Existential Explorations
Say hello to the Art Rise Collective’s first cohort! Daniela-Guerrero Rodriguez, David Herrera, Derek Armstrong, Dionne Co, Gillian Der, Holly Steele, Kat Mortimer, Linden Yin Choi, Luz Rosas, Shruthi Budnar, Zell Couver, supported by Kristin Szilvassy and Facilitated by Aaniya Asrani.
From January to April 2025, this powerful initiative took shape in the form of the Art Rise Collective, a bi-weekly gathering of artists with and without disabilities, who came together to reflect on deep human questions through creativity. This group of artists really exemplified what it meant to foster connection through being vulnerable alongside one another, while exploring what it means to exist.
Most sessions centered on a "big picture" question inspired by posAbilities’ strategic vision for 2024-25, with themes anchored in human flourishing, beauty, and spirituality. Participants delved into the theme of "Existential Explorations" asking: What remains of us after we are gone? What does it mean to truly exist? What is our purpose on this planet?
From these questions arose an evolving creative dialogue, expressed through a stunning variety of mediums: painting, sculpture, embroidery, collage, poetry, music, dance, photography, comics, and digital art. Some identified as professional artists, others as hobbyists, and still others as newcomers to creative expression. What united them was curiosity, courage, and care.
Sessions were intentionally designed with accessibility in mind - dimmable lights, options to walk around, and quieter areas to meet individual needs. We grounded our time together with a co-created group agreement, where we agreed to “step forward and step back,” to allow space for everyone, and to focus on “calling in versus calling out.” This greatly shaped a space of mutual respect and understanding between everyone in the room.
Art-making became a vessel for storytelling, personal healing, and community building. Participants unpacked prompts like “What does home or belonging look like for you?” and “What stories do the stars tell?” through personal reflection and group sharing. Responses were as diverse as they were profound: “Home is imagination,” “My body is a temporary home,” “Home is in a state of transformation,” and “it is in many places and many people.”
Participants often remarked on how meaningful it was to be seen and heard in a room full of strangers-turned-collaborators. Tears were shed, laughter shared, and art created in response to each other’s truths. As one participant reflected, “Everyone connected over being vulnerable and showing emotions to a room of people we don’t know that well. We got to know each other on a deeper level.”
Each week’s theme sparked a new wave of creativity:
Stars as Storytellers: One participant likened embroidery to appearing neat on the surface and chaotic underneath - a metaphor for human complexity. Another created a collage from sci-fi and mythology to express feeling seen through fiction. A zine depicted the artist as a dog to illustrate alienation. Others stitched old family photos into fabric, created interactive constellations with Velcro stars, or performed songs about life in night communities. Through all of this, stars became a metaphor for history, identity, and cosmic belonging.
Flourishing and Pleasure: The idea of flourishing took shape through communal brainstorming, dancing, collage, and even corset-making for a burlesque show. One poignant conversation asked, “Can pain be pleasurable?” Participants explored their “edges” - the boundary between discomfort and growth - using movement, breath, and embodied reflection. They even invented a new word together - Plenurgy! Where energy meets pleasure, which turned into a prompt for the week.
Arrival, Belonging, and Connection: One participant shared a desire to replace the "metal box" around their heart with a nest — a soft space of comfort and love. Another described the process of being brave enough to share a deeply personal poem with the group. Participants consistently supported one another: when one member felt overwhelmed by the loudness of the room, others offered quiet companionship in a more serene space, a moment that exemplified the group’s ethos of care.
The culmination of this journey was the show and the creation of the collaborative Pleasure Labyrinth, unveiled at Alternatives Gallery and Studio in May 2025. This immersive artwork invited viewers to explore their senses by walking through a meditative spiral on the floor outlined with candles, an invitation to touch a variety of textures on the wall and be enveloped in a video collaboration featuring movement and sound.
The labyrinth was surrounded by individual works created throughout the months, each piece an offering of insight into life’s big questions. Together, the collective work and solo pieces spoke to expressions of flourishing through community. You were asked not just to look at the work, but to feel with it and ask what kind of world it is that we want to co-create.
The Art Rise Collective didn’t just create art, it built something rarer - a container for people to feel, be, and belong. As one participant put it “What felt most supportive and inspiring to me was the way people were brought together, the space we were given to explore, and the genuine freedom and encouragement throughout. That kind of environment is rare, and it made a huge difference - I honestly think more programs like this should exist.”