Program
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The program model that we developed together after a year spent getting to know each other and working together as a community consists primarily of each member taking ownership of the space and having an equal voice in the decision making process. Through that process we identified the four areas that guide our collaborative work. These areas are: promoting self-respect, learning art skills, building community, and developing independence. At the 30-day mark, each new artist meets with the program director to talk about his or her wants, needs, hopes, and dreams. They work together to turn these aspirations into goals in each of the four areas, and thus develop an artist’s plan.
We have seen tremendous growth in our artists as they achieve their goals and move on to challenge themselves even more. Please read on to learn more about the four areas that guide our studio program.
Promoting Self-Respect
The idea of self-respect involves first an understanding of who we are: our history, our gifts and our struggles, followed by an acceptance of all of those things that make us the person we have become. Gaining a deeper understanding of our strengths and limitations and a general satisfaction with who we are can be lifelong processes.
Having a sense of one’s intrinsic worth leads to the ability to form opinions, to love, and to remain indifferent to the opinions of others. In the absence of self-respect only the views of others matter. The way a person experiences more self discovery in a relationship is to be supported but also left to their own devices so that he or she is empowered. We discover more about ourselves when we talk to others about our ideas, worries and hopes. It helps us to gain an understanding of ourselves when those who love us give us honest feedback and encouragement to be the best we can be. We gain confidence as we try new things and master new skills. We learn who we can be by taking risks and being supported.
In our studio, we work to help those in our community communicate their thoughts and feelings during their own daily struggles. We look for and foster communication in all its forms. We attempt to guide those in our midst toward a greater understanding of themselves, encouraging them to tell their stories and responding with the respect due. We offer support and feedback about the strengths of each artist in our community and we also encourage our artists with differing abilities to use each other for support.
We have seen growth in our artists’ personalities that indicate a stronger sense of self than when we first met them. There is less reliance on “staff” to solve interpersonal problems, and more self-confidence seen in daily interactions and when structuring their own time. In our regular artists meetings many artists have become more comfortable voicing their opinion on topics of concern to the group as a whole. Some have begun journaling as a way of sorting through feelings and recognizing their own unique self.
Through creative exploration, the individuals in our community come to a deeper understanding of their own unique gifts. They find styles of art that are uniquely theirs and receive recognition for their individuality. They are continuing to grow in respect for themselves as artists and in the pride of belonging to an artistic community.
We aspire to grow as a community in our knowledge and respect of each other and to assist each individual to increase their understanding and respect for themselves. We will look for ways to assist those in our community to express their thoughts and feelings on a daily basis. We will demonstrate genuine interest, respect and support in order to assist those in our community to grow in self-knowledge and self-respect
Developing art skills
Art has the power to provide deeper insight into the human experience. Art allows all people to develop their innate creativity. Perhaps most importantly, art allows us to transcend the constraints of age, culture, race and disability.
Art is neither a conventional career opportunity nor a conventional educational tool for people with developmental disabilities. Yet the idea that uninhibited self-expression heals the soul is a common idea throughout the world. Our studio gives people with developmental disabilities an avenue to heal themselves through creativity. Their work here also allows each artist to earn income, thus allowing for more freedom and self-sufficiency in their lives. It’s a place where people with developmental disabilities can join a creative community to learn about arts’ various forms. We are committed to helping each person learn the art medium that best suites them, and in assisting them to become involved in the art community of Chicago.
Our first step is to help each person understand what an artist is, and then to help them identify as artists. Most people come to the studio with no real understanding of what an artist is, or what type of dedication it takes to be an artist. We acknowledge that each new person may not have had the opportunity to explore different art mediums or to understand that his or her creative expression is valuable.
The next step in becoming an artist is to choose a medium. This comes easier for those who have had some experience creating art. Others experiment with different mediums, looking for the one that speaks to them. In our studio environment the process of experimentation happens naturally.
All exploration happens in an environment of encouragement, freedom, and love. As the lines increase, the sounds connect, the color explodes, the shape forms, and a piece of art is created; the artist emerges. 
No matter what form the artwork takes, there is always a part of the artist in each piece. They are making their own choices: “I will use blue and not red.”, “I will make this shape and not another.” As the process continues, the artists begin to create their own language. When they develop this new language their own style begins to emerge. As their style emerges we are then able to help them learn more techniques in their chosen medium. The length of each step varies for each artist. One artist may stay with the basics while another will move on, constantly redefining their art and who they are.
As human beings we need each other to grow and develop. We all belong to different groups and communities that keep us in relationship with others, and challenge us to clarify our own beliefs and needs. These communities can include neighborhoods, work settings, religious groups, or others of the same race or culture. A community can be thought of as a group of people with a common characteristic or an interest in being together. In order for the community to become stronger, we need to learn to understand and support each other, and to solve problems in a way that will benefit the group as a whole and not compromise individual values.
Our studio is an artistic community for adults with developmental disabilities, an alternative to other day-training and vocational settings that provide vocational, pre-vocational, or work opportunities for this population. Founded under the principle that the studio “belongs” to its artists, our community makes its own rules and decisions; staff assists with the needs of the community. The primary community rule is that no one hurt himself or another person. Other rules and decisions have been made as dialog progressed and concerns were brought up.
Each day we reinforce the principals of basic respect and cooperation: how to speak to each other and how to help each other to get things done and solve problems along the way. Our community meets monthly where artists and staff work together to run our collective. We use these meetings to learn about managing a nonprofit, managing staff and working as a collaboration. Staff is also available to mediate problems between community members or advise artists about how their decisions affect others. We stress the idea that the studio space brings us together, and is essential to our individual and community development. It is meant to be a place where creativity blossoms and people can be comfortable being themselves.
We value the differences that each individual brings to the studio. We realize we are all learning; that we have a responsibility to be the best person we can be, and to strive to be a model person for others. We also know we won’t always be the best person we can. Our community will strive to bestow love, trust, and respect as each person adds their own individual characteristics to the group.
We help our artists find their place in the different communities in their lives. We discuss what it means to have a developmental disability, to be living in a group home, to be an artist, etc. We also help our artists understand that everyone has something that makes them unique and that differences are a part of the human experience.
We believe that our community will continue to grow as each artist grows and brings more to their studio; as each artist develops their own sense of what this community means to them; and as new individuals join our community and are welcomed by the current artists. We will always be a place where love, trust, and respect provide the basic principles of how people should be treated and should treat others.
Developing Independence
Throughout all stages of our lives we seek independence. We are driven by the desire for freedom and absence of constraint to make our own judgments and choices. As adults, we value independence and its importance in our lives. With independence, we have a sense of inner freedom that allows us to make our own decisions, as well as our own mistakes. Learning to be independent requires a willingness to try new things, enjoy that experience and work at making that new experience a personal skill. Often the hardest part of being independent is realizing independence does not mean isolation, nor does it mean that we don’t learn from others. Instead, it means we do things in the ways that work for us.
When each artist enters our studio, we look at who they are, what they like, what concerns them, what scares them, what makes them smile, and what things they have not had the opportunity to learn. We work to help them develop more independence in areas they identify. We work to help them turn experiences into skills. We ask all-inclusive questions about life skills, personal goals and dreams. We also speak with and gather information from those who know the artist and help them in other areas of their life.
We then let the studio become the artist’s personal space, a place where they are comfortable spending time and where they feel love, respect and trust. The amount of time it takes a person to become comfortable in our studio space varies from artist to artist. Some artists feel comfortable right away, others need months to really identify the studio as their space. But because trust is vital, we let each artist set his or her own pace. Along the way, we praise them for their steps toward independence until they tell us on their own terms that they are ready to tackle some of their goals, and turn experiences into consistent skills.
Once an artist is ready to become more independent, we begin to develop goals, formalizing the experiences the artist wants to evolve into a skill. We make time each day, each week or each month to practice an experience until the artist is comfortable enough to have the experience in other areas of their life. When the artist takes that risk and is successful, an experience becomes a skill and the next dream turns into a goal. An artist’s developmental and cognitive level will affect what experiences they want turned into skills.
We encourage open communication with the people closest to each artist including meetings, phone calls, and visits. We encourage people to come to the studio and our studio staff to go to other places where the individual spends time. We are committed to working as hard as our artists to make each of their goals and dreams become skills.
Our community is constantly evolving to meet the needs of our artists. We have added the following pieces to our program:
“Group B” is facilitated by Barbara Chamberlain, an LCSW, and is the key component of our building community principle. The artists work together to gain a better understanding of how to be members of all types of communities as well as how to encourage growth and respect the differences in each other and us.
Our relationship with Starbucks is vital to the life of the studio. Artists’ work with our program director to maintain the artwork we have in twelve local Starbucks. Each week an artist accompanies our program director to various locations and assists in changing the artwork as well as transferring those changes into the studio record of what is showcased at each site. This gives our artists an opportunity to practice their community skills as they talk to the baristas and patrons about their artwork and our collective.
Touch is so important to everyone’s quality of life and we recognize that, given most of our artists current living situation, they aren’t given the opportunity for positive touch often enough. Because of this natural barrier, we have created a massage program for our artists. We have teamed up with Cortiva to be a host for their students’ special population hours. We encourage each artist to take his or her turn in our massage rotation and build to a full hour massage.
Music is something that makes everyone happy 
, whether they are listening or participating. As a community, we get together once a week and work on all types of musical pieces. Finally, we showcase these works annually at our awards party.