how they’re making the most of their space.
During the last session of this busy day, Creative Growth Executive Director Elizabeth Brodersen, NIAD Art Center Executive Director Amanda Eicher, and Creativity Explored Executive Director Linda Johnson led a conversation about some of the administrative, financial, and programming aspects of starting and managing a nonprofit progressive studio.
About the presenters
Tom Di Maria (he/his)
Creative Growth
Director of External Relations
Tom di Maria was hired as Director of Creative Growth Art Center in January 2000. Since then, he has developed partnerships with museums, galleries, and international design companies to help bring Creative Growth artists fully into the contemporary art world. He speaks around the world about Creative Growth’s major artists and their relationship to Outsider Art and contemporary culture. Prior to joining Creative Growth, he served as Assistant Director of the Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive at UC Berkeley and Executive Director of the San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. He received his MFA in photography from the Maryland Institute, College of Art, in Baltimore and a BFA from the Rochester Institute of Technology. He has received filmmaking awards from the Sundance Film Festival and others festivals for his experimental filmmaking, and in 2019 he received the Visionary Award from the American Folk Art Museum in New York.
Kathleen Henderson (she/her)
Creative Growth
Staff Artist
kathleen@creativegrowth.org
Kathleen Henderson has been a staff artist at Creative Growth for over ten years. She is the founding editor of the Creative Growth magazine as well as the Special Projects Coordinator. Her work has been the subject of numerous solo shows in Los Angeles and San Francisco as well as the Drawing Center in New York. She has received a National Endowment for the Arts grant and her work is in the collections of the Hammer Museum and LACMA.
Sarah Galender Meyer (she/her)
Creative Growth
Gallery Director
sarah@creativegrowth.org
Sarah studied anthropology and art history at New York University’s Gallatin School, and worked as a contemporary dancer and choreographer in New York. She went on to receive an MA in arts administration from Columbia University and worked at The Baryshnikov Dance Foundation and Electronic Arts Intermix before moving to the Bay Area. In San Francisco, Sarah served as Associate Director of ODC School and worked as a consultant for performing and visual arts organizations, including the FOR-SITE Foundation. Sarah was a longtime member and volunteer at Creative Growth before joining the Gallery staff in 2017.
Ryan Whelan (he/his)
Creative Growth
Gallery Associate
ryan@creativegrowth.org
Ryan Whelan is an artist and woodworker based in Oakland, California. He is represented by Part2 Gallery, and his artwork has been exhibited in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and Portland. He maintains an art studio and woodshop alongside his wife and a group of local artists. Ryan received his B.A. in printmaking from San Francisco State University in 2015. He went on to work at Spoke Art and Hashimoto Contemporary before joining the Creative Growth Gallery team in 2016.
Ellen York (she/her)
Creative Growth
Gallery Assistant
ellen@creativegrowth.org
Ellen York is the Gallery Assistant at Creative Growth. Originally from Fairbanks, Alaska, she received a BA in art history from the University of Washington and worked at the Alaska House Art Gallery in Fairbanks and Davidson Galleries in Seattle before relocating to the Bay Area. She volunteered in the Creative Growth Gallery for a year before joining the staff in 2018. In addition to her role in the Gallery, Ellen works with the communications team at Creative Growth to manage social media. (Portrait by Creative Growth artist Terri Bowden)
Katie Stahl (she/her)
SAGE Studio
Co-founder
Katie Stahl is a practicing artist with over ten years of experience working with artists with disabilities. She earned a BA in psychology from Dartmouth College and an MA in art education from The University of Texas at Austin, where she completed her master's thesis on Creativity Explored, one of the oldest progressive art studios in the country. In her own art practice, Katie paints animals under the name Houndoggle Art. Katie co-founded SAGE Studio with her partner, Lucy Gross, in 2017. Together, they represented SAGE at SXSW EDU in 2019 and co-curated exhibitions at the Outsider Art Fair in New York City in 2019 and 2020.
Lucy Gross (she/her)
SAGE Studio
Co-founder
Lucy Gross is a practicing social worker with over ten years of experience working with adults with disabilities. In addition to her work at SAGE Studio, she currently works at AISD’s Go Project, a transitional program for special education students ages 18–22, and The University of Texas in their inclusion program for adults with disabilities. She earned her undergraduate degree at Emerson College and her master’s in social work at Texas State University.
Elizabeth Brodersen (she/her)
Creative Growth
Executive Director
Elizabeth Brodersen joined Creative Growth as executive director in February 2019. A former corporate attorney, she has extensive experience in arts, education, and nonprofit administration, including more than 25 years at American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T), where as the theater’s first Director of Education she developed and led education and community programs that served more than 20,000 Bay Area residents annually. She received her BA from Princeton University and JD from Columbia University School of Law.
Amanda Eicher (she/her)
NIAD Art Center
Executive Director
Since 2018, Amanda Eicher has held the position of Executive Director at NIAD Art Center. In the past two years, NIAD has navigated a complete programs redesign, organizational structure change to improve leadership equity and access, and the fast pivot to virtual programs in the context of the pandemic. Eicher’s ground-level experience as a manager and facilitator in NIAD’s studio and as a facilitator at Creativity Explored has helped support a collaborative and collective approach to navigating rapid change alongside steady growth at NIAD. Like all NIAD’s staff, Eicher is an artist—as well as a beekeeper and an open water swimmer.
