OUR MISSION
Art Enables is an art gallery and vocational arts program dedicated to creating opportunities for artists with disabilities to make, market, and earn income from their original and compelling artwork.
In addition to earning income from art sales, artists build the skills, relationships, and experience necessary for a successful career in the arts. We offer our artists the creative space, materials, and marketing support they need to develop and succeed as professionals.
Established in 2001, Art Enables believes that artists with disabilities are vital to a robust arts landscape and should be afforded the opportunity to pursue art as a vocation and career. Art Enables works with artists who experience a broad range of developmental and cognitive disabilities and mental health challenges, including autism, Down syndrome, traumatic brain injury, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder, among others.
Art Enables’ artists are largely self-taught and tell powerful stories through their artwork.
OUR APPROACH
Our programmatic activity focuses on providing artists with a diverse set of opportunities that allow them to develop as artists and gain experiences important for all growing professionals. We achieve this through the following three ways:
Studio Art Program
The Studio Art Program is at the center of our work, through which our artists experiment, develop, and create their artwork in a supported and professional studio environment.
Exhibitions & Gallery Program
Through our Exhibitions & Gallery Program, we showcase and promote our artists through large group, small group, and individual exhibitions both onsite in our galleries and through offsite shows at local, national, and international venues.
Community Arts Program
Our Community Arts Program is focused on creating opportunities for the general public and local area artists to join our artists in the art-making process through community-based workshops, joint art projects, events, and exhibitions.
Art Enables programs are supported in part by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities.