Step inside Hope Studios, the collaborative art studio located on International Airport Road in Anchorage, and chances are good you'll be greeted with a "Hey, pretty gorgeous!" from Kristine Whalen, one of the many artists who frequent the studio on a regular basis.
On any given day Hope Studios, part of Hope Community Resources, a statewide nonprofit that serves children and adults with disabilities, is alive with artistic activity. Each of the studio's artists have an intellectual or developmental disability—but within these walls, disability is no barrier to creativity.
A staffer helps a woman balance a canvas across her wheelchair, holding up pots of paint so she can use her hands to spread large swaths of color across its surface. Paint brushes are arranged in such a way to allow an artist with limited fine motor skills to grab them independently. While staff is on hand to set the artists up for success and offer suggestions when asked, the artists themselves take the lead on designing every piece of work completed in the studio.
"When you open the ability for people to express themselves creatively, magic happens," said Katie Johnston, Hope's development officer.
Fostering creativity and ingenuity
Hope Studios' goal is to provide artists with a space to express themselves through different mediums, whether drawing, painting, sewing or papier-mâché. The studio's collaborative approach means that an artist contributes his individual talent to a piece, and final ownership is shared by the group.
"We find where their talents lie and put it together in one big piece," said Jenny Moore, the studio's director of artistic expression. "The key is to keep your mind open to whatever they produce."
What the artists produce are whimsical pieces with a childlike feel that exude the sense of joy that permeates the studio.
Each piece begins with an original drawing. Some are painted or colored and used as the basis for t-shirts, mugs, pillows or bibs. Others are enlarged on a smart board, which allows woodworkers to make two-dimensional cutouts that they then sand and prime for painting; depending on size, these cutouts may become wall art, pencil holders or magnets. Painted canvases may be cut, and the pieces decoupaged onto the cutout as embellishments, such as the feathers of an owl or scales on a dragon.
The finished pieces are displayed and sold in the attached Hope Gallery and at First Friday events. Others are made part of permanent exhibits throughout the state, such as the newly renovated children's area at Loussac Library.
But providing an outlet for artistic expression is just one of the studio's functions. Equally important is the sense of community and friendship forged during the creative process, as well as the sense of pride that accompanies creating something of value.
Never would have happened without the studio
"What's been so brilliant about the studio is he's developed relationships with the other artists," said Michele Girault, senior deputy director at Hope and guardian of Duane Read, who paints at the studio. Despite having a job he enjoys with supportive employers—Duane currently works at Ling & Louie's, and was at Chili's before that—Duane was "pretty reticent around people and kind of shy," disliked being touched and rarely initiated interactions with others, she said.
But that changed once he began going to the studio. Now, she said, he happily greets his friends in public. His language has increased, he tells jokes and laughs more. He has even begun to initiate physical contact with others, whether a handshake or hugging, without prompting from Girault or her husband.
"That never would have happened without the studio," Girault said.
Johnston, who escapes her desk as often as she can to spend time with the artists in the studio, said she believes it is the way staff and artists interact that helps draw the artists out.
"People talk to people in the studio, and they involve them in conversations about themselves, about what they want to do, and what they're doing," she said. "They don't just talk about them. That was a concept I never understood until working here."
Girault agreed.
"You walk into the studio and there's just a sense of happiness, and laughter, and people that care about each other," she said. "It's a community within a community that he feels a part of. The artists are his peers."
For many, being part of a group that accepted them for who they were is something new. Bullied as a child by family and friends, Whalen said she never felt like part of a group. But at the studio, she feels "part of the people" and enjoys creating with her fellow artists.
"It's our art," she said. "Not my art, or her art, or his art. It's everybody's art."
Creating a feeling of worth
For painter Chuck Mears, the studio has given him a renewed sense of purpose and self-worth in the face of diminishing skills. Chuck suffers from a degenerative disease that has caused his muscles to slowly waste away, robbing him of the ability to walk and speak, said Kelley Clouser, who has known Chuck for 18 years and currently lives with him.
"When he started to lose his dexterity and he couldn't hold his pencils, he was so angry he even stopped going to church," Clouser said. "For him that's really big—he believes that if you didn't go to church, you wouldn't go to heaven."
But since he began attending the studio, she said his feelings of value have returned. Staff helped modify the paint brushes, making it easier for him to handle them, and gave him blank canvases to paint, to help minimize his frustration at being unable to remain inside the lines. Clouser said the pride Chuck now takes in his work, and the joy it brings him, moves her to tears.
"He is so proud of his artwork," she said. "He'll start crying, that's how happy he is when he finishes something. Or if somebody recognizes (his work), he'll just start bawling out of joy."
The brilliance of the studio, Girault said, isn't necessarily the artistic aspect, but rather the outright joy and sense of belonging the studio creates for its artists.
"When you have shared relationships with other people, it brings out the best in you," she said. "And that's what the studio has done for Duane. At the end of the day, he has joy. And that's a pretty good life, I think."
Hope Studios Gallery is located at 650 W. International Airport Road. The gallery is open Monday - Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
This article appeared in the Fall 2015 issue of 61°North. Contact 61° editor Jamie Gonzales at jgonzales@alaskadispatch.com.