Creativity Explored

Creativity Explored is a studio run by the same organization that also runs NIAD and Creative Growth. I work at Creativity Explored 2, the center that is located on 16th and Arkansas. It took a while to get used to working there, as I have extremely minimal experience with developmentally disabled people. Now that I am starting to get the hang of it, I feel more comfortable working hands-on with the artists and challenging them to try new things. The main function of Creativity Explored is to offer adults with developmental disabilities the oppurtunity to make art. The service is free to them. Sometimes their work is auctioned, in which case the artist receives 50% and the organization receives 50%. The organization is founded on the philosophy of an art school, and the artists are never treated in an unequal or overly sympathetic manner. My function there is to work with the artists, and to get them excited about their art making. Suggesting a new medium, or a project based on their interests, as well as engaging them with basic discussions about composition or color are ways that I use to get the artists more excited about their art. They are getting used to seeing me and talking to me, and this way, I have been incorporated into a part of the community, and a face of society, that I would never see if I wasn't working with Creativity Explored.

-Ryan