Keeping the Celebration Alive: A Profile of the Creative Spirit Art Centre by Don Barrie (originally appeared in the Fall 2001 edition of CILT In The Stream)

    You don't have to go to art school in order to become an artist. All you need is an appreciation for art and the "creative spirit."

    This is the philosophy behind the Creative Spirit Art Centre, an art studio for people with developmental, physical and emotional disabilities. It garnered more attention at Metro Hall (55 John Street) on October 2 when it shared its vision with the rest of the city -- and the province -- when it launched its membership with VSA Arts International, a non-profit organization that creates learning opportunities through the arts for people with disabilities. (VSA originally stood for "Very Special Arts," but was changed in 1999 to the more proactive "Vision, Strength, and Artistic Expression.")

    The woman behind CSAC and its "celebration" is Ellen Anderson. She is also the mother of a 31-year-old son and artist with cerebral palsy and a developmental disability.

    "As an Asian-born Canadian, I could empathize with the prejudices that Gabe was confronted with," she says. "I've been fighting for his rights all my life, especially when he was having trouble fitting in at school. I was always determined to have him be accepted by mainstream society. Being able to work at CSAC has helped him make friends and share his experiences with other artists with disabilities. It's important that people don't feel ghettoized and isolated."

    The idea for CSAC came to Anderson in 1991, while reading a magazine article about ceramics and rugs made by people with disabilities at the National Institute of Art and Disability in Berkeley, California (where the IL movement began). She then read that NIAD was to host its annual art conference in San Francisco and that all artists and art enthusiasts in the community were welcome.

    "Going to that conference motivated me to start my own organization for artists with disabilities,” she says. "I have always been able to get people together, and a friend of mine encouraged me to go ahead with my idea to start up an art centre for people with disabilities."

    Anderson received a start-up grant of $8000 from the Ontario Office of Disability Issues in 1992. "We met up with a Toronto group called Arts Carousel, and they helped us get the start-up grant," she says. "And Gabe and I were also able to get people outside of the community to provide us with furniture and studio space. Their generosity was tremendous."

    CSAC is the only art centre in Canada to provide a home and studio space for artists with disabilities. It is also the only public art gallery in Canada to keep an archive of videos and slides made by people with disabilities. And the majority of the artists at CSAC have not received formal art school training. 

    Joe Duffy and Meiko Ando are two artists and clients of CSAC. Duffy met Ando at CSAC in 1996, and they have been married since 1999. They appreciate the encouragement they have received from Anderson and CSAC over the years.

    "CSAC was the first place to help me promote and sell my work," Ando says. Duffy adds that he was majoring in art therapy at a former church on the Danforth prior to getting his art career started at CSAC. Ando is a dance major from the University of Waterloo (Class of '87). They have never studied at an art college.

    "For me, I was able to learn about art by watching the other artists at the studio," Duffy says. " When I started visiting CSAC I didn't know much about art. But Ellen was able to provide support and taught me some of the more technical aspects of art. CSAC has given me opportunities to get my work out there, and I seized them."

Merging

    The idea behind “Merging” is to advocate for inclusion and greater access to the mainstream arts community. It is also part of CSAC’s mission. "Merging" was proposed for the "Celebration" exhibit by Jan Swinburne, a CSAC client and Volunteer Art Facilitator.

    "No one in the arts community knows the barriers we encounter," Swinburne says. "Most artists with disabilities like myself are ineligible for grants and insurance coverage. Living on a fixed income makes it harder for us to host shows and to get our work sold."

    Anderson adds that unlike some other art centres, CSAC allows its clients to be comfortable with their disabilities. "We are there to encourage all our clients to participate in the community," she says. "There are so few resources for people with disabilities… it is difficult to be critical when there are not enough services for a population that is often denied equal access in society."

No Studio, No Home

    The Moving On TV series profiled CSAC during its first season in 1998. In the segment, it visited Anderson and the artists at their studio on 1071 Bathurst Street. It was a happy place, where paintings filled the walls while the artists joyfully went about their work. But on June 30, 2000, CSAC was forced to close its studio after the elderly landlady fell ill. After she got sick, the property was sold.

    "It was really bad when Ellen had to close the studio," Ando says. "We are all scattered around the city now. We are lost without a home."

    Lack of funding has always been a problem for CSAC, even when it did have a home. Since CSAC focuses on art rather than disability, this means that it is ineligible to receive funding from the federal and provincial levels of governments. It has also cost them funding from federal and provincial disability organizations.

    "We once applied for funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation," Anderson says, "but were denied because they didn't see us as an 'arts organization'.”

    The initial partnership with Arts Carousel got CSAC enough money to get started, but the funding basket stopped coming after 1995. Since then, CSAC has been forced to find other sources for funding. Disability organizations sometimes provide funding for art projects. For example, CSAC managed to get financial support from the Ontario March of Dimes in order to host the "Celebration" exhibit. It also receives occasional funding from the Toronto Arts Council. But CSAC’s homeless status is still cause for concern.

Surviving

    Despite the struggle for money and the long search for a new home, CSAC has been able to maintain its ground, even though it hasn't always been solid. Anderson is hopeful that CSAC is just going through a temporary setback, and that a home will be found soon.

    "I am proud that we have managed to exist for the last nine years without government funding," she says. "I believe that we have survived because there are people in the community who believe in what we do and support us," Anderson says. "It means that we are of value to the society in which we live. They care enough to make sure we survive."

    The Creative Spirit Art Centre is always looking for donations. If you would like to make a donation, or make an appointment with Ellen Anderson, please contact:

Creative Spirit Art Centre

122 Wells Street

Toronto, ON M5R 1P4

Phone: 416-588-8801 / Fax: 416-588-8966

Email: csac@creativespirit.on.ca