CREATIVE GROWTH ART CENTER TIMELINE 1974: The first independent visual arts center for adults with developmental, physical, mental and emotional disabilities 1979: Named National Model Program by Very Special Arts, the John F. Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C. 1980: Established the first art gallery for adults with disabilities in the country, funded by a National Endowment for the Arts grant 1988: Provided cover and interior illustrations for Educating Special Learners, a special ed. textbook, Wadsworth Publishing Company, (International) 3rd.ed. 1989: Provided illustrations for bi-annual corporate report for McKesson Corp., San Francisco (national award), first report using illustrations by a disabled artist 1990: Developed innovative hooked rug project with a grant from San Francisco Foundation - products now in prominent collections: (The White House, Prince Andrew of Britain, the Cultural Arts Dept., Moscow, Russia) 1991: Developed the official award (featuring Creative Growth art) presented to and recognizing heroic people from the great Oakland fire disaster 1991: Featured on World News Tonight with Peter Jennings as an outstanding community arts organization and model program 1991 Established scholarship program for high-school aged artists with disabilities 1992: Published The Boy Who Time Forgot, by John MacGregor, Ph. D. and Mark Coleman, designer 1993 The Boy Who Time Forgot won national Book Design Award of Excellence from Communication Arts Magazine 1994: City of Oakland Business Arts Award - named the city's outstanding arts organization by the Oakland Chamber of Commerce 1994: Organized and presented, in conjunction with the Oakland Museum, the first international Outsider Art Symposium on the West Coast 1994: Presented the first exhibition in the United States of Outsider art from Russian mental institutions and the Humanitarian Center, Moscow, Russia 1995 The American Visionary Art Museum, the nation's first museum dedicated to self-taught and outsider art, completes a successful $7M capital campaign and opens its doors. 1995: Designed and produced 60 awards featuring original prints presented to entire Bay Area Diplomatic Corps 1996: Created the first national poster showcasing work by a disabled artist Lollapalooza, Dwight Mackintosh 1996: Featured on CBS Radio - The Osgood File 1996: Received Commendation for Dedicated Service, Regional Center of the East Bay 1996: Provided cover art and illustrations for college textbook, Vocational Education for Persons with Handicaps; Gaylord-Ross, Mayfield Publishing Company 1997: Produced all of interior artwork for the California Culinary Academy Grill in San Francisco - the first restaurant featuring art by artists with disabilities 1997: Lance Rivers awarded Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission Award for his artwork created at Creative Growth 1997: Creative Growth hooked rug presented to President Clinton (a gift selected to represent the City's cultural arts community) 1997 Awarded Artist-in-Residence grant from California Arts Council for artist Cathy Perillo to launch printmaking program at CGAC 1998: Creative Growth hooked rug presented to Prince Andrew of Britain (a gift from the city of Oakland) for Britain Meets the Bay, gala event 1998: City of Berkeley Proclamation recognizing participation in Creative Explorations Day, Creative Growth artist design chosen for the national poster and materials 1998: Provided illustrations for Abnormal Psychology; a college textbook published by Allyn and Bacon, a Viacom Company; Boston, Tokyo, London 1998: Awarded major commission of a ceramic mural, with ceramics instructor Ann Weber, for housing development for disabled located in Palo Alto 1999 Published Metamorphosis: The Fiber Art of Judith Scott by renowned art scholar John MacGregor, Ph.D. with Mark Coleman, Mark Jones and photographs by Leon Borenzstein 1999 Irene Ward Brydon retires as Executive Director after 22 years with the organization 2000 Tom di Maria joins Creative Growth as Executive Director 2000 Year-long series of exhibitions at The News gallery (formerly Staff USA) in New York 2001 Judith Scott retrospective, Intuit, Chicago; Musée de L'Art Brut, Lausanne, Switzerland; Shiseido Foundation, Tokyo; Ricco-Maresca, New York 2001 As a result of these exhibitions, Evelyn Nieves, art reporter for the New York Times, publishes a front page feature story on outsider art 2001 Awarded California Arts Council Artist in Residence grant to launch photography program with artist Tina Wolfe 2001 Established Social Recreation program, in partnership with state of California, to provide arts studio programs for disabled adults who have school, jobs or other daytime commitments 2002 National Science Foundation provides funds for Tom di Maria to curate Judith Scott exhibition at San Francisco's Exploratorium 2002 Judith Scott featured on national CNN report with Rusty Dornin 2002 Creative Growth artwork featured on wine label of Orbis Winery's 2000 Carneros Chardonnay 2002 Judith Scott and Donald Mitchell included in permanent collection of Musée L'Art Brut 2002 National Alliance of Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD) hosts national conference arguing that artists with brain disorders should be regarded as integral members of art world 2002 Creative Growth rugs exhibited in the windows of Barney's department stores in New York and Los Angeles 2002 Southern Exposure in SF hosts Brut Love exhibition, organized by curator Reanne Estrada, featuring erotic art by artists w/disabilities. Exhibit receives media attention for challenging preconceived notions about the nature of sexuality in the disabled community. 2002 Roberta Smith, art critic for the New York Times, reviews near sold-out exhibition of Judith Scott's work at New York's Ricco-Maresca Gallery 2002 Judith Scott's work included in permanent collection of American Folk Art Museum 2002 National Endowment for the Arts awards Creative Growth a $15K grant to publish a book on Donald Mitchell edited by American Folk Art Museum curator Cheryl Rivers 2003 Hosts visiting artist from arts and disabilities center in Japan in preparation for Hot Sake exhibition, a cross-cultural collaboration of artists with disabilities from Japan, Creativity Explored San Francisco and Creative Growth Art Center, Oakland. 2003 Christie's auction house holds its first major sale of 20th century "outsider art" from the Robert Greenberg collection. More than $1.1 million in art was sold, the highest priced item going for $95,000. 2003 Visiting artist program, administrated with assistance from Leta Ramos, culminates in Partners exhibition featuring 25 Bay Area artists, working in media from photography to sculpture to video. Visiting artists have included Deborah Barrett, Mike Henderson, Lisa Kokin, Emmanuel Montoya, Manuel Neri, Alan Shep and many others. 2003 Hosted Fabulous Fabrics exhibition, featuring the work of artists from Studio Gukuen, a rehabilitation facility in Kagoshima Prefecture. Exhibition is sponsored by the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco and included in regional celebration to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Japan-US bilateral relations 2003 KQED features Creative Growth on their television arts magazine show Spark, a weekly series about art and artists in the Bay Area 2003 Spring 2003 issue of Raw Vision magazine features Creative Growth artist Donald Mitchell and refers to the organization as an extraordinary place, the gold standard of institutions of its kind 2003 Creative Growth artwork included in the permanent collection of INTUIT: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art in Chicago 2003 Client enrollment reaches an all-time high of 135 2004 Yerba Buena Art Center hosts exhibition of Leon Borenzstein's photography and CGAC artist work CONSULTATIONS: Local Organizations: Hospitality House, San Francisco; the Alameda County Mental Health Board, Oakland; ( NIAD, Richmond, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, Creativity Unlimited, San Jose, all three programs directly based on the Creative Growth model); MOCHA -Museum of Children's Art, Oakland; National Organizations: Becoming Independent, Santa Rosa, CA; Magic Valley Arts Council, Twin Falls, Idaho; National Organization of Mental Retardation Directors, New Orleans, LA; Little City, Chicago, IL; Children's Art Foundation, Los Angeles, CA; Nathan Lerner Foundation, Chicago, IL; The State Department of Mental Retardation and Mental Illness, Austin,Texas; Project Raise, Tuscon, Arizona; Western Carolina Center Foundation, Inc., Morganton, North Carolina; International Organizations: Tanpopop-No-Ye Foundation, Nera-city, Japan; The Human Renaissance Foundation, Tokyo, Japan; The Humanitarian Center Museum, Moscow, Russia; among others. MAJOR EXHIBITIONS: Opening Exhibition of the Wyoming Museum of Art; Department of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Arts Council, Miami, Florida; Department of Rehabilitation Offices, Pleasant Hill and Oakland, CA; Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco; San Jose Art League Gallery; San Jose, CA; Bristol-Myers Squibb World Headquarters Gallery, Princeton, New Jersey; California Crafts Museum, San Francisco, CA; Art en Marge, Brussels, Belgium; University of California, International House, Berkeley, CA; College of the Redwoods, Ukiah, CA; Hayward State University Gallery, Hayward, CA; McKesson Corp., San Francisco, CA; Pactel Corp., Walnut Creek, CA; Sistare, The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill; Office of the Mayor, City of Oakland, CA; Alameda County Board of Supervisors Oakland, CA; The Collection de l'Art Brut, Lausanne, Switzerland; slater/marinoff, Berkeley, CA; The Art Store, Berkeley, CA; Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago, IL; American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland; American Primitive Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia; Ricco-Maresca Gallery, New York City, NY; L'Aracine Art Brut Musée, Paris, France; among others. HISTORICAL STATISTICS: 25 YEARS 449,800 Pieces of art produced 100,000 Visitors from all over the world 1,600 Creative Growth gallery exhibitions 75,000 Gallery attendees, (8-9 exhibitions in-house, yearly) 80,000 Gallery attendees, (10 exhibitions in the community, yearly) 5,000 Attendees at 10 professional yearly art auctions, featuring local and internationally renowned artists (over 200 artist contributors) 2,520 Educational Tours - school children, college classes, foreign visitors, special tour groups such as: Museum of Folk Art, New York; Collectors Tour, Stanford Art Collectors Club, among others. 7,500 Attendees at educational slide presentations and lectures at outside venues all over the country 51,000 Classes in the arts and independent living for adults with disabilities