Model and Strategy
In collaboration with galleries, artists, institutions and future arts leaders, Creative Growth Art Center (CGAC)’s new and existing projects will challenge assumptions around who can be accepted as an artist of our era. CGAC will advance its 42-year leadership in the field of arts and disability by creating new “graduate-level” initiatives, utilizing new technology and elevating existing collaborative projects to further advance their diverse community of 154 artists with disabilities as influential forces in the contemporary art world. CGAC will promote discovery through 1-on-1 studio assistance and new technologies which will allow artists on the autism spectrum to explore various mediums and tools outside of traditional means. CGAC will promote diversity by continuing to nurture their 154 artists’ unique voices in and out of the studio, and promote empathy by inspiring thousands to integrate new ways of thinking about people with disabilities and challenge personal assumptions.
Impact
The longterm impact of our new and existing collaborations have the potential to be massive in the contemporary art world. We see the longterm impact of our “GraduateLevel” collaborations transforming our artists’ work, the larger Bay Area community, the contemporary art world, and the perspectives of future arts leaders in the field on a deeper level. We believe the longterm impacts of our collaboration will be seen in an intensified connection between our population of artists to the greater Bay Area thriving arts community, a better understanding of how new technology can help transform the creative process for artists on the autism spectrum, and a new generation of groundbreaking arts leaders. The new interfaces and tools in which we plan to invest, will open new creative possibilities for our artists, generate brand new work, open new dialogues, inspire collectors, and catalyze new trends. Our ability to further opportunities for 1 on 1 studio collaborations with staff, access to community field trips, and expanded stakeholder engagement events will create a more level playing field for our artists. As stigmas and reservations against artists with disabilities are still a great barrier in the art world today, our ability to promote our artists to the right audiences will help us continue to change current notions of what artists with disabilities are capable of in today’s world. We see CGAC playing a leading, major role in successfully nurturing opportunities for our artists to inspire and transform the art world on a global scale.
Leadership
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Tom di Maria
Director