A collaborative collage created by participants of the Mail Art Club
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The Mail Art Club 2.0, a group exhibition curated by Michael Napper and Cheryl Ward, features three years of mail art from the Mail Art Club, a collaborative project involving artists with disabilities at CE.
Thanks to a sponsorship from Minnesota Street Project Foundation, and in celebration of our 40th anniversary, The Mail Art Club 2.0 will be on view March 4 to March 25, 2023 at Minnesota Street Project in Gallery 211.
The Mail Art Club 2.0 expands on our inaugural mail art show in March 2022, and features nearly three years of mail art created and exchanged by CE artists and participants when the studio art program went remote in March 2020.
“My favorite is the mail art class. I like it. I do a postcard and a drawing. I add a stamp and then I sign the paper. I send it to friends at the program and the director.”
When the pandemic hit in 2020, there was great concern about how artists with developmental disabilities at CE would maintain a sense of community, as well as their art practices. The organization quickly adapted to support the artists with customized art kit deliveries and a suite of virtual classes. One such class was the Mail Art Club, started by teaching artist and show co-curator Michael Napper and Judith LaRosa.
Sending art in the mail quickly became an essential and reliable means for the community to connect, no matter one’s abilities or internet access. Many artists at CE who struggle with using technology or verbal language needed a different way to connect, communicate, and make art. Younger artists, in particular, gravitated towards the Mail Art Club, finding meaning and purpose in the handmade. Soon, artists and mail enthusiasts across the country got word of the Mail Art Club, and the group expanded to include members of the San Francisco Correspondence Cooperative, as well as artists with disabilities from other centers like CE.
“There’s something magical about getting something in the mail, which many of our younger artists in the ‘e-mail generation’ discovered for the first time. The possibility of getting an original artwork that you could put up on your wall or bulletin board – it’s a little gift that one can give and get.”
CE artist, Joseph “JD” Green was the first artist Napper contacted for the Mail Art Club. Green’s riveting and talented mail art — from moody portraits to hand lettering — is a stand-out of the show. “It just goes on and on with JD,” says Napper. Through the mail, Green collaborated with Charles Kremenak from the San Francisco Correspondence Cooperative to create a collage based on their shared interest in comic books and superheroes.
Today, the Mail Art Club continues weekly on Zoom. The group takes turns sharing what they have received in the mail from each other and what they are working on. Yukari Sakura mails paintings and drawings influenced by her deep knowledge of animation and fantasy worlds, from My Little Pony to Harry Potter to Pokémon. The prolific Ada Chow creates geometric works of mail art that hearken back to a more primitive visual style. Even though the CE studios are now open, many artists still choose to only engage in virtual programs, providing a lifeline and creative outlet to those who continue to create from home.
“The Minnesota Street Project Foundation is thrilled to partner with Creativity Explored. We proudly support the important work they do to offer life-changing programs to center the personhood and creative vision of people with developmental disabilities.”
Exhibition Programming
Opening Day
Saturday, March 4, 2023
11:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Minnesota Street Project, Gallery 211
Join Creativity Explored and Minnesota Street Project to celebrate the long-standing tradition of mail art at The Mail Art Club 2.0. The exhibition will open on March 4, coinciding with First Saturdays, where art galleries in the Dogpatch present special opportunities for the public to connect with artists and exhibitions. CE artists will be in attendance from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM.
Mail Art-Making Workshop
**RESCHEDULED FROM 3/11**
Saturday, March 25, 2023
1:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Minnesota Street Project, Atrium
Join Creativity Explored and Minnesota Street Project for a family-friendly mail art-making workshop, in the spirit of the Mail Art Club! The workshop is all ages and materials will be provided.
Inspire artful correspondence
Pick up The Mail Art Club Postcard Set at the CE gallery or online. Proceeds benefit Creativity Explored and artists directly.
Get the Mail Art Club catalog
The Mail Art Club Catalog includes 64 pages of high-quality images of artwork from the exhibition. Copies are available for purchase at the gallery or via Blurb.
