Make Studio was excited and humbled to receive a generous grant from Civitan Club of Baltimore, allowing us to undertake our “Make Studio Road Warriors” series. This funding is enabling our artists to get out of the studio, and even out of Baltimore, specifically to have unique art experiences in the company of fellow artists from other progressive art studios.

First up, on Thursday, May 26th, a group of artists and staff visited VisAbility Arts Lab in Rockville and Art Enables in Washington, D.C.! VisAbility and Art Enables have similar goals as Make Studio, but each program is a bit different. Artists Louis, Tyrone, Erika, Sharmila-Chuck, Matthew, and Gemma made it out on the inaugural trip, waking up early and departing the studio in our two-van convoy before 9 a.m.

Our artists experienced what it was like to make art in a different studio amongst other artists, viewed studios’ retail areas and gallery exhibitions, and shared artwork and ideas. A picnic lunch was enjoyed in Rockville Town Center in-between studio visits.

Everyone had a great time! Our artists compared and contrasted what they saw at these studios with what they experienced in their own studio. The image galleries below are collections of some things we saw, first at VisAbility and then at Art Enables.

Here are a few of their thoughts about the trip:

Tyrone: “There are bigger things in Maryland and D.C. and places I have never been before. I had been to Washington, D.C. before but never like this (usually, when you go to a Capitol city you see the big things like the monuments and the White House). Realizing we are not the only people who have disabilities who have an art studio and are artists. It is nice knowing there are other artists like us close by.”

He took many photos of his own to remember the trip and what inspired him at the other studios.

Tyrone also said that he met someone who had a style that he felt was something that falls between his and Gemma’s styles, and it was inspiring to see their work and make connections. A favorite fellow artist was Nonja Tiller of Art Enables.

Sharmila-Chuck: “[My favorite part of this trip was] meeting Maeve [an artist with VisAbility]. We talked about art – we both liked each other’s artworks and swapped our works. They have a drawing of mine that’s not finished – They say they will finish it. I have a drawing of theirs that I will finish, hopefully [soon]. We will show each other when we are done – by email, etc. [Something we could do like they do at VisAbility is] We could use egg cartons to save the paint.”

Our artists all agreed that some sort of collaboration would be greatly welcomed in the future and have proposed some fun ideas.

Gemma: “Everyone could make necklaces with some fun and different beads and then there could be lots of fun and be able to wear around. You could do whatever you think looks cool and funky for it”. 

Louis had the idea to collaborate on something like the sheep sculpture at VisAbility and discussed making two, one for Make and one for Art Enables, as a way to remember the trip and people.

Louis: “There was a sheep sculpture made of flowers and I would like to try to make something like that at Make Studio. Maybe have a finished work rack upstairs or as a display window. “

We want to extend another HUGE THANKS to the artists and staff of VisAbility Arts Lab and Art Enables for welcoming us so heartily! We hope that they will be able to visit us in the fall, when we host a Road Warriors wrap event! Our next trip is taking shape for later this summer — stay tuned for more scenes and stories from the road.

We were unable to capture artwork info and artist attributions for all of the images shared here, so we encourage our followers to check out these studio’s websites and social media for more information!