This weekend, California’s Oakland Museum will host the annual Beyond Trend Fashion Extravaganza, an annual can’t-miss event where more than 75 artists working with the nonprofit Creative Growth model design original designs.
Creative Growth was founded in 1974 in the East Bay home of Elias and Florence Katz, who wanted to form an organization that would provide arts resources for people with disabilities. More than 140 artists use Creative Growth Studios to create works in a variety of media, including ceramics, painting, drawing, and digital arts. Professional artists provide support and guidance in the 12,000-square-foot studios that previously housed an auto repair shop.
The Beyond Trend fashion show started out as a one-off event, but has grown into an annual showcase for artists. In an exclusive interview with Art21 filmed in 2019, Creative Growth external relations director Tom Di Maria spoke about the impact of the event, which for many artists features work that has been years in the making.
“They are usually visual artists. They work at a table and their work goes on a wall,” says Di María. “But when they get to express themselves physically and use their art, they become performance artists. It really adds this other dimension. It becomes this great celebration of artistic creation.”
An artist, Daniel Gardiner, shows off his “first skirted dress,” a red and black velvet number that he plans to wear to the fashion show. “Although I have cerebral palsy and [am] also legally blind, I don’t let that stop me,” he tells Art21. “So any of you in the audience who are listening to this, even if you’re legally blind, if you’re deaf, if I can make art, with all my disabilities, nothing should stop you.”
Watch the video, which originally appeared as part of Art21’s Extended Play series, below. More information about “Beyond Trend” and Creative Growth is available online.
This is an installment of “Art on Video”, a collaboration between Artnet News and Art21 that brings you clips from artists who create news. A new season of the non-profit organization Art21’s flagship series Art in the Twenty-First Century is now available on PBS. See all episodes of other series, such as New York Close Up and Extended Play, and learn about the organization’s educational programs at Art21.org.
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Source: news.artnet.com