Living Museum Society
worldwideHost of the LIVING MUSEUM X OPEN INVITATIONAL in Basel, the Living Museum Society is a Switzerland-based non-profit organization fostering communities of care and creativity through inclusive art spaces for people with mental health challenges. Rooted in the Living Museum movement, which began in 1983 at the Psychiatric Center Queens in New York and was recognized by the WHO in 2016 as a pioneering model in community mental health, the Society supports the growth of open, accessible, and artist-centered spaces.
The first European Living Museum opened in 2002 in Wil SG Switzerland, followed by further locations in Switzerland, Germany, France, Spain and Austria. Built on strong participation by people with lived experience, an open studio principle, and low-threshold access, the network today spans 13 countries and 34 local initiatives, coordinated from Switzerland to strengthen and expand its international art movement.
Community Access Art Collective
New York - USACommunity Access Art Collective is a New York-based progressive studio program for artists with lived experience of mental health conditions who are committed to pursuing their artistic practice. As part of Community Access, the collective supports artists working across a wide range of media while cultivating a space of mutual support, experimentation, and professional development. Members work both independently and collaboratively, sharing responsibilities in the studio, contributing to workshops and public programs, and developing pathways for exhibiting and selling their work. The collective’s practice is grounded equally in artistic autonomy, peer exchange, and community-based cultural participation.
Creative Growth
OAKLAND, CA - USAFounded in Oakland in the early 1970s, Creative Growth is a pioneering nonprofit art center that advances the inclusion of artists with developmental disabilities within contemporary art. Through a supportive studio environment, gallery representation, and sustained professional development, the organization has played a landmark role in expanding how disability arts are recognized within the wider cultural field. Rooted in long-term artistic practice and community, Creative Growth has become an internationally influential model for progressive studio work, championing artists whose work circulates across exhibitions, collections, and public conversations alike.
Creahm
Fribourg - switzerlandCreahm Fribourg is a nonprofit studio in Fribourg that enables artists with disabilities to create and develop their own individual body of work within a sustained studio setting. Founded in 1998 by Fribourg artist Ivo Vonlanthen, it draws inspiration from a Belgian model initiated in the late 1970s by Luc Boulangé, an artist from Liège. The studio is led by professional artists who share their experience while supporting an artistic practice shaped by autonomy, experimentation, and singular expression.
Studio Route 29
frenchtown, NJ - USAStudio Route 29 is a progressive art studio and community space in Frenchtown, New Jersey, centered on the creative practices and perspectives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Its mission brings together studio practice, inclusion, and public engagement, championing artists within a vibrant and socially connected environment. Alongside its studio program, Studio Route 29 develops exhibitions and projects that connect its artists with broader audiences and contemporary art contexts. In doing so, it creates meaningful visibility for artists while fostering a culture of play, exchange, and creative belonging.
Progressive Art Studio Collective (PASC)
detroit, mI - USAProgressive Art Studio Collective (PASC) is the first progressive art studio and exhibition program in Detroit and Wayne County dedicated to supporting artists with developmental disabilities and mental health differences. Launched in 2021, PASC provides professional studio access, exhibition opportunities, and career-oriented support for artists building independent practices in art and design. Operating across studios in Detroit, Southgate, and Westland, PASC works with a large and growing community of artists each week. Its model is grounded in the ethos of the progressive studio movement: supporting artists in developing sustained, visible, and self-directed careers in contemporary art.
Tierra del Sol Gallery
LOS ANGELES - USATierra del Sol Gallery, based in West Hollywood, is part of the Tierra del Sol Foundation and is dedicated to empowering artists with developmental disabilities through professional careers in the arts. Through year-round exhibitions and public events, the gallery positions its artists within the wider creative community of Los Angeles and beyond. With a strong curatorial focus and an active exhibition program, Tierra del Sol Gallery creates a platform where artists gain sustained visibility and recognition while engaging audiences in a more expansive understanding of contemporary art and inclusion.
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