\ History
Creativity Explored was founded in the San Francisco Mission District in 1983.
CE artists Ruthie Freeland, Eddie Hippley, Michelle Kunard, and Vernon Streeter (counter clockwise from top left)
Our Legacy
Creativity Explored was founded on a belief that art is essential to life. We exist to provide developmentally disabled people access to the human right of creative expression.
Creativity Explored was founded in San Francisco in 1983 by Florence and Elias Katz, an artist and a psychologist. Sparked by the nationwide deinstitutionalization of disabled people, the duo launched a movement that expanded defined notions of artistry when they founded three Bay Area organizations – Creativity Explored, Creative Growth, and NIAD (Nurturing Independence through Artistic Development).
Our organizations honor the Katzs’ legacy in the Bay Area by continuing to collaborate, co-curate exhibitions, and share resources. Together our programs serve as a model for the field of art and disability worldwide.
Elias and Florence Katz at an exhibition in the 1980s.
Melody Lima, CE’s first studio artist, is still enrolled in our program over 30 years later.
“I remember when I first started – that was back in 1983. There was no one here, it was so small, and I kept asking, ‘When are there going to be more students?’ And slowly people started coming one by one. People can't believe it when I tell them I was the very first student. And I love going to the openings and talking to people about how big we got and showing them my artwork.
One woman calls me ‘Number One.’”
— Melody Lima, CE artist since 1983
Our Impact
Creativity Explored now serves 130 artists and has facilitated the careers of hundreds of disabled artists. Creativity Explored artists have seen their work exhibited in museums, galleries, and art fairs in over 14 countries and have earned over $2 million from their art.
Our life-changing programs continue to open doors of inclusion to center the personhood and creative vision of people with developmental disabilities. Most importantly, Creativity Explored is a source of community, empowerment and dignity.
CE artists Sara O’Sullivan, Loren King and Peter Cordova in the mid-1990s
“This is a center that does miraculous things. We're here to change lives in the Bay Area. We're here to let people know we're somebody. I take my art seriously, though. It's an expression of who I am and I am glad to share it with people who come here.”
— Vincent Jackson, CE artist since 1984
Our Future
At Creativity Explored, we believe in a future society with an enlightened understanding of its relationship with neurodiverse people—one that has evolved from one-way support to mutually-enriching growth.
We see a society strengthened by an authentic appreciation of all people’s creative contributions.
In times of great transition, we continue to center the personhood and agency of our artists in all our efforts, asking, “What is important to you?” We will continue to innovate to provide safe and virtual services that enrich the lives of our artists, their families and supporters, on their terms.
Our dedicated staff, board, and volunteers are also expanding our commitment to racial justice and disability advocacy by amplifying the voices of studio artists of color and artists who are immigrants. We are proud to create space for our artists and staff to learn about and honor diversity by examining and celebrating the intersections of disability, race, ethnicity, class, gender, and other facets of our identities. Art changes lives!
Answer the call and join our community!
CE artist Pat Shepard and teaching artist Leigh Anne Hilbert take a call in front of the studio some time in the 1990s
Selected as San Francisco Legacy Business in 2018
SF Bay Guardian’s
Best Nonprofit and Art Gallery 2020, 2021
Inducted into the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 100 in 2018