Open Studio Project and Austin Special Chicago present Good Art by Tim Holliman and Mark Suntres—oil pastels by artists from the Austin Special Chicago Arts Program. Tim creates Pop-Art portraits featuring his favorite media personalities, athletes, and entertainers. And Mark translates images of landscapes, monuments, and architecture into rich and colorful representations.

As self-taught artists with developmental disabilities, their work is an expression of the essential human need for creation and a celebration of the joy of life.

Austin Special Chicago is a nonprofit, grassroots, community-based, social service agency founded in 1953 to support individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities. The Austin Special Chicago Art Program facilitates and guides developmentally disabled clients who show a strong inclination to express themselves through the visual arts. The artists are all self- taught. Our mission is to help them develop their skills, nurture their talent, and provide an opportunity for their art to be recognized and shared. We exhibit, promote, and sell the artists’ works to provide earned income and a sense of personal achievement, as well as to integrate the artists into the wider arts community.