Creative Identity   

Creative Identity (CI) was founded by music therapist and jazz guitar recording artist George J. Gilliam whose vision was to make fine arts education accessible to adults with IDD. CI has locations in Anaheim (established 1996) and Laguna Beach (established 2015) that offer year-round day program services, operating Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., with a focus on serving adults with mild to severe IDD who face economic barriers and limited access to high quality fine arts and pre-vocational education. Many of these individuals also experience difficulty navigating traditional education systems and overcoming negative societal perceptions. CI addresses these challenges through an inclusive, person-centered approach that centers on participants’ strengths and goals. Our therapeutic music, expressive arts, and pre-vocational skill building classes offer individualized attention and support tailored to each person’s abilities and interests. The program uses an “assisted art” concept, providing gentle guidance such as hand-over-hand support when needed, which gradually fades as individuals build confidence and independence. Participants also develop transferable life skills including attention span, communication, coping strategies, social interaction, working collaboratively as well as independently, and fine motor coordination through engagement in these fine arts activities. Community engagement is a key component in CI’s programming because it allows us to demonstrate the intrinsic worth and creative contributions of adults with IDD. We provide numerous opportunities for adults with IDD to share their talents at art exhibitions and musical performances in Orange County, CA throughout the year, which promote positive public perceptions of individuals with IDD and foster community inclusion. Participants have the opportunity to earn commissions from the sale of their artwork at these events which increases their economic opportunities.