When Lexington Sherbin began painting, he never imagined it would become a passion or full-time job. For Sherbin, 49, of Los Angeles, creating was a mere outlet and not something he thought he could do professionally; at the time, he didn’t know the extent of his artistic talent.
But today, more than 20 years since he picked up a paintbrush for the first time, Sherbin is actively working as an artist, painting, designing, and sculpting his way through the world. He shows his work at galleries and sells his creations to admiring fans.
His artistry breakthrough is partly thanks to a Los Angeles nonprofit called Tierra del Sol Foundation.
“I love Tierra, I love it here,” Sherbin said. “Being here is a very big opportunity, a great gift that only a few artists get to have.
“And they feature us as our authentic selves, I love that they don’t filter all that stuff out.”
Tierra del Sol Foundation is a nonprofit that provides people with disabilities with internships, employment, and education opportunities. They also have two bustling art studios where 120 artists find themselves painting, drawing, and creating in the world of ceramics and textiles, among other artistic ventures.
Sherbin, who has autism, has been creating here since 2019.
“I think so many things about Tierra, and I’m hoping places like Tierra stay open and grow for us. We are people; we are not our diagnosis or our behaviors,” Sherbin said.
“People are so mesmerized by a lot of things we do. They don’t even believe we wrote, drew, or painted [their works of art] because we are considered less than or incapable or without feeling. And they have no clue.
“It feels good to belong.”
The Tierra del Sol Foundation was founded in Sunland, Calif. in 1971. The foundation currently has two brick-and-mortar locations in Sunland and Upland. The nonprofit serves approximately 800 people. Tierra focuses on person-centered services, empowering people to actively direct their days, goals, planning, and services.
“We want all of our folks to find where their voices are in this world and where their places of value and contribution exist,” said Rebecca Lienhard, CEO of Tierra del Sol.
Lienhard has been the CEO of Tierra del Sol since 2014 but has worked with the foundation since 1990 in various capacities. She said through their work, Tierra helps launch people with disabilities out of poverty.
Disabled adults experience poverty at nearly twice the rate of their non-disabled counterparts. There are many reasons for this, including ableist societal structures that prevent people with disabilities from gaining meaningful employment. For example, in 2021, 10.1% of people with disabilities were unemployed. The jobless rate for those with a disability was about twice as high as for those without a disability.
Tierra del Sol hopes to close this gap with their art program. Here, artists with disabilities show their work multiple times a year in exhibitions at their Chinatown gallery and sell their work to vying customers. Their most recent show was in November and featured almost every artist who creates with Tierra.
One of those artists is 35-year-old Zack Stewart, who has cerebral palsy and speaks through a device. Stewart has been painting since high school and selling his work. At the November exhibition, he sold one of his pieces.
“Art allows me to work, and I have freedom,” Stewart said.
At the show, his mother, Alva Stewart, was beaming with pride.
“As a mother of an artist, it [seeing customers buy her son’s work] just means that his efforts are being rewarded,” she said. “As I get older, I worry about his future and what that will look like.
“And he’s chosen art, and art can be a very challenging way of taking care of yourself or to be contributing. But this reinforces that he is actually on the right path. It’s his passion and his passion coming to fruition.”
Lienhard believes that the work Tierra does is helping to change a faulty system.
“I think that the system, in general, is historically biased, that people born with lifelong disabilities will somehow always be dependent persons in this world. And therefore, the system works on the assumption that the state will provide for them or families will provide for them and so forth,” she said. “And the way those systems are developed, it really does entrench that person in a life of poverty where if you earn outside the system, you lose benefits.
“We’re doing the advocacy work to try to unbundle all of those ties because if you look at the individual person and what they may earn on disability income alone, it’s poverty; it’s actually below what we would be accepting for a general poverty level. So creating pathways for people to earn an income is really critical.”
Two other artists earning through Tierra del Sol are 40-year-old Kyle Johnson and 33-year-old Chelsea Lenninger.
“When I was young, I started drawing, and then I opened up to painting, and then I opened up further to textiles, and then I opened up further to poetry. I think it’s a comforting place [Tierra del Sol] for me to put my art,” Johnson said.
“I love doing art because it makes me feel happy and proud of myself,” said Lenninger, who often paints portraits of people. “I like to express myself through art.”
Lenninger also teaches art to children and the elderly.
The other aspect of creating at Tierra that Lenninger, Johnson, Stewart, and Sherbin referenced is their ability to build community and make friends.
“I think that places like Tierra give us a place to grow and learn responsibility and conduct, too, because also interacting with others can be very difficult,” Sherbin said.”I think who we are [people with disabilities] is really great.
“I’m always inspired by my colleagues here when I’m looking at the things behind you, and I’m like, wow, the colors and everything. It makes me feel energy.
“So when I come here, I feel like this is our space, this is our place.”