Art Enables

About

Art Enables is dedicated to creating opportunities for artists with disabilities to make, market, and earn income from their honest and compelling artwork.

Story

ABOUT US

Art Enables is an art gallery and vocational program dedicated to creating opportunities for artists with disabilities to make, market, and earn income from their original and compelling artwork while building the skills, relationships, and experience necessary for a successful career in the arts. We offer our artists the creative space, materials, and marketing support they need to develop and succeed as visual artists.

Established in 2001, Art Enables believes that artists with disabilities are vital to a robust arts landscape and should be afforded the opportunity to pursue art as a vocation and career. Art Enables works with artists that experience a broad range of developmental and cognitive disabilities as well as mental health challenges that include autism, Down syndrome, traumatic brain injury, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, among others.

Art Enables’ artists are largely self-taught, and tell honest, unfiltered, and powerful stories through their artwork. In addition to the income artists earn from art sales, Art Enables’ artists achieve a sense of personal and professional accomplishment.

OUR APPROACH

The focus of our programmatic activity is to provide artists with a diverse set of opportunities that allow them to develop as artists and gain experiences important for emerging artists. We do this in three primary ways:

• The Studio Art Program is at the center of our work, and is where our artists experiment, develop, and create their artwork in a supported and professional studio environment.

• Through our Exhibitions & Gallery Program, we showcase and promote our artists through large group, small group, and individual exhibitions both onsite in our galleries and through offsite shows at local, national, and international venues.

• Our Community Arts Program is focused on creating opportunities for the general public and local area artists to join our artists in the artmaking process through community-based workshops, joint art projects, and events.

In addition to these efforts, Art Enables seeks to promote understanding and celebrate the diverse and powerful ways in which people with disabilities can communicate through visual art and contribute to the broader visual arts field.