Artist in All: Empowerment through Art

Misericordia Heart of Mercy is proud to support more than 600 children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities from diverse racial, religious, and socio-economic backgrounds. Misericordia offers a wide range of programs to meet each resident’s needs on a 31 acre campus in Chicago and in the community at large through a full continuum of care. These include: residential placement and day to day support; job training and employment opportunities; physical, occupational, speech, music, and art therapy; fitness and healthy living guidance; social and recreational outings; and opportunities for spiritual growth.

Misericordia’s art program began in 1985 as a way to provide work opportunities for the residents. The art department provides exceptional opportunities for participants to express their individuality through a variety of media. The artist, their family and the professional team work together to choose the art programs that suit each person’s interests, abilities, strengths and needs. Each studio focuses on a different art medium, skill, or challenge. Misericordia artists have been invited to display their artwork at exhibitions across the city of Chicago and are frequently highlighted at auctions for Misericordia’s fundraising events.

In 1996, Misericordia’s residents were invited to display artwork at a small gallery named Vedanta located in Chicago’s West Loop — and the Artist in All was born. The Artist in All, the signature event hosted by the Misericordia Siblings Association, is the most resident-centered fundraising event. This exhibition held at Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA) is a display of a historical perspective of the Artist in All, representing artwork by Misericordia’s residents over the past 20 years. The artwork includes prints of paintings on canvas, photography and multimedia artwork and represents the fact that no matter one’s abilities or disabilities, there is truly an artist in all of us.

This year’s Artist in All celebrates its 20th Anniversary and will take place on May 24, 2017 in the Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Image detail: The Rehearsal, Alice C.