2024 Arts & Business Partnership Award
The partnership between Community Supported Shelters (CSS) and the OSLP Arts and Culture Center offers a sanctuary for unhoused individuals to explore art’s transformative power. This collaboration provides a haven for creative expression and allows participants to confront trauma, find joy, and create beauty. Despite many being new to artistic endeavors, individuals are welcomed to weekly art studio sessions at the Arts & Culture Center, facilitated by CSS’s logistical support and OSLP’s materials and guidance. The impact goes beyond art-making; CSS notes increased engagement and improved well-being among participants. Art pieces created are also showcased, amplifying unheard voices in the community. The partnership aims to dismantle barriers to creative expression and promote inclusivity, fostering empathy and understanding. The Arts & Business Alliance of Eugene and the 2024 Arts & Business Partnership Award honors CSS and OSLP for envisioning art as a vehicle for social change, striving to address unmet needs in Eugene’s unhoused population, one project at a time. Videography by Delene & Co.
OSLP Arts and Culture Center practices equity, inclusion
Profile on the Arts & Culture Center from The Daily Emerald by Harper Mahood. Read the full article here.
"The Oregon Supported Living Program Arts and Culture Center looks like any other downtown Eugene building, only slightly distinguished by two small mosaic panels that frame the doorway. But looking a little closer reveals more than meets the eye: an artist’s wonderland. The heavy glass doors give way to an expansive and well-decorated gallery nestled against a teaching space with art supplies galore. This is where the magic happens."
"The Oregon Supported Living Program Arts and Culture Center looks like any other downtown Eugene building, only slightly distinguished by two small mosaic panels that frame the doorway. But looking a little closer reveals more than meets the eye: an artist’s wonderland. The heavy glass doors give way to an expansive and well-decorated gallery nestled against a teaching space with art supplies galore. This is where the magic happens."
