The gallery is proud to announce Five and Two Others, a new group exhibition curated by Mildred Howard.

Acclaimed artist Mildred Howard believes, “Art is art, regardless of who makes it.”

In this forthcoming group show, Howard presents selected artworks of five Creativity Explored artists, Vincent Jackson, James Miles, Selene Perez, Evelyn Reyes, and Lance Rivers, alongside two contemporary Bay Area artists, Oliver Lee Jackson and John Moore. Addressing inequities in curatorial practices in the art world, Howard aims to open up a dialogue about artistic representation by presenting groupings of small format works by artists with and without developmental disabilities, with an egalitarian vision and exceptional grace.

Mildred Howard worked as a Visual Arts Instructor in the Creativity Explored studio in the late 1980s during the formative years of the organization. Since that time, Howard has become known for her activism as well as intricately designed installations uncovering what is seldom seen in the realm of art history with a critical focus on race, social justice, and identity. Recently, Howard unveiled a new installation at the Oakland Museum of California entitled Tap: Investigation of Memory.

In returning to the Creativity Explored studio, Howard was struck by the incredible talent and vision of artists with developmental disabilities, and thus, the lack of representation of these artists in the world of contemporary art. Working with the exhibitions team at Creativity Explored, Howard hand-selected small works of five artists, each representing unique visual vocabularies, artistic styles, and personal backgrounds.

In an effort to level the playing the field, Howard has included works by John Moore and Oliver Lee Jackson to share walls of the Creativity Explored gallery, a space typically reserved for artwork produced in the studios. Five and Two Others poses challenging questions to the art world: Why is art produced by artists with developmental disabilities relegated to spaces like Creativity Explored? When will institutions simply appreciate, collect, and exhibit “good art” for what it is?

At the opening reception, Creativity Explored will release a new catalog of Five and Two Others, memorializing Howard’s activist vision and this groundbreaking exhibition. The catalog will include additional artwork not featured on display as well as a curatorial statement from Howard outlining her process and vision. Catalogs will be available for purchase at the event and available in the gallery and on the website.