The Center for the Arts celebrates the creativity and diversity of the students from Riverside Arts during a September show in the East Gallery. An opening reception is scheduled for Friday, September 9, 5-7pm during Northampton’s Arts Night Out.

A subsidiary of Riverside Industries in Easthampton, Riverside Arts has provided adults with developmental disabilities with an artistic outlet for the past five years. "We believe art-making is innate to all people and seek to provide individuals with the tools to explore their own creative potential," says program director Denise Herzog. “Many students had limited or no prior experience making art before entering the Riverside Arts program. Now, every student is an artist with a distinct style evidenced by his/her expanding portfolio."

In January 2011, Riverside Arts was invited by Senator Stan Rosenberg to show work at the State House in Boston. The exhibition was an incredible opportunity for the artists to push themselves even harder to create their best work ever. Some were given the chance to work with Cobra oil paints donated by Royal Talens, a completely new medium in the Riverside Arts program. Pieces from that show have been traveling to local spaces and are included in the Center for the Arts showing.

The exhibition will be on display from September 6-28, 2011. Regular gallery hours are 11am-4pm, Tuesday-Friday. For more information about Riverside Industries and Riverside Arts, please visit www.rsi.org.