Three days a week, the bright studio gallery at Creation Studio in Dallas breaks out the paint and clay, and artists settle in for a day of creating.
“What are you making?” Creation Studio Founder Hunter Lacey asked artist Rachel Frederick. “I don’t know,” Frederick said with a laugh.
Creation Studio is an art studio and gallery for adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. In the studio, the focus is on their abilities.
“The artists that come here are passionate about making art,” Lacey said. “They want to sit for 5 hours and just keep making art.”
“I’m painting an ocean sunset,” Reese Gould said as he focused on his canvas. “I always want to do art, and I’m just really good at it.”
“I know,” Frederick said, laughing. “I like his art better!”
The artists are getting ready for an art show next Saturday.
“To have the opportunity to show their art and see people enjoy it is really empowering,” Lacey said.
“Like, hey, look, here’s my art, how do you like it?” Frederick said. “Would you like to buy it?”
Half of the sales will go to the artists, and the other half goes back to the nonprofit to pay for art supplies and rent. The opportunity to change perceptions is priceless.
“People with disabilities are just as capable as anyone else. Their art is almost, in some ways, can be even more special. I think people with disabilities have this amazing ability to tap into different parts of the brain that a neurotypical person can’t,” Lacey said. “Places like Creation Studio are sort of a reminder that we are all more alike than we are different.”
‘Moments in Time: A Creation Studio Art Show’ is Saturday, October 18, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Creation Studio, 5677 Village Glen Drive, Dallas.