A donated storefront at 1639 Abbot Kinney Blvd. in Venice is serving a dual purpose for The Help Group: community space and public gallery for neurodivergent young artists. Limitless opened during the week before Sept. 12, according to LAist.
The property was donated to The Help Group by Susan Berman, a board member and the nonprofit’s president and CEO, she told LAist. The organization has served people with autism and mental-health challenges for 85 years. Berman said the gallery is intended to show the public the abilities of neurodivergent artists and provide another form of expression for people who may not communicate conventionally.
The work on view
One featured work is I <3 NY, made by 15-year-old Noah Remis. The watercolor incorporates the titles of musicals including Hamilton and Sweeney Todd, LAist reported. Remis told the outlet that he enjoys the musicals, hopes to act on Broadway and wants his work to encourage other children.
Limitless is open Thursday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., according to LAist. Berman, who has worked at The Help Group for more than four decades, told the outlet that she intends to develop the space further.
The broader arts-access gap
The gallery also addresses a broader disparity in arts participation. According to the National Endowment for the Arts, adults with disabilities compose nearly 12 percent of the U.S. adult population but make up just under seven percent of adults attending performing arts events or visiting art museums or galleries. The same research found that adults with disabilities are just as likely as all Americans to create visual art and do creative writing.
A gallery in a heavily commercialized district
The gallery’s location places a nonprofit arts project on a major retail corridor. Various Small Fires operated on Abbot Kinney in the early 2010s, according to the gallery’s website. The Art Newspaper later reported that Abbot Kinney had shifted from an arts-oriented area toward a commercial retail hub, while rising rents and corporate investment made space more difficult for independent galleries to secure: The Art Newspaper.
A commercial listing describes Abbot Kinney as a busy shopping and dining corridor and says Venice receives more than 16 million visitors annually, according to Conroy Commercial. In that setting, The Help Group’s donated space provides Limitless with a visible public venue without relying on a conventional gallery lease.
The nonprofit behind the space
Berman became The Help Group’s president and CEO in October 2023, succeeding founder Dr. Barbara Firestone, who retired after 48 years leading the organization, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Times reported that the nonprofit operates programs in Culver City, Sherman Oaks, Valley Glen, Van Nuys and Inglewood and serves more than 6,000 children and families each year.
