First think: How does the world look to an adult with a developmental disability? Now stop. Don’t answer that. Instead, take a look directly at the work being made by the people themselves, and talk to them, at the SlingShot gallery. The exhibition and art studio in Santa Barbara is a new space where adults with developmental disabilities can make, exhibit, and sell their original artwork.
The striking imagery of the pieces on display and direct access to the artists themselves allow the public to hear and see from a population who rarely gets such an empowering chance to speak for themselves. “I am joyful when people come to see my art. It makes me feel good about myself,” said Marc Sucher, the current exhibiting artist at SlingShot.
The passion the SlingShot artists have for making art is clear in the images they produce, as exemplified in Sucher’s collection of portraits of American patriots on the gallery walls. The images pulsate with incredible texture and vivid color and illustrate a distinctive point of view that grew from Sucher’s interest in the historic story behind the faces on coins.