Art works which are being readied to go on display at the Koegel Autism Center on the UC Santa Barbara Campus. Each piece is unique - but the artists have one thing in common. Neurodiversity.
"For some of them, they've produced art at home for years, and they haven't necessarily shown it," explains Dr Anna Krasno, Acting Director and Clinical Director of the Koegel Autism Center at UC Santa Barbara.
"Many creative people in the past were likely neurodivergent and had a different way of viewing the world and a different way of thinking," said Krasno.
The works going on display here include all forms of art, whether it’s painting, writing, spoken word, photography or music – and they are as diverse as the artists who created them…members of the community with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, epilepsy, hyperlexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, OCD, Tourette’s syndrome and more.
"Each person is very uniquely different. Neurodivergence can come in many different forms, like people with ADHD, people with synesthesia, people with autism. There's a lot of different ways that there is neuro-divergence and what that means...it's a difference in brain wiring," said Krasno.
The show is called Unmasking Through Art and one of the artists in the show, Jessica Khaw, says that masking symptoms is something many neurodiverse people, like her, do.
"I'm on the autism spectrum. A lot of my peers are. A lot of my friends are as well," Khaw told KCLU.
"The concept of masking is essentially hiding your neurodiverse traits to help fit in in certain situations - like school, the workplace and social settings - and high levels of masking is especially common among a lot of folks who are autistic," she said.
"A lot of people have reported how art is a really valuable way to express themselves, and kind of a way of communicating with folks beyond having to mask in these really intense social settings. The idea of unmasking through art is bringing together the autistic and neurodiverse community so that they're able to share. And even though it's a very wide variety of different types of art, like sharing in their love of art and kind of expressing themselves without needing to fit in," said Khaw.
Krasno agrees.
"Consciously or not, they're working very hard to fit in with non autistic society and social expectations by trying to learn the social rules, and this can take a big toll both mentally and physically. And so by providing a space where people can show who they truly are through their art is exactly where the title comes from," said Krasno.
Another unique aspect of the show is that the artists receive 100% of the proceeds from any of their works that sell.
The Unmasking Through Art show will be held on Thursday May 30 from 5:30-8pm at the Koegel Autism Center on the UC Santa Barbara Campus – it’s free and open to the public.
