Intimacy: The Artistic Community of PASC

MOCAD is partnering with Progressive Art Studio Collective (PASC) to produce Intimacy: The Artistic Community of PASC, an exhibition surveying the past three years of PASC’s growth in fostering artists with developmental disabilities and mental health differences. This exhibition delves into the interior worlds of over 30 PASC artists, representing personal imagery, art historical and cultural referents, and states of emotional intensity.

Intimacy: The Artistic Community of PASC celebrates the uniqueness of this artistic workshop model, which gives rise to unconventional artistic styles and a powerful, supportive community of artists and allies. Presented through Mike Kelley’s Space for Public Good, a series of exhibitions and programs dedicated to community engagement and care, this exhibition highlights the need for cultural institutions to claim spaces for artists with disabilities, who influence the style and subject matter of contemporary art yet are frequently omitted from the artistic canon.

Launched in 2021, PASC is the first progressive art and design studio and exhibition program in Detroit and Wayne County dedicated to supporting artists with developmental disabilities and mental health differences to advance artistic practices and build individual careers in the art and design fields. PASC runs three studios in Detroit, Westland, and Southgate and works with over 170 artists across Wayne County. PASC is a program of Services to Enhance Potential (STEP), a non-profit service organization founded in 1972 that provides services and supports for more than 1,400 individuals with disabilities and mental health differences across Southeastern Michigan.

Participating artists: Darmeka Bailey, Manual Bart, Ruben Bates, Stanley Brown, Sherri Bryant, Shawna Campbell, Sereal Crawford, Santina Dionisi, Julieann Dombrowski, Chantell Donwell, Robert Duncombe, Zainab Elhasan, Lewis Foster, Eric Green, Ronald Griggs, DeRon Hudson, Lonnie Lowrey, Joseph Lucas, Richard Marshall, Ryan McDonaugh, Keisha Miller, Alsendoe Owens, John Peterson, Justin Pollard, Deanna Poppenger, Angie Rhodes, Jocelyn Rice, Dale Roberts, Marquise Rucker, Rodney Stevens, Jeremy Taylor, Donald Thomas, Roger Toliver, Detroit Angel Tweety, Chris Wansac, Lauren Williams, and Alexis Young.