Creative Growth Art Center

Creative Growth Art Center is the oldest and largest nonprofit art studio for artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and concurrent disabilities. Our mission is to advance the inclusion of artists with developmental disabilities in contemporary art and strengthen community through a supportive studio environment and gallery representation.

Founded in 1974 on the idea that all people are capable of producing works of high artistic merit and that the act of creating can be transformative, Creative Growth now serves 140–160 artists with disabilities (primarily adults, with an ancillary youth program) and positions their work within the contemporary art world. At Creative Growth, the process of creating is honored and celebrated, and the impact of that recognition and appreciation transforms the lives of the artists. Most Creative Growth artists receive funding to attend Creative Growth's programs through the California Regional Center system, and all artists receive 50% of the net proceeds from sales of their artwork. 

The Creative Growth Studio provides professional-grade art-making classes in a variety of media. At the heart of the program is a team of working artists/instructors who support and encourage individual creativity by creating an open, adaptive environment with few rules and no judgment—a space where a community of creators work side by side inspiring, encouraging, and celebrating one another. The Gallery presents public exhibitions in Oakland and online and represents the artists at national and international art fairs. Work made by Creative Growth artists is included in major collections and institutions worldwide, such as MoMA (New York), SFMOMA, the Smithsonian Institution, the Studio Museum of Harlem, American Folk Art Museum, the Centre Pompidou (Paris), the Collection de L’Art Brut (Switzerland), and The Museum of Everything (London).