Frequently Asked Questions

Opened in 2000, Arts of Life was the first program in Chicago to provide meaningful vocational opportunities in the arts for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Our programs serve as both an alternative day program and creative epicenter for its artists. 

Our community continues to grow with additional studios in Glenview opening in 2010 and Woodlawn in 2024. In 2021, we launched Community Programs in Evanston and Highland Park. By 2025, we were supporting 80+ artists annually in their creative practices and professional development.

Driven by our Four Core Values, every artist works with the studio team to create individualized, professional development goals to advance their creative practice. Inspiring Artistic Expression, Building Community, Promoting Self-Respect, and Developing Independence.

In addition to their art making practices, our North Shore Studio boasts a band - Van Go Go - which performs at venues across Chicago-land.

Veronica "Ronnie" Cuculich, an artist with an intellectual disability; a self-taught, unconventional artist; and Denise Fisher, a professional in the field of developmental disabilities co-founded Arts of Life. United by their shared passion for artistic expression, they wanted to create an alternative system within a supportive space for disabled adults to collaborate, lead, and grow.

Research estimates that nearly 20% of the adult U.S. population is disabled. Despite this, career and vocational resources for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities remain limited, especially in Illinois. Most day programs available to disabled residents do not allow for choice of field or professional development opportunities. As a result, many individuals are employed doing light labor or other menial work.

Arts of Life’s founding team saw this overwhelming need for fulfillment and opportunity. Ronnie had experienced most of it firsthand. Having spent most of her life in institutions and employed in dissatisfying work, it wasn't until her mid-sixties that Ronnie discovered art as an emotional outlet and a channel for meaningful self-expression. This discovery led to the initial idea for Arts of Life. Together our co-founders and an initial roster of nine intrepid artists embarked on their shared mission: to create a person-centric, artistic community that provided opportunities for meaningful vocation and a work environment of equality.

Arts of Life aims to maintain an equal split of funding - 50% from Illinois Department of Human Services; Division of Developmental Disabilities and 50% from generous individual and institutional supporters, art and merch sales, licensing fees, and special events. To learn more about supporting Arts of Life, visit our Donate page.

Arts of Life was founded on the idea that the space belongs to the artists. The employees, board members, interns, and volunteers are available to assist artists with the decisions that they make, both collectively and as individuals.

We use a collective decision-making process in the studio and give everyone an opportunity to define, shape, and belong to an artistic community.

We embrace the idea that our community changes based on the growing needs of the artists, their space, and the surrounding communities in which they are involved.

For many of our studio artists, their work at  Arts of Life is the first opportunity they have to become a self-directed member of a positive, supportive community.

There are many ways to help. Tax-deductible donations help to pay for art supplies, field trips, our talented staff, and much more.

We also appreciate gifts purchased for the studio via our Amazon Wish List. 

Volunteer opportunities include working directly with the artists during studio hours or assisting with special events, marketing, research, and much more. If you are interested in learning more, contact us to schedule a tour of one of our studios.

All art sales are tracked and allocated to individual artists' funds.  Arts of Life retains 40% of sales to offset program costs, and the artist receives 60% of sales in the form of a monthly stipend.

We love it when people respectfully share photos of our studio and artwork with their social circles. Our artists and staff appreciate you checking with them first before photos are taken on-site and refrain from using a flash.

We ask that our artists and the studio be credited in photos that are posted online. Any photos that are taken to cause harm or with ill intent are not permissible.