Art Enables, An Art Studio, Helps Adults With Disabilities Turn Their Passion Into A Career

Fine Art Washington, DC – District of Columbia

‘This is my spot’: D.C. gallery, Art Enables, helps artists with disabilities sell their work

Washington, DC – As a teen, Mara Clawson loved making art — specifically drawing with pastels. So at 14, she reached out to Art Enables, a studio, gallery, and vocational program in Washington, D.C where she really wanted to make that art. But Art Enables requires its members to be at least 21 years old.

That didn’t deter her. During the seven-year wait, Clawson stayed focused. She and her parents kept in close touch with the gallery, and she submitted work to its exhibits as a special guest. After about 2,500 days, Clawson finally joined the ranks.

Clawson, who works in pastels but has branched out into digital art, was born with familial dysautonomia, a neurogenetic disorder that affects her autonomic nervous system. “Art is my life,” she writes on her website, and Art Enables is one place she engages in that life.

Monroe, 54, is one of the other resident artists. She’s been coming to its headquarters in D.C.’s Brookland neighborhood five days a week for the past 17 years. Her preferred media are watercolors and acrylics. “It’s my safari,” she says to a visitor. She points out a giraffe, a panther, a zebra, and a warthog that she’d painted with thick black lines.

Tony Brunswick, Art Enables’ executive director wants to be really clear about one thing: People with disabilities aren’t just dropped off here to paint and pass the time. They are professionals. The gallery provides them with free studio space and supplies, but in exchange, they’re expected to make art that can sell. Art Enables then takes a 30% cut of the sale price to help cover the costs of studio space and supplies. (A typical gallery takes around half.)

“As a society, we have made a lot of progress in our recognition of the gifts and talents of people with disabilities. That said, there are still many barriers that [they] face,” Brunswick says. “Having professional, dignified spaces to work, grow and learn aren’t always easy to find.”

His family has faced that issue firsthand. His older sister, Karen, had Down syndrome. She passed away, but Brunswick still speaks about her in the present tense and calls her his mentor. “Many of us aren’t known by our greatest attribute, or our greatest ability to contribute. That’s especially true for people with disabilities,” he says.

Brunswick’s desk is in the same room as all the Art Enables artists, and he and other staff members provide regular feedback and encouragement as they work.

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