The art beat goes on at Creative Clay
“The heartbeat of family is Creative Clay.”
For Member Artist Gina K., Creative Clay is more than the place she goes three times a week to create exhibit-worthy art that is sold online and in the Good Folk Gallery. “It broke my heart when Creative Clay closed,” Gina said. “That’s the truth.”
Creative Clay is in her heart.
On March 19, 2020, Creative Clay was forced to close its physical location and cease regular programming due to COVID-19. The St. Petersburg, Florida nonprofit’s two largest programs, Community Arts and the Art Around the World inclusive summer camp, were closed. Before COVID-19, Creative Clay’s Community Arts Program served 50 individuals with neuro-differences, ages 18 and older, Monday through Friday. A National Public Radio (NPR) story stated that individuals with disabilities are four times more likely to die from COVID related complications. “The high rate of death is disturbing, but it’s not surprising,” said Scott Landes, an associate professor of sociology at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Landes has been collecting data from state and private research groups and says people with developmental disabilities who live in group homes have some of the highest death rates from COVID-19 in the country. “They’re more likely—four times more likely, we’re showing—to actually contract COVID-19 than the general population,” he said, “and then if they do contract COVID-19, what we’re seeing is they’re about two times more likely to die from it.”
As many businesses reopened in late spring 2020, Creative Clay remained closed out of an abundance of caution to protect member artists. On May 1, 2020, with a grant from the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay and a donation from Creative Clay board member Hal Freedman and his wife, Willi Rudowsky, Creative Clay Connects virtual classes launched. Donations from several other Creative Clay board members and donors helped fund individual artist kits and pay teaching artists.
“I felt really happy because I was able to do art on my own, and it meant that I got to do more art,” said Member Artist Marissa H. “The classes allowed me to expand my art-making abilities.”