Tom di Maria, director of Creative Growth Art Center, introduces the nonprofit organization's driving principles in this preview of the upcoming "San Francisco Bay Area" episode from Season 9 of the "Art in the Twenty-First Century" television series.

Preceded by work presented by resident artists Cedric Johnson and Susan Janow, di Maria reflects on the equalizing power of art. "Creative Growth is about artistic expression as a form of self-empowerment," says di Maria, "as a form of aesthetic development, as a form of saying, 'This is who I am in the world.'"

Creative Growth Art Center was founded by Elias and Florence Katz in 1974. Operating in a former car-body shop near downtown Oakland, California, Creative Growth provides studios, gallery space, and supplies to more than 150 artists with developmental, mental, and physical disabilities, who work in a wide array of media. Predicated on the belief that art is fundamental to human expression and that all people are entitled to its tools of communication, Creative Growth is an incubator of artistic activity that has fostered exemplary artists, such as Dan Miller, Judith Scott, William Scott, and Monica Valentine.

Learn more about the organization at:
https://art21.org/artist/creative-growth-art-center/

Season 9 of "Art in the Twenty-First Century" premieres September 21 at 9:00 p.m. on PBS. "San Francisco Bay Area" airs September 28 at 9:00 p.m.

Learn more about the new season at:
https://art21.org/season9