Arts of Life

Founded in 2000, Arts of Life is a charity based in Chicago, United States working on arts & culture, disability, employment & skills +1 more.

Arts of Life is a Chicago-based non-profit that provides artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities a collective studio space to develop their artistic practice, exhibit their work and strengthen their leadership. Founded in January 2000 as the city's first Alternative Day Program focused on artistic vocational opportunities for people with disabilities, the organisation operates professional art studios in Chicago's West Town and South Side neighbourhoods and in Glenview on the North Shore. Artists work independently on individualised project plans, receive one-to-one visual arts facilitation and earn a monthly stipend, with bonuses tied to annual art sales. The organisation supports more than 80 artists and runs a gallery, Circle Contemporary, along with exhibitions in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Miami, Tokyo and Kyoto. It also runs community programmes in Evanston and Highland Park, a teaching artist residency serving North Shore schools, and an archive preserving the work of its studio artists. Arts of Life is licensed as a Community Day Service in Illinois and holds accreditation from the Council on Quality and Leadership.