A new program helping people with disabilities hone their art skills will be put on display at Old Town’s B.E.S.T. Gift Shop tomorrow (Friday).
The boutique, run by nonprofit ServiceSource at the B.E.S.T. Gift Shop (919 King Street), will hold an end-of-residency art show from 1-3 p.m. The exhibition showcases work by George Mason University graduate student Francesca “Franki” Campos and Arts & Abilities program participants.
Joel Pace, a senior program manager at ServiceSource, told ALXnow the Arts & Abilities program helps up to 15 people with significant disabilities develop their art skills. ServiceSource partnered with George Mason University School of Art assistant director Robert Yi to bring in students as resident artists.
Friday’s art show will showcase a variety of artwork, from paintings to woven bags and jewelry.
“[Attendees] can expect to see some really amazing hidden talents within the community and from a group of people that they may not have been exposed to before,” Pace said. “They can really kind of see the professionalism behind what they’re doing, as opposed to just a bunch of people sitting around making things that aren’t quality items.”
The artist-in-residence teaches art classes over 15 weeks in their preferred medium. Campos was the first artist-in-residence for Arts & Abilities and is ending her 15-week run. Pace is onboarding another GMU student as well as a local artist into the program.
Pace says the artists get to work with a community they otherwise might not have, while participants can learn more about their educational options at George Mason University and find purpose through art.
“Seeing the look on their face when they sell something in our gift shop, and that check comes in the next couple of weeks, it’s really an amazing thing to watch,” Pace said. “Employment for adults with disabilities is difficult enough, so we wanted to take a really proactive and different angle of self employment. We’ve seen a lot of people who didn’t really think that they had employment options now really just energized and saying, ‘hey, you know what? I can be self employed. I can create my own things, and I can LLC myself.'”
Some items created through the program are sold in the B.E.S.T. Gift Shop, a boutique dedicated to products made by people with disabilities. The creators get 100% of proceeds from sales, and ServiceSource absorbs the cost of taxes.
The Arts & Abilities program is run in the back of the B.E.S.T. Gift Shop, where shoppers can observe the program through glass doors. ServiceSource also exploring rotating the end-of-residency art shows between the B.E.S.T. Gift Shop and GMU.
“The cool thing about this program is that we’re really opening it up to more opportunities for community integration, the community to come to us, such as this art show, and then with the gift shop too,” Pace said. “We’re going to be doing sidewalk sales and really just integrating the people that we support into our community.”
According to Pace, adults 22 and older with diagnosed disabilities are typically referred to ServiceSource from local community service boards. Aside from the Arts & Abilities program and B.E.S.T. Gift Shop, ServiceSource’s Alexandria location runs a job skill development program around the corner at 919 Prince Street. The nonprofit partners with local employers to help participants gain hands-on job experience, earn money and learn skills like interviewing and resume writing.
