CREATIVE CLAY 2020 ANNUAL REPORT
Creative Clay’s mission is to help people with disabilities achieve full and inclusive lives through access to the arts by providing expressive, educational and vocational experiences.
GOOD FOLK LIKE YOU MAKE CREATIVE CLAY GREAT
YOU ARE TRANSFORMING LIVES… “Aaron feels happy when he is painting and will often smile and laugh through the whole process” - Christiane Vinet, Aaron’s Mom Aaron has been attending the Pinellas County Schools Extended Transition Program at Creative Clay for two years now and I could not be more proud of him! He has an incredible talent, and his passion for the arts is apparent in every piece he creates. I am not surprised that his painting of the Skyway Bridge was selected for the First Night St. Pete event’s poster and collectable button. Tropicana Field by Aaron F.
Aaron has autism and has limited verbal communication skills, but he does not let that stop him from relaying his messages through his artwork. He LOVES Disney, iconic buildings, landscapes, and birds, so you will often see these as the topic of his paintings. I love that our program allows students to express themselves in unconventional ways, as well as provide an opportunity to learn job transferrable skills that will benefit them in all their future endeavors. I have witnessed firsthand year after year how the arts transform these students into confident, motivated, independent, and successful adults who are ready to make their mark on the world! I am honored to be a stop along the way to so many bright and promising futures. Amanda Drewes
Cory, Britanny & Aaron at Ferg’s
ESE Teacher - Extended Transition - Creative Clay
St. Pete Pier by Aaron F.
TRANSITION serves eight young adults with disabilities daily, age 1822. Funded by The Pinellas County School Board and J. Crayton Pruitt Foundation. 2020 is the partnership’s 12th year.
YOU ARE CREATING POWERFUL CONNECTIONS... “One thing I love about teaching at creative Clay is the connections I’ve made with our incredible artists. The enthusiasm they have for creativity and self-expression is infectious, and it makes me a better teacher and a better artist.” - Coral Walden Coral Walden was introduced to Creative Clay through her Human Development and Art studies at Eckerd College, where she toured Creative Clay in her Experiencing the Arts class. When selecting a site for her Human Development internship she remembered Creative Clay and chose to intern with us. After a highly productive internship, she was hired to teach and has been teaching with Creative Clay since the Fall of 2019. Most recently she has been teaching two classes virtually through our Creative Clay Connects program which was started to keep everyone active and engaged during the shutdowns that ensued as a precaution during the Covid-19 pandemic. Besides the occasional technical issue with Zoom, Coral says that one of the biggest challenges of teaching Creative Clay Connects virtual classes is “coming up with lessons that will equally engage ten people of varying interests and abilities for the full length of a twohour class.” She thinks the best part of teaching virtually is the ability to keep the artists connected with each other. Coral says “(She) enjoys having a smaller group of artists who she can spend time with and get to know better. Plus, the necessity of having more structured lesson plans has also helped some artists step out of their comfort zones and learn new techniques.” Mari is one member artist that stands out to Coral. “She regularly draws on her own time, often sketching places in Saint Pete. She applies lessons, and practices the techniques she learns in her work throughout the week,” Coral says. For example, she drew a picture of the St. Pete Pier using one point perspective, which she had learned in a class weeks earlier. Besides her maturation in the visual arts, Mari even showcased her flute playing skills for the rest of the class. The growth Coral has seen from the Creative Clay Member Artists in the last year has been astonishing. Coral has been a witness to some amazing breakthroughs made this year. One moment she recalls is when Sara S. asked to help lead the class for a St Patrick’s Day project! Coral said “Sara showed the class pictures of Ireland, told us about Saint Patrick’s Day traditions, and then led the class in several step-by-step Saint Patrick’s Day drawings.” It was clear Sara had prepared a lesson and practiced to teach the class. Coral said “One of Sara's goals is to work on her acting and speaking so this was an exciting success.” Coral is mission driven and hopes that the lessons and growth that each artist has experienced throughout the last year will help turn the studio at Creative Clay into a powerful space where the artists will share what they’ve learned with each other, creating a collection of artists that will take Creative Clay’s art to the next level. Coral intends to continue presenting the work of new and different artists, new techniques, and new skills to the artists in an effort to establish a mutually inspiring connection.
CREATIVE CLAY VOLUNTEERS logged 390 hours this year. THE GOOD FOLK SOCIETY has grown to 52 members.
YOU ARE PROMOTING INCLUSION... Inclusion is one of the main attributes of the mission here at Creative Clay where we believe everyone should have access to amazing opportunities. The Artists at Creative Clay wouldn’t let a worldwide pandemic slow them down. They continued working from home and beautiful opportunities to work with others arose. In May, just a couple months after we all headed home to work, Creative Clay Connects was born. Through donations and grants (FROM...) art kits were purchased and distributed to our artists all around the county. It was right about then that “Raymond James” and Sheila Cowley reached out with projects they had conceived to engage with the artists at Creative Clay and provide outlets for them to make some engaging creative work. Sheila first idea was to create a teleplay based on the artists’ favorite words. Each artist came up with a word they liked and made a drawing associated with the word, took a picture and sent it to her. She compiled all of the images and words and created a story called “Wordy”, that took us all on a wild ride through space, complete with a script, costumes and professional acting performed via Zoom. Soon after that the (people from Ray Jay) reached out to see if the artists would be interested in another interesting project. They wanted to surprise all of their employees with a portrait, so the artists were given the opportunity to draw portraits from source photos that were provided to them. (Ray Jay) wanted (150) done and the artists of Creative Clay delivered, capturing the eye of every employee as they were (given) them. Each artist was paid for their work and some ended up with some pretty big checks for all of their hard work. Working with Sheila was far from over. She came back with the manuscript for a children’s book adapted from a radio play she had written based on some of the words from “Wordy”. The idea she presented was for Creative Clay’s member artists to illustrate the book. It was called Splish-Splash and of course the artists were enthralled with the concept. They loved coming up with the art for the book. In-Fact, they had so much fun, Sheila conceptualized another teleplay that the artists created work for called “Rampant” about an explorer who travels the world in various aircrafts looking for her long lost mother. Keep your eyes out for further developments on this creative partnership. Being included in the community and in the plans and ideas of these amazing people helped us all grow while others may have been idle. We can’t wait to be a part of so many more projects as they spring up when we are able to come face to face with our ever-expanding supportive community.
ART AROUND THE WORLD SUMMER CAMP serves youth of all abilities each day during eight weeks of summer. Funded by Creative Pinellas, Publix Charitable Foundation, St. Petersburg Arts Alliance, and the Rotary Club of St. Petersburg.
YOU ARE BUILDING COMMUNITY... “I love the fun, creative and artsy atmosphere and the staff and students are wonderful to work with.” - Julie Price Julie Price came across Creative Clay while visiting St. Pete with her mother. After seeing what an interesting and awesome place it was, Julie decided to become a volunteer where she loved helping out the Teaching Artists and working closely with the Member Artists. Her enthusiasm was apparent and It wasn’t long before she was asked to be a Teaching Artist herself and of course, she said “yes”. She has been a Creative Clay Teaching Artist for more than 12 years now. When it came to teaching online for Creative Clay Connects this year, Julie realized that nobody was really familiar with using Zoom, so there was a bit of a learning curve to overcome. Julie says “That has been the biggest challenge. Now that we all know what we are doing things are running smoothly and the class is quite enjoyable for everyone.” Julie’s favorite thing about teaching virtually is that she can highlight one particular Member Artist and focus all attention on them. This gives each individual a chance to shine by sharing their thoughts and artwork with the group. “I think being able to give this kind of focused attention makes each one of them feel included and special” She says. “The artists are so happy to see each other during their Creative Clay Connects classes, as most of them were used to spending quite a bit of time, almost daily, with their friends before Covid hit. They definitely miss their friends.” She continues. The artists in Julie’s class love to stay connected to the community by working on interesting projects especially the ones initiated by people like Sara Norine, with her St. Pete Postcard Project. All of the Member Artists received a postcard and stamp, illustrated their own postcard and mailed it back in the old-fashioned way. The finished pieces were exhibited alongside hundreds of others, visible through the windows of various participating galleries throughout the city, during the early months of the pandemic. The artists also enjoyed helping Sheila Cowley with her teleplay Wordy and a children’s book project called Splish-Splash that is still in the works. A major breakthrough that Julie still appreciates each Monday, is that one of her students, Member Artist Forest L., who rarely vocalized, spoke out loud to all of his friends in the class. He still speaks to Julie during class, and shares his week with his friends. Julie says “I was quite surprised to hear him talk and happy that the Zoom format seems to make him more comfortable about doing so.” Keeping a solid connection to Creative Clay’s artists, while we are all away from the studio, is very important to Julie. She cannot wait to watch Creative Clay’s Member Artists grow and breakdown barriers as we all begin our return to normal.
COMMUNITY ARTS serves 47 Adults with disabilities each week. Funded by Medicaid Waiver, City of St. Petersburg, Florida Division of Cultural Affairs Culture Builds Florida, Duke Energy, Pinellas Community Foundation. CREATIVE CLAY employs 26 professional artists.
YOU ARE ASSURING A FUTURE ACCESSIBLE FOR ALL...
REVENUE & EXPENSES
EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS Good Folk Gallery Exhibitions at Creative Clay Elegant Expressions, featuring the artwork of Shasta Gordon Folk Artist Missionary Mary Proctor (cancelled) All Human Life is Like a Flower, featuring Linda M. Ship at Bay, featuring Marquise R. Pink Lemonade, featuring Creative Clay Artists Mustaches & Mark Making, featuring Michael R. Beautiful People and Tall Buildings, featuring Lindsay J. Fashion & Karate Passion, featuring Hanna V. Personal Connections, featuring Chris C. Watch Out, featuring Ray M. JOY! featuring Creative Clay Artists Art Markets Presented by Transition Students First Friday Art Market-October First Friday Art Market-November First Friday Holiday Art Market Workshops Missionary Mary Proctor Folk Art Workshop (cancelled) Horst Mueller Art Workshop (cancelled)
*Operational expenses remained similar, though programming revenue was down 43% because of Covid.
ADDITIONAL PROGRAMS
Population Served: Teens to young adults with disabilities Individuals Served: Six per day Partial Funding by: St. Petersburg Arts Alliance Highlight: 60% of the attendees receive full scholarship
Population Served: Children and adults of all abilities Individuals Served: 240 per year Funded by: Collaborative Partners Highlight: Outreach provides services to Goodwill, CASA, Menorah Manor, and Sabal Palms
Population Served: Adults with Disabilities Individuals Served: Five per week Funded by: Donors like you Highlight: All participants receive full scholarship
Off-site Exhibitions Summertime at the Mirella Cimato Gallery at the St. Petersburg Opera Company Cordially Invited III – Make Studio Baltimore, MD Creative Clay Special Events Creative Clay's 25th Anniversary Celebration Creative Giving: Virtual Holiday Shoppe and Silent Auction Art in Offices Anderson McQueen GoZone WIFI Homeowners Financial Group Infant Family Center at USF St. Pete Modern Business Associates Goodrich Wealth Planning of Raymond James Representative Ben Diamond The Penny Hoarder
SUSTAINING SUPPORTERS
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! Donors of $500 + Cindy Broyles • Coast Brothers • Courtyard Marriott David Ramsdell & Kevin Long • Jennifer Lovelady Anonymous • John Collins • Anonymous • Jung In Kang & Thomas Harrington • Kramer Family Fund Maryellen Mariani • Melanie & John Jackson Menna Development and Management Inc. Michael and Gina White Family Foundation • Kim & Tim Church • Sally Cash • Shannon Miller-Lutz Good Folk Society Members Allison Kimball • Amanda Maloney • Amanda Reed • Anne Q. Pollack • Anthony Ateek • Audrey McConnell • Barbara Voglewede • Becky Geanaros Bobbie & Don Dohrman • Bryce Hudson Chanda Lawdermilk • Deb Heiss • Diohn Brancaleoni • Eleanor Finehout • Emanuel “Manny” Rosario • Erin O'neill • Hassan Moussa James Hoffman • Jane & Chris Fontaine • Jane Holloway • Jacqulyn Schuett • Jill Marie Gilda Jocelyn Lister • Jose Lugaro • Karen Helsinger Kathleen Barry • Ken Huelhorst Kim Dohrman • Kim & Tim Church • Krystle Pinzker Kyle Hickey • Linda Hubner • Lucinda & Howard Johnston • Mamie & Scott Asbury • Melanie & John Jackson • Michael Sedita • Mina Sinai • Natalie Fisher • Patti Lavoy Page Garrison • Paul Williams • Richard Cortese Robyn Rusignuolo • Sally Cash Sarah Ateek • Sean Kennedy • Sean McConnell Tammy & Dan Boldt Therese Johnson • Willi Rudowsky & Hal Freedman Yoko Nogami Grantors/Partners Anonymous • Carl & Phyllis Dalton Family Foundation, Inc.• Catalina Charitable Foundation City of St. Petersburg • Community Foundation of Tampa Bay • Creative Pinellas • J. Crayton Pruitt Foundation • National Endowment for the Arts Pinellas Community Foundation Pinellas County School Board • Pinellas Realtor Foundation, Inc. Publix Super Markets Charities • St. Petersburg Arts Alliance • White Family Foundation
Looking Forward A renaissance of personal growth and creation is ahead of us at Creative Clay. As we shake off the dust of 2020, we look forward to a year of completing awesome projects and engaging in more long-lasting partnerships. If you’d like to be a part of what we’re doing, we welcome you.
A Children’s Book & Video Series Creative partner and local playwright Sheila Cowley teamed up with Creative Clay artists to illustrate her children’s book called Splish-Splash about a wild sailing adventure. Keep your eyes out for more on this project. The Fairgrounds Art Exhibition The creators and minds behind our city’s new escape from reality, Fairgrounds St. Pete, are committed to bringing play, inclusivity, community dialog and storytelling to all who venture their way. In keeping with their mission Liz Dimitt, Olivia Mansion, Chris Nobels, and John-Michael Hines visited Creative Clay to select art work to exhibit in their Community Room for their debut temporary exhibit, coming soon. Visit Fairgrounds St. Pete in the Warehouse Arts District and see inclusion at work. Creative Clay looks forward to a renaissance this year Creative Clay works hard to ensure that individuals with disabilities are given an equal opportunity to be themselves, express themselves, and participate in the art community that makes our city great. The Artists are returning this year with creative vigor that will take us to new heights.
Business and Individual Sponsors Big Sea • Cushman & Wakefield • Duke Energy Dee & Sal Perconti • Fletcher Fischer Pollack P.A. Florida Tax Advisors, LLC • Hal Freedman & Willi Please give to Creative Clay and celebrate Equality Through Rudowsky • Modern Business Associates • Seacoast Art. Join the Creative Clay family today! Bank • Space Machine & Engineering Corp. Susan Jones Steele & Mario Farias Volunteer, sponsor or donate. Go to www.creativeclay.org
CREATIVE CLAY 1846 First Avenue South, St. Petersburg, Florida 33712 www.creativeclay.org • phone: 727-825-0515