Art Explorers, Inc. is a creative arts program and progressive studio in Fort Bragg, California, serving neurodivergent and physically disabled adult artists. We are a nonprofit 501(c)(3) tax exempt corporation. Our mission is to provide a fun, nurturing, non-judgmental, and artistically stimulating environment for creativity to thrive!
We believe that creative thought and expression is a universal right - without rules, restrictions, or cultural boundaries. Our studio is an inclusive space that upholds this belief and our philosophy is rooted in a total respect for individuals and their communities, and in the foundation that all people have a unique artistic voice that deserves to be heard.
We facilitate the connections between the studio artists and the greater Mendocino County arts community through a guest artist program, field trips, and the exhibition and sale of artwork in the studio gallery, online, and at local galleries and businesses. We work to broaden this web of connectivity further through national juried art competitions and exchanges with other progressive arts studios. Art Explorers artists have participated in exhibitions in San Francisco and the greater Bay Area, Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Philadelphia, with artwork in private collections in Japan and Europe.
At Art Explorers, we believe that art transforms lives and opens a window to the deepest expressions of the human spirit. The studio provides individuals with the dedicated time, space and energy to support creativity and positive community-building.
“Doing art blows my mind! It’s the most fun thing I get to do. I feel honored and proud when people see my art. There are just positive vibes all around the studio.” - Wiley West, Art Explorers studio artist
Co-founders Kristin Otwell and Joan Burleigh met at a women's art group on the Mendocino Coast. Joan had a background in social work and education, and was working at the Harrison Street House, a group home in Fort Bragg for adults with developmental disabilities. Kristin had recently moved north from the Bay Area, where she had taught young children with disabilities and had volunteered at Creative Growth in Oakland – the first program in California for artists with developmental disabilities. Joan proposed that she and Kristin join forces to create an art program at the Harrison Street House for one afternoon a week which would become where the Art Explorers studio program was born.
“We started as volunteers in 1992, painting at the dining room table with the six residents of the home” Kristin remembers, “and soon friends asked if they could join as well.”
As more people wanted to participate, they needed a bigger space and funding to pay for art materials. “We got a $500 grant from Thanksgiving Coffee and moved into a borrowed space in 1996. We formed a nonprofit in 2000, and one of the artists officially named our program Art Explorers. We expanded into a weekday program in 2002, with support from the Redwood Coast Regional Center and a grant from a private foundation.”
A short timeline of Art Explorers
1992: The program begins as a Saturday morning art class hosted by Joan Burleigh and Kristin Otwell at the Harrison Street House in Fort Bragg, CA.
1994: First public art exhibition takes place in downtown Fort Bragg at the Daly’s building (now called the Company Store).
2000: Art Explorers, inc. becomes a nonprofit art program, open four days a week with 12 artists coming on a regular basis. The program moves to the Oak Street location where it would live for another 7 years.
2007: Starts hosting in-house gallery shows and First Friday events that are open to the public. The program moves to the Redwood Street location.
2018: Moves to current location at 333 N. Franklin Street in December, where more than 25 artists participate on a weekly basis.
2019: Receives the mayor’s Well-Done Award for “Best Creative Community Organization”.
Present: Art Explorers has grown to 40 artists who attend the studio! We are proud to have artwork exhibited locally and nationally, as well as published in periodicals including Quickest Flip Magazine. The art program continues to build relationships with other progressive art studios such as NIAD (Richmond, CA) and Creative Growth (Oakland, CA), through art exchanges, exhibitions, virtual dance parties, and beyond.
I studied Art History in the UK through the University of Santa Cruz in 1998 and went on to study Photography at City College in San Francisco and San Francisco State University. I received a BA in Journalism from San Francisco State University in 2006 and an MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University in 2017. My writing has been published in the Oakland Tribune, Sonoma Index Tribune, Sierra Magazine, and the online magazine BioStories. I have worked in the Human Services field since 1996 in Special Education classrooms, Cabrillo College Stroke Center, Potrero Hill Neighborhood House Day Program, and as a direct support professional. I joined Art Explorers as a facilitator in 2016 and became a director in 2017.
I am an artist and art educator based in Elk, on the south coast of Mendocino County. Born in Albion, I left the county after high school and lived on the east coast where I received a BFA in Printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design and later an MFA in Studio Art from the Maryland Institute College of Art.
I began teaching freelance art classes while living in Brooklyn, a profession which continued after moving back to Mendocino County in 2012. I love sharing my belief in the power and importance of creative thinking, and often incorporate techniques from my studio practice into workshops. Finding ways to democratize art making by making processes more accessible and welcoming is something I find really exciting!
I have admired Art Explorers for years and first worked with the organization as a visiting artist in 2021, leading weeklong workshops in gilding (metal leaf application) and suminagashi (Japanese ink marbling). In 2022, I returned to work with the artists on a month-long repeat pattern screen printing project, which led to working more regularly with the organization.
As a person who depends on a consistent creative practice, I am thrilled to be working with a community-focused organization that provides this space for others. It has been so much fun to get to know the artists, staff and volunteers that make Art Explorers what it is and I am honored to be a part of the team!
www.solange-roberdeau.com
I am a California newbie! As a recent transplant from Minnesota, I have spent my time in Fort Bragg making new friends, going on new adventures with my partner, and maintaining hobbies from back home like hiking, biking, yoga, playing piano, and swimming. I love my new home!
Around age 16 I learned that I have a passion for supporting my fellow humans. I started out volunteering at a local nursing home in a 1:1 companionship role, then at 19 I began working as an in-home caregiver, and from there stepped over to the mental health realm. The dark and institutional mental-health setting lit a fire inside of me to be a light for those around me and I witnessed the healing power of art creation.
Some years later, I found a role where I could combine my communication skills and art experience: I worked as the Art Facilitator for MSS where I had the opportunity to work with 50 wonderful artists and participants. Two years later, the desire to live with my partner brought me to Fort Bragg, California. My dream job exists here at Art Explorers and I aim to stay until the end of my working days.
I studied Art History in the UK through the University of Santa Cruz in 1998 and went on to study Photography at City College in San Francisco and San Francisco State University. I received a BA in Journalism from San Francisco State University in 2006 and an MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University in 2017. My writing has been published in the Oakland Tribune, Sonoma Index Tribune, Sierra Magazine, and the online magazine BioStories. I have worked in the Human Services field since 1996 in Special Education classrooms, Cabrillo College Stroke Center, Potrero Hill Neighborhood House Day Program, and as a direct support professional. I joined Art Explorers as a facilitator in 2016 and became a director in 2017.
I am an artist and art educator based in Elk, on the south coast of Mendocino County. Born in Albion, I left the county after high school and lived on the east coast where I received a BFA in Printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design and later an MFA in Studio Art from the Maryland Institute College of Art.
I began teaching freelance art classes while living in Brooklyn, a profession which continued after moving back to Mendocino County in 2012. I love sharing my belief in the power and importance of creative thinking, and often incorporate techniques from my studio practice into workshops. Finding ways to democratize art making by making processes more accessible and welcoming is something I find really exciting!
I have admired Art Explorers for years and first worked with the organization as a visiting artist in 2021, leading weeklong workshops in gilding (metal leaf application) and suminagashi (Japanese ink marbling). In 2022, I returned to work with the artists on a month-long repeat pattern screen printing project, which led to working more regularly with the organization.
As a person who depends on a consistent creative practice, I am thrilled to be working with a community-focused organization that provides this space for others. It has been so much fun to get to know the artists, staff and volunteers that make Art Explorers what it is and I am honored to be a part of the team!
www.solange-roberdeau.com
I am a California newbie! As a recent transplant from Minnesota, I have spent my time in Fort Bragg making new friends, going on new adventures with my partner, and maintaining hobbies from back home like hiking, biking, yoga, playing piano, and swimming. I love my new home!
Around age 16 I learned that I have a passion for supporting my fellow humans. I started out volunteering at a local nursing home in a 1:1 companionship role, then at 19 I began working as an in-home caregiver, and from there stepped over to the mental health realm. The dark and institutional mental-health setting lit a fire inside of me to be a light for those around me and I witnessed the healing power of art creation.
Some years later, I found a role where I could combine my communication skills and art experience: I worked as the Art Facilitator for MSS where I had the opportunity to work with 50 wonderful artists and participants. Two years later, the desire to live with my partner brought me to Fort Bragg, California. My dream job exists here at Art Explorers and I aim to stay until the end of my working days.
Tracy Daly brings a broad range of business experience garnered from a career in product development, management and merchandising for apparel and accessories brands. Having worked with artists and designers professionally during her career, Tracy has an appreciation for creative processes and an affinity for art of all kinds. Tracy’s experience volunteering with differently-abled people and her enthusiasm to be a helper in our community have come together to serve the Art Explorers program.
