Our Partners
We are honored to highlight and promote these nonprofit organizations who are also committed to nurturing and developing the gifts and talents of people living with disabilities.
Our Heart Speaks
Our Heart Speaks is a resource for individuals living with chronic medical conditions and new disabilities. They provide a place for individuals from around the world who despite enormous medical challenges have successfully found meaning and purpose in their lives to share their stories of rehabilitation and healing through personal narrative, poetry, photography, video, artwork and music. Watch the video to the left to hear the conversation between our Executive Director, Shelly Propson-Tyshka, and nationally recognized artist Ted Meyer.
ARTISTS CREATING TOGETHER | GRAND RAPIDS, MI
Artists Creating Together (ACT), originally known as VSA Arts of Grand Rapids-Michigan, was brought to the community by the Junior League of Grand Rapids in 1986. ACT empowers individuals with disabilities to learn, grow, and celebrate through the arts. By bringing together artists, visual and performing arts, and students with disabilities, we are able to make an impact on the West Michigan community. Each year ACT hosts a juried art competition featuring artists from all over the state, including Paint a Miracle artists.
CREATIVE GROWTH | OAKLAND, CA
Creative Growth is a non-profit organization based in Oakland, California that advances the inclusion of artists with developmental disabilities in contemporary art by providing a professional studio environment and gallery representation.
Founded in 1974, Creative Growth is a leader in the field of arts and disabilities, establishing a model for a creative community guided by the principle that art is fundamental to human expression and that all people are entitled to its tools of communication. When Paint a Miracle was first established, staff from Creative Growth worked with us to develop a program to bring inclusive arts to Michigan.
MAKE STUDIO | BALTIMORE, MD
Make Studio is a 501(c)3 community-based arts organization in Baltimore, MD, envisioning a world of acceptance and inclusion where art opens doors for everyone.
Make Studio empowers artists with disabilities to grow as professionals with visibility and voice in their communities. The studio creates opportunities for everyone to connect through art.
Each year Make Studio hosts an exhibition, both online and in person, featuring the art of artists with disabilities from all over the country.
NIAD ART CENTER | RICHMOND, CA
NIAD’s innovative art program has been in Richmond for nearly 40 years. Through its visual arts studio program, NIAD gives people with disabilities the skills and experience to express themselves, be independent and earn income as an artist. This nurturing community of artists fosters experimentation, increases competence to make informed choices and increases connections among diverse communities through the commonality of creative expression.
NIAD’s co-founder, Dr Elias Katz, met with Paint a Miracle founders in early 2002, to help us develop our program in Michigan.
SOUL STUDIO | WEST BLOOMFIELD, MI
The Dresner Foundation Soul Studio, a project of Friendship Circle, is a studio art program for adults with special needs that responds to each participant’s unique physical and cognitive conditions. Artwork made by Soul Studio artists is exhibited in our professionally curated exhibition space, visited by hundreds of people every week.
Soul Studio was launched in 2016, inside the Friendship Circle Farber Center, which also house the Soul Cafe, and an event space, all of which provide a loving and inclusive environment that encourages artistic self-expression, vocational training, and employment opportunities to adults with special needs.
NEW HORIZONS REHABILITATION | METRO DETROIT AREA, MI
New Horizons is a nationally recognized, private, not-for-profit rehabilitation agency providing quality vocational training and job placement in Michigan since 1964, with its headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They work to provide the tools necessary to individuals facing barriers to employment, prepare for competitive employment and providing the necessary skills for individuals to assume responsibility for their own long-term success. New Horizons brings a number of individuals to Paint a Miracle each week for art classes.
ROCHESTER AVON RECREATION AUTHORITY | ROCHESTER, MI
The purpose of RARA is to provide an extensive and varied recreational program, enhancing personal enrichment, and providing for the community's leisure needs. This includes programming for people with special needs. RARA has teamed up with Paint a Miracle to provide art instruction for community members of all ages and abilities.
ROCHESTER COMMUNITY SCHOOLS ADULT TRANSITION PROGRAM | ROCHESTER, MI
The Rochester Community Schools Adult Transition Program serves special education students who are 18-26 years of age. The program is designed to maximize daily living skills, enhance job readiness, and to develop independence in the community. Program activities take place in the classroom, at work sites, and in the community. ATPS students participate in weekly classes at Paint a Miracle.