email ⟡  social

FILTER:ALL, CURATORIAL, DESIGN, PHOTO EDITING, PHOTO RESEARCH, PRODUCTION, TEXT EDITING   
full portfolio availble on request!

How a Revered Studio for Artists with Disabilities Is Surviving at a Distance

Creative Growth, in Oakland, is facing an extreme version of the dilemmas that other arts and educational institutions have struggled with during the coronavirus pandemic.
Photographer: Carlos Chavarría
Publisher: The New Yorker
Format: Digital
Date: 2020/09/17

article link
photo editing, production
Zina Hall, a textile artist, has worked at Creative Growth for fourteen years. “Just sew,” Hall said. “That’s what I do.” Photograph by Carlos Chavarría for The New Yorker
Amy Keefer, a textiles-studio instructor, is one of many at Creative Growth who began delivering supplies to artists during the pandemic. Photograph by Carlos Chavarría for The New Yorker
Depending on where your eye alights, the studio evokes a blue-chip gallery, a secret laboratory, or a garage sale. Photograph by Carlos Chavarría for The New Yorker
“The uncertainty is the most challenging thing right now,” Elizabeth Brodersen, Creative Growth’s executive director, said. “How do we come together to support the artists and each other through this next year?” Photograph by Carlos Chavarría for The New Yorker
In the studio’s capacious, open space—closed since March—garland lights arc across the ceiling, over high shelves laden with colorful supplies. Photograph by Carlos Chavarría for The New Yorker
John Martin, an artist who has practiced at Creative Growth since 1987, took to working outdoors near the studio as the pandemic wore on. Photograph by Carlos Chavarría for The New Yorker
“Since the age of twenty—I’m twenty-seven now—I’ve been my mom’s sole caretaker,” Myeisha Williams, Zina Hall’s daughter, said. “And being able to learn from her more, and just getting to know her better and experiencing her more has been nothing short of a joy for me.” Photograph by Carlos Chavarría for The New Yorker

⇡ BACK TO TOP ⇡