On a quiet weekday morning, artists are milling around Slingshot/Alpha Art Studio, intently gathering materials and beginning the day’s work in the sun-drenched studio space, tucked away in a nondescript building in an alleyway behind a laundromat near the busy intersection of Mission and De la Vina streets.
The new, larger space, which Slingshot moved into for its 10th anniversary three years ago, has become an artist’s haven — packed with paints, pencils, art magazines, and materials for printmaking, ceramics, and embroidery. The nonprofit progressive art studio is home base for more than 35 artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), each of whom have blossomed into their own working with the passionate staff at Slingshot.
This week, the artists are putting the final touches on their pieces for Slingshot’s annual ArtFest, which will be held at the Community Arts Workshop (631 Garden St.) on Saturday, August 29. The annual event will showcase artwork made over the past year, with 250 drawings and mixed media paper works, more than 100 ceramic pieces, and over 50 “up-cycled” pieces of clothing, including hand-painted, embroidered, or screen-printed items made using clothing donated from Slingshot’s partner organization Alpha Resource Center.
Slingshot Gallery Director Jessica Schlobohm says the ArtFest provides an opportunity for the artists to “put their art into the community, sell their work, and meet other artists and creators. It’s one of the many ways Slingshot helps its artists to engage with the community, allowing them to “see the value in their art and contributions,” Schlobohm says…