Opulent Mobility Exhibition: Information

 

WHAT: 11th Annual Opulent Mobility exhibition

WHEN: December 18, 5-8 PM –   Exhibit opening with live performances
               December 19, 1-4 PM –   Curator walkthrough
               December 20, 12-3 PM – Masks required exhibit walkthrough

WHERE: Thymele Arts, 4851 Santa Monica Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90029

WHO: Disabled artists and disability arts supporters

Opulent Mobility 11th Anniversary Exhibition Celebrates Disability Art, Hollywood, CA 

Opulent Mobility 2026 at Thymele Arts in Hollywood, CA December 18-20th celebrates 11 years of showcasing disability art and disabled artists. This year we focus on disabled joy, because we cannot create a better world unless we imagine one first.

Opening reception:
Friday, Dec. 18 from 5-8 PM
Live fiber wrapping performance by Emily Burkhead and music by Tom Peters.
Curator walkthrough on Saturday, Dec. 19 from 1-4 PM
Masks required walkthrough and closing on Sunday, Dec. 20 from 12-3 PM

Opulent Mobility is an international annual exhibition that asks artists to re-imagine disability as opulent and powerful. It is curated by founder A. Laura Brody with disability arts pioneer Anthony Tusler. Founded in 2015, Opulent Mobility hosts annual open calls for artworks that celebrate a positive and insightful perspective on the disability experience.

Many thanks to the artists and allies who make these exhibits possible!

Artists:
Linda Andrei, Ashley Bravin, A. Laura Brody, Emily Burkhead, Diane Bush, Cathy Engel-Marder, Marta Feinstein, Dellis Frank, gini, Nicola Hopkins, Julianne Huang, Morgan Hyatt, David Isakson, Kimberly-Ann, Suzann Kundi, Jace Laakso, Emma Major, Ellen Mansfield, Monica Marks, Kelly Meiners, Kina Mickhail-Giblin, Sasha More, Dylan Mortimer, Joy Murray, Kristen Olinger, Tom and Linda Peters, Barbara Romain, Emily Tironi, Gwynneth VanLaven, and Alicia Wyneken.

This exhibition is dedicated to the Opulent Mobility artists we have lost, Patricia Fortlage and Barbara Romain, and to all disabled artists who are struggling in these dangerous times. In their memory, and for those still with us, we work to create a world where disability is celebrated instead of feared and demeaned.

Accessibility and parking:
Thymele Arts is wheelchair accessible through the elevator on the ground floor. Paid below ground parking is in a lot immediately around the corner off of Western. Detailed art descriptions for our low vision and Blind guests are available in a large print booklet on site and online via QR codes, and ASL interpretation for the recorded curator walk through with captioning will be shared on the Opulent Mobility YouTube channel for our Deaf and hard of hearing guests.

While we try to anticipate and provide access needs, sometimes it is not possible to guess what will work best for individuals without asking. Contact us for questions about accessible parking and other access needs 5 business days in advance and we will do our best to accommodate you!

Media Contact: A. Laura Brody, curator at opulentmobility@gmail.com

Opulent Mobility 2026: Thymele Arts

 

Gothic Glitz Walker Front

Gothic Glitz Walker Back

New Exhibition: Enter the Goddess IV: Raven's Gallery

 

The Woman I've Become

(self portrait)

NFS

About Myself As an Artist

As long as I can remember, I have been entranced with creating art and taking photographs.  Art was always my favorite subject in school & I can remember standing in front of an easel in 2nd grade & painting.

I remember painting by numbers, but that the areas were so small that I just faked it & expanded many of the areas.  

My mother had a Kodak Brownie Bakelite camera, which she never used, I somehow got a hold of it & would spend hours snapping photos, sans film... late on I was given Kodak Instamatic cameras, one was a funky green color.  Before automatic focus taking photographs was difficult for me, especially using a camera with a Fresnel lens, as my eyesight is less than, so I could not see the dots in order to focus the camera.  I've gone through several 35mm cameras and I wasted a lot of film, so I am grateful for my digital cameras, as I only print out what I deem worthy of printing & framing.   

Now I'm using Fuji Fine-pix to photograph my artwork & garden and a Nikon D-3500.  Both are refurbished and there really isn't any difference in the quality of prints. The biggest differences are that the Nikon allows for inter-changeable lenses, which the Fine-pix does not, however, they both have the same focal range and due to my vision limitations, with the Fine-pix I have to use the LED screen and the viewfinder with the Nikon.

My current artwork runs a wide range of mediums: I paint with watercolors and acrylic paint, I do own oil paints, but do not use them very often (although I like that they allow for a longer drying time); I use both Caran de'Ache Neo-Colors II & Faber-Castell Gelatos, and when I'm outside of my studio & use watercolor pencils. I create mixed media/collage pieces on paper, in my sketchbooks, on canvas, & cradleboard. More recently my work has extended itself to 3-D and assemblage creations.

I base my decisions on what to create based on the criteria for upcoming juried art exhibitions that pique my interests, hence the different techniques, subjects, & types of materials I use.

Art associations past & present (*) include:

* Arroyo Arts Collective

* Art & Cake (formerly Shoebox)

Buenaventura Art Association

California Creative Arts

Creative Arts Center

Descanso Gardens' Education & Plants Records Departments

* Highway 2 Art Group

* LELA International: Lanterns of East Los Angeles

* Los Angeles Makery

* National Women's Caucus for Art

* Opulent Mobility

* Southern California Women's Caucus for Art

VITA Art Center

Ventura County Council for Art

Verdugo Hills Art Association

Descanso Gardens: Growing Habitat

Online Groups include:

ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) 2 groups

Drawing & Painting Ida Anderson-Lang

Gel Printers Summit

Kaleidoscope

Melanie Rivers Art Community

Postcard Art Swap

Sketchbook Revival

Willowing Arts

Woman Unleashed

Year of Wild Nature

You can view more of my work at: 

https://www.instagram.com/la.photo.kat/

https://www.facebook.com/LA.Photo.KAT

The Difference Between AI & Digital Art: Arroyo Arts Collective

 

Digital Art is Not AI Art: 

AI Amalgamations Are Not Art

Digital art is created by a human hand using computer software, whereas, Artificial Intelligence (AI) created art is generated automatically by using text prompts.

Digital Art requites hundreds of manual brushstrokes, color choices,  and years of practiced skill on programs like Photoshop or Procreate.  AI art relies on algorithms that predict and assemble pixels based on commands without personal physical input.

Human Intent: Digital pieces reflect a person's lived experiences, emotions, and choices.  AI models lack consciousness and merely merge pre-existing patterns from training data.

Skill Development: digital artists build transferrable foundations in anatomy, perspective, and stroke control that apply directly to traditional mediums such as paint or pencil.

AI art does not requite human skill or creativity: it is merely gleaned pre-created images created and owned by humans that have been located on the Internet/World Wide Web.

LELA International's Art Without Borders Online Exhibition

 My artwork has been accepted into LELA International's Art Without Borders online exhibition, juried by the distinguished art juror Betty Brown.

Calavera y Gorrión

Outdoor Seating in Red

Tijuana Border Wall

The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place awards, along with the Honorable Mentions, will be announced during the online opening reception on November 6th @ 5:00 PM, via Zoom. Please join us using the link below:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/8630260641?pwd=cWFhZnE5OGkydUg0OFdMT1JYbXMxQT09

Holiday Boutique: Saturday Nov. 14th

Holiday Boutique:

Saturday November 14th

10:00 am - 2:00 pm

Hueneme Bay Community: Anacapa Room

2600 Lido Blvd: Port Hueneme