Visual artists, writers, performers, and budding filmmakers are essential members of the Evolve community. Our arts programs provide exciting opportunities for artists to expand their social networks and leverage their creative skills in any field.

future camp

current programs

10 days of engaging group and one-on-one arts instruction designed to help students prepare for their futures through lessons in creative expression.

Stay tuned for our 2021 plans!

evening of arts for autism gallery show

An annual show featuring 12-20 Western Pennsylvania artists with developmental disabilities.

creating accessible video content project

Thanks to generous support from FISA Foundation, nine students are learning to:

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• Edit film content using Adobe Premiere

• Write scripts for audio descriptions for blind and visually impaired audiences

• Utilize closed captioning software

Participants will apply what they have learned by adding closed captions and audio description to Evolve’s 2019 production Parallels. 

In 2021, Evolve will hire graduates of this program to offer accessible video content to the community. 

Does your organization have a need for a PSA, commercial, social media, or other video content? Reach out to johanna@evolve-coaching.org to tell us more about your project.

monthly creative challenges ... coming soon!

Led by our community members, these monthly challenges are intended to stretch and build our artists’ creative muscles to keep them actively producing work.

film productions

Parallels is a short film created by Evolve students and produced by the Evolve team, about the special relationship between two teenage brothers, Ray and Ricky, one of whom is on the autism spectrum. The film follows the brothers through a seemingly normal day at home, at school, and out in the world. In reflecting about the day’s events with their counselor, each brother discovers something about the other -- and about themselves. 

about the film

In the summer of 2017, more than a dozen teens and young adults with autism, in partnership with the Evolve team and film industry professionals, collectively wrote the script for Parallels, a short film about the special relationship between a young teenager on the autism spectrum and his brother.

“A lot of things about Parallels make me proud, but I am most proud of being an autistic person and representing a person with autism in our film,” said Joe Hnath, the 18-year-old actor playing the role of the autistic brother, Rick, in the film. “I have a brother in real life, so this experience has reminded me of my own family and it has inspired me to look into producing, directing, and acting as a career.” 

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The production of Parallels offered a unique opportunity for the participants to pursue their love of filmmaking while gaining professional skills that are transferable to any work environment. 

“For me, it was very important to show people the real experiences that people with autism have that others may not think about,” said Jared Braun, the 21-year-old director of Parallels. “In our film, we cover a lot of real situations that I’ve experienced in my own life since high school. We show how a person with autism may struggle to receive a compliment, or how they may have to do specific things to prepare for their day. It was really important to me to capture a lot of the social situations that people with autism can find to be stressful or uncomfortable.”