The Mail Art Club Curator Walkthrough | Creativity Explored

Join The Mail Art Club exhibition co-curators Michael Napper and Cheryl Ward for a gallery walkthrough of the show. The duo explain the origins of The Mail Art Club at Creativity Explored and how the practice has kept the community of neurodiverse and disabled artists connected and creative during the pandemic.

The Mail Art Club exhibition at the Creativity Explored gallery is on view April 8 through June 11, 2022.

About the exhibition
At the beginning of the pandemic when in-person programs were on hiatus, Creativity Explored artists began to exchange handmade postcards via the U.S. mail to stay connected. This experimental exchange of art and ideas took place virtually via a new virtual class started by Teaching Artist Michael Napper. Over the past two years, CE artists, teaching artists, staff and volunteers created and mailed hundreds of postcard-sized artworks to one another.

On view at Creativity Explored April 8 through June 11, 2022, The Mail Art Club exhibition showcases dozens of original drawings, collaborative multimedia collages, and text-based work mailed and exchanged between participants of the ongoing class.

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Untitled by James Nielsen, 2020, multimedia postcard, 4.75 x 5.5 inches

Co-curated by Michael Napper and CE board member Cheryl Ward with assistance from teaching artist Judith LaRosa and volunteer Sylvie Carnot, the exhibition focused on artworks by a core group of artists who regularly attend the class: Ada Chow, Joseph "JD" Green, James Nielsen, Joseph Omolayole, Yukari Sakura, Amani Swalim, and Miyuki Tsurukawa.

Many artworks feature collaborations amongst artists, teaching artists, and volunteers, that took place over weeks or months, traveling from mailbox to mailbox with new art and stamps added by each recipient. The gallery installation also highlights the diversity of media and personalized exchanges of these one-of-a-kind pandemic artifacts.


About Creativity Explored
Creativity Explored is a studio-based collective in San Francisco that partners with people with developmental disabilities to celebrate and nurture the creative potential in all of us. Founded in 1983 by a psychologist and an artist, CE has facilitated the careers of hundreds of neurodiverse artists and serves as a model in the field of art and disability worldwide.
Creativity Explored now serves 130 artists with developmental disabilities offering art supplies, training, exhibition and sales opportunities in traditional and digital media. CE artists have seen their work exhibited in museums, galleries, and art fairs in over 14 countries and have earned over $2 million from their art. Our life-changing programs continue to open doors of inclusion to center the personhood and creative vision of people with developmental disabilities. Most importantly, Creativity Explored is a source of community, empowerment and dignity.

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