12/31/2025
An end-of-year message from our executive director, Carissa Burkett:
Dear friends,
As 2025 comes to a close, I’m filled with gratitude for the creativity and connection that makes North Pole Studio such a special community. Every day, our artists fill the studio with imagination, collaboration, and courage – and this year, we reached more artists than ever before and in turn, their work reached more people than ever before.
From three more TriMet Lift Bus Wraps to our largest group exhibition touring around the Pacific NW, visibility for neurodiverse artists is growing and being celebrated.
This work is only possible because of people like you.
So many things in our nation and our world right now are filled with despair. We have seen devastating impacts to the most vulnerable people in our community, things that we all felt could never happen. Throughout it all, I have seen the community stand up for what they believe in and where our government has failed, people have risen up to care for and ensure that the most vulnerable people in our community are fed, cared for, and have their needs met.
With impending cuts to Medicaid, it’s difficult to predict what the lives of North Pole Studio artists will look like in 2026, but we can work together to ensure that they all have a safe, supportive studio to come to each week, that they can pursue their careers as artists, earning much needed income, and can share their perspectives within the broader community during a time when censoring and erasure of minority voices is devastating and distorting our reality and our future history.
I invite you to join us in building and investing in a community that includes and uplifts people with autism and I/DD by making an end of year gift. The work that we do IS CHANGING THE WORLD and your support helps us continue to build momentum. Your year-end gift directly supports:
🎨 Art Supplies & Materials for the Studio & Classes
🖼️ Framing Artwork for Exhibitions
🧑🎨 Scholarships for artists with financial need
🏰 Facility Expenses for the Studio & Classroom
♥️ Lives of incredibly talented artists
With heartfelt thanks,
Carissa
