CHICAGO} Visiting the historic Chicago Cultural Center? Have an interest in outsider art (and/or an open mind in general)? Then don’t miss a visit to the studios and gallery of Project Onward, a unique and fascinating surprise tucked away in the middle of the building’s ground floor. Here’s the description from their website:

“The mission of Project Onward is to support the creative growth of visual artists with mental and developmental disabilities. Project Onward provides studio space, art supplies, and professional guidance to emerging artists in a communal workshop environment. With the program’s support, Project Onward artists develop a professional body of work that reflects both a devotion to their personal vision and a desire for artistic growth. We believe that artists with special needs deserve a voice in the world of art and ideas, and that their extraordinary work has a universal audience. Project Onward exhibits, promotes, and sells the artists’ works as a means to provide earned income and a sense of personal achievement, as well as to integrate the artists into the wider arts community. Project Onward collaborates with local and national partner agencies to organize exhibitions and advocacy efforts for artists with disabilities. Project Onward artists are included in numerous private and corporate art collections, and their works are exhibited widely.”

One of my favorite artists represented is David Holt, whose portrait of Whitney Houston is shown above and whose homage to Isaac Hayes is shown below. David is a 26-yr-old with autism, and has a fascination with celebrities in the news, especially dead ones, but also depicts local people in the news such as slain student Derrion Albert. Link here to explore their website and peruse their stable of dedicated artists.