Painting from the Heart

Give people a chance to express themselves through the arts, and they can blossom—and even grow into something beyond their imagination. When The Salvation Army in Delaware saw an opportunity to encourage members of its Developmental Disabilities Program (DDP) to explore their talents, a new ministry of art and enterprise emerged. 

“Our program for people with developmental disabilities prides itself on being very individualized, whether it’s in finding work or participating in the community. We expand on what we see in our members,” says Christy Cugno, DDP program director. “One lady would come in and draw the images from the church programs she picked up on Sunday. At first we thought she was tracing, but she was re-creating the pictures in black-and-white herself.” 

A program staff member who was also an artist saw her talent and the level of interest present in her as well as other DDP participants. Cugno reached out to the Delaware chapter of Very Special Arts, an international art nonprofit for adults and children with disabilities, which said that if at least five people from DDP were interested, they’d help. Fifteen showed up, and the numbers have kept growing. 

Creative heARTs, as the program is now called, is free to those who attend DDP’s Community Options program. The artists sell their finished work as cards, prints, and original framed paintings. Local art leagues, moved and inspired by DDP’s work, have helped Creative heARTs host art shows and sales in Pennsylvania and Delaware. 

Beach Paint by Charina Goodman

Sunflower and Dragonflies by Bill Posey

“Our artists are involved in the business side as soon as they put down their paintbrushes,” says Cugno. “We take the paintings to get scanned, decide together what pieces work best for cards, print them, and deliver the orders to clients. I can’t tell you how many times someone has bought a Creative heARTs card with the intention of mailing it, then told us they decided to frame and display it instead. And once the checks come in, our artists are very happy.”

At the galleries, the artists can talk about their inspiration and become salespeople for their own work. Cugno says doing this is important for folks with developmental disabilities, who may be shy or have difficulty expressing themselves. 

“One of our members was very quiet and introverted, but he came alive when he had the opportunity to paint Japanese-style anime characters. He began to watch online videos on yarn art and created yarn gnomes for every holiday of the year. They sold very well!” says Cugno. “From there, he began to try new styles and even learned to set up tables and displays for our art shows.

“I’ve seen our members be overcome with emotion and pride when they sell a painting. That’s something I always stress when talking about Creative heARTs. These aren’t drawings that are made and then forgotten about or left on our fridge. This is beautiful, gallery-worthy art that brings in money for the program and its artists. We want to show everybody what our members can do, not what they can’t. We promote our abilities, not our disabilities.”

Cugno loves to watch Creative heARTs artists go from a single mark on paper to a piece that will feature at their next show. 

“This is the best example of the Army ‘Doing the Most Good,’” she says. “You never realize what need you can meet for someone until you try, and it becomes something exciting for everyone involved.” 

Flower Bed by Kim Smith

Moonlight by Samantha Roach

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