The Arc of the United States is an organization serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The organization was founded in the 1950s by parents of people with developmental disabilities. Since then, the organization has established state chapters in 39 states, and 730 local chapters in states across the country. The Arc of the United States is based in Washington, D.C.
Nemo Gould is an American artist and sculptor known widely for his kinetic found-object sculpture as well as two-dimensional graphic work. Much of his work presents whimsical aluminum and wooden robotic and sci-fi creatures of as-yet unnamed and threatening genus and species. He cites Clayton Bailey as an early and inspirational influence.
Nahum B. Zenil is a Mexican artist who often uses his own self-portrait as the principal model for a cultural critical interpretation of Mexico, especially concerning homosexuality and mestization. Zenil was born in 1947 in the state of Veracruz. In 1959, he enrolled at the Escuela Nacional de Maestros in Mexico City, from which he graduated in 1964. It was during this period in which Zenil became interested in painting. He later entered the Escuela Nacional de Pintura y Escultura in Mexico City in 1968. He is also one of the founding members of the Semana Cultural Gay, which occurs yearly at the Museo Universitario del Chopo. His art is often compared to that of Frida Kahlo, in which the self becomes the principal object of their paintings letting the viewer discover the artists as individuals as well as the broader social and cultural contexts in which they lived through the medium of self-portraiture.
Disability art or disability arts is any art, theatre, fine arts, film, writing, music or club that takes disability as its theme or whose context relates to disability.
Women Eco Artists Dialog (WEAD) is 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization focused on environmental and social justice art by female identified artists and researchers.
Weston Teruya is an Oakland-based visual artist and arts administrator. Teruya's paper sculptures, installations, and drawings reconfigure symbols forming unexpected meanings that tamper with social/political realities, speculating on issues of power, control, visibility, protection and, by contrast, privilege. With Michele Carlson and Nathan Watson, he is a member of the Related Tactics artists' collective and often exhibits under that name.
Val Britton is an American artist, best known for her works on paper and installations. She creates abstract collage works using paper and other mixed media that reference the language of maps, network diagrams and astronomical photography. She lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for 14 years, and as of 2018, she lives in Seattle, Washington.
Pae White is an American multimedia visual artist known for her unique portrayal of nature and mundane objects through her creations of suspended mobiles. She currently lives and works between Sonoma County and Los Angeles, California.
Jo Hanson (1918–2007) was an American environmental artist and activist. She lived in San Francisco, California. She was known for using urban trash to create works of art.
Terry Berlier is an artist and sculptor whose work addresses themes of the environment and queer practice. Her work incorporates kinetic and sound based media to address these themes.
Ramekon O'Arwisters is an African-American artist, best known for his fabric and social-art practice, Crochet Jam. He creates art using the folk-art tradition of rag-rug weaving. Ramekon's work has been exhibited in New York, North Carolina, Tokyo, Bologna, Miami Beach, and San Francisco. He is also the former curator of fine-art photography at SFO Museum.
Nance O'Banion (1949-2018) was an Oakland based American artist who "pioneered creative explorations of handmade paper". She is known for her sculptural paper works and book works which focus on themes of change and transformation. A retrospective sample of the arc of her work may be viewed at: https://nance-obanion.com
ArtSpan is a San Francisco, California, nonprofit organization that produces the oldest and largest artist open studios event in the United States. Started in 1975, ArtSpan's San Francisco Open Studios (SFOS) takes place over four weekends in October and November each year with a different city district highlighted each weekend. The Open Studios take place in a myriad of different locations within each district. Some are in art galleries, some in apartments, some in garages and some in store fronts. Local publications often make recommendations for each weekend. In 2018, over 800 local artists participated in SFOS.
Marlon Mullen is a painter who lives and works in Contra Costa County, California, maintaining a studio practice at NIAD Art Center.
NIAD Art Center, is a 501(c)(3) organization for artists with developmental and physical disabilities, founded in 1982 and based in Richmond, Contra Costa County, California. The organization provides studios, supplies, and gallery space.
Rodney Ewing is an African-American interdisciplinary visual artist. He lives in New York City as of 2022, and formerly lived in San Francisco, California.
Arts of Life, based in Chicago, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that provides studio space, supplies, professional development support, and exhibition opportunities to artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities. At the time of its founding in 2000, Arts of Life was the first program in Chicago to provide employment in the arts for adults with developmental disabilities. It has two studio and gallery locations that are each 6,000 square feet. The Chicago studio is located at 2010 West Carroll Avenue, in Chicago, Illinois and the North Shore studio is located at 1963 Johns Drive in Glenview, Illinois. The studio's artists work in various media, including painting, drawing, fibers, sculpture, music, and performance. As of 2021, the studio supports and provides services for over 60 artists.
Katherine Sherwood is an American artist living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area, California who is known for paintings that explore disability, feminism, and healing, and for her teaching and disability rights activism at the Department of Art Practice at the University of California, Berkeley.
Grace Rosario Perkins is a multidisciplinary artist whose works explore her the intersections of her Native American, queer and gender identities. She currently lives and works in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Although she is primarily a painter, Perkins also creates in other mediums, including video installations and masks. Perkins has been nominated for a San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA) Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary Art Award, a United States Arts Fellowship, a Tosa Studio Award, and a Liquitex Painter’s Residency. As well as her solo work, Perkins is a member of the Black Salt Collective.
Carrie Hott is an interdisciplinary artist, researcher, and educator based in Oakland, California. Hott’s multidisciplinary projects often take the form of multi-media installations that incorporate drawings, prints, books, sound, video or performance in sculptural settings.
