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Artist Bess Lumsden of Ruxton works on a drawing at Make Studio in Baltimore. The artist space and studio on NorthAvenue specializes in the works of artists with special needs. (Steve Ruark, Baltimore Sun / February 23, 2012)

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Station North arts space celebrates two-year anniversary with exhibit

By Chris Kaltenbach, The Baltimore Sun4:16 p.m. EST, February 23, 2012

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Make Studio offers platform for artists withdisabilities

Circus performers in all their gaudy glory. A timeline linking theactors who have played James Bond to the U.S. presidents at thetime the movies came out. Rosemary's baby.

The Make Studio on North Avenue, celebrating its secondanniversary with a reception and exhibition this weekend, is filledwith drawings, paintings and three-dimensional representations ofthe artists' often whimsical and reliably engaging world views.Devoted to the art of developmentally challenged young men andwomen, the studio offers a place for them to develop and markettheir skills.

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"Oftentimes, individuals with disabilities, their ideas and creativevisions are overlooked," said Cathy Goucher, 39, an art therapistworking with special-needs students at Baltimore's St. ElizabethSchool and one of Make Studio's co-founders. "We hope thegeneral public will take from here an appreciation for their uniquecreative vision and worldview."

About a dozen artists use Make Studio, and their works will becovering the studio walls this weekend. The prolific Jerry Williamsspecializes in stylized, brightly colored characterizations of circusperformers, wrestlers and "Star Trek" characters.

Tony Labate's encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture lendscredibility (and more than a trace of humor) to his elongated tributesto a range of subjects, from family and friends to John Astin and theAcademy Awards.

Bess Lumsden and her "Heroines of Horror" dolls reflect thewhimsically nightmarish visions of Tim Burton and Japaneseanime, as well as a few of her own. Rachel Tuchman, who canusually be found hunched over a laptop computer, describesherself as "a semi-crazy, very enthusiastic, quirky, silly mainlydigital artist and writer."

The studio offers art that is as affordable as it is enjoyable. Rarelydoes anything cost more than $200, and there's plenty of creativityon sale for between $50 and $75.

Goucher and her partners, Jill Scheibler and Stefan Bauschmid,founded Make Studio in 2010 as an outgrowth of their work as arttherapists. Goucher and Scheibler say an enterprise like MakeStudio does all kinds of good for men and women with disabilitiessuch as autism, bipolar disorder and Down's syndrome. Tappinginto their creativity isn't hard, the two women agree, but channelingthat creativity can be.

"Through the process of working at the studio and working withothers, they're developing translatable skills," said Scheibler, 33, who is working on a doctorate in communitypsychology from University of Maryland, Baltimore County. "They learn about time management, how to becooperative, how to present themselves, how to market themselves."

They also learn to take pride in their work. Lumsden, who lives in Ruxton with her parents, smiles as sherecounts the first time someone actually paid money for something she had created.

"It feels really good," she said, pausing just for a moment before returning to work on another of her "Devil Baby"dolls.

Financially, Make Studio is just starting to find its footing. While it has received a few grants, the studio is financedprimarily through payments from the artists, who are charged on a sliding scale that averages about $75 a day.

Make Studio receives 30 percent of all sales, with the remaining 70 percent going to the artist. After more than ayear of working without a salary, the three co-founders have only recently started collecting a paycheck.

"Our goal is to double in size within the next year," in terms of the number of artists, Scheibler said. In its first year,the studio sold some $3,000 worth of art, both from its North Avenue headquarters and during exhibitions at otherevents. In 2011, Make Studio set up tables at Hampdenfest, the American Visionary Art Museum's Bazaartshow and Highlandtown's Creative Alliance.

It's been a thrill to see their artists recognized for their creativity, Scheibler said, and not their disabilities.

"We're starting to see our artists being invited to participate in shows alongside other artists," she said. "They'rehaving their work shown, without commentary, alongside other artists."

chris.kaltenbach@baltsun.com

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