The artworks and products of these artists are featured in our shop in order to empower vulnerable individuals with special needs.
Click on their personal icons to check out the products by each of them!
Artists with Disabilities
Handcrafted paper jewellery and crafts brand designed and made by a mother-daughter team, Jane and Yue Ting. Beads By YTJ was inspired by Yue Ting (25), who has autism. She enjoys the art making process of quilling. Quilling is an art form that involves the use of strips of paper that are rolled, shaped, and glued together to create decorative and intricate designs. The search for a purposeful life by Yue Ting has led to the making of these beautifully handcrafted accessories using the skills that she is gifted in. The paper jewellery pieces are lightweight and comfortable to wear, and are all coated with a water resistant layer.
Beads By YTJ products are made to order. They can make meaningful personal gifts! Styles, patterns and colours can be customisable at additional costs. Email us directly to make an enquiry.
With no formal training in art, Cindy Phua is a young adult who has shown a talent in drawing and painting since young. She worked as a nail artist for over 10 years before turning to art as a form of therapy when she was struggling with mental health issues and severe anxiety, rendering her unable to work.
Through the process, she re-discovered her passion and her eye for detail. Cindy’s paintings are her view of a hyper-realistic, dream-like world where colours and nature collide. Her paintings are her tangible expressions of hope, peace and happiness; the same feelings she hopes to bring to those who view them. It is Cindy’s dream and aspiration to be an artist and to also advocate for mental health issues through her own experience.
AGE: 18
DISABILITY: Chromosome 18P deletion
Chel Sie has a rare disorder - Chromosome 18P deletion - which is a chromosome abnormality that occurs when there is a missing or deleted copy of genetic material on the chromosome 18. The severity of the condition varies and is dependent on the size and location of the deletion as well as the genes involved. In Chel Sie’s case, it is considered severe with significant developmental delay affecting her both physically and mentally. Although Chel Sie is 18, her physical appearance is that of a 10-year-old, and her mental development is at a pre-school level. She is also diagnosed with autism and her condition has rendered her non-verbal. Given her age, she has been discharged from her special needs school, and her family has been looking for meaningful engagements for her, such as art making.
AGE: 9
DISABILITY: SMA Type 2 (Spinal Muscular Atrophy)
Chloe has a rare disorder Spinal muscular atrophy type 2 (SMA2), which is a genetic neuromuscular disorder that affects the nerve cells that control voluntary muscles (motor neurons). She is wheelchair bound and has weak fine motor skills. She is aware she is different from other children, often feeling left out during physical education and sports activities. However, she maintains a positive outlook to life and has a love for art. She hopes that she is able to create art that people would love and that they will buy her artwork!
AGE: 13
DISABILITY: ADHD
Jayden is diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and needs medication as his condition is severe. ADHD is a Neuro-development disorder that can cause an individual to face difficulties in practicing self-control, and paying attention sitting still. However, this does not hinder Jayden's love for painting and mixing colors, which has enabled him to create many beautiful art pieces during his Art Therapy sessions. For some of his art pieces, he co-creates them with his younger brother Javier and his sister Janelle - who has an unknown rare disorder. In addition to creating art, his favorite pastimes include cooking and baking.
AGE: 20
DISABILITY: Autism
Jun Kai is diagnosed with autism. Drawing calms Jun Kai and helps him to regulate his emotions. Jun Kai also loves Lego constructions and is particularly intrigued at how the Lego technic gears interact. Jun Kai is very talented in art and has an eye for detail.
AGE: 13
DISABILITY: Autism
Jonas is one of the three children in his family and all of them are diagnosed with different special conditions. Jonas is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder while his brothers both have an immunodeficiency disorder which requires them to be on lifetime treatment. Jonas is a young aspiring artist who is incredibly talented at art making. He loves rainbows, Mario and pirates!
AGE: 9
DISABILITY: Agammaglobulinae, a rare genetic condition.
Titus is the youngest of the three children in his family, and all of them are diagnosed with different special conditions. Titus and his brother both have an immunodeficiency disorder which requires them to be on lifetime treatment. Every four weeks, he needs to go to the hospital for an eight-hour intravenous immunoglobulin therapy in order to prevent infections such as flu. Titus struggles both emotionally and physically with his disorder, where he uses art as a way forward. Titus enjoys building Lego and his favourite colour is blue!
AGE: 13
DISABILITY: Dyselxia, Immunodeficiency Disorder and Bruton's Agammaglobulinaemia (a rare genetic disorder).
Lucas is one of the three children in his family and all of them are diagnosed with different special conditions. Lucas has an immunodeficiency disorder which requires him to be on lifetime treatment. Every four weeks, he needs to go to the hospital for an eight-hour intravenous immunoglobulin therapy in order to prevent infections such as flu. Lucas also has dyslexia and struggles with his academics in school. Lucas loves art and is incredibly talented. His mother hopes that he will be able to pursue a career in arts when he is older. He also loves animals and Sonic the Hedgehog!
AGE: 20
DISABILITY: Autism
Leslie Lim is one of our artists. His hobbies include singing, playing the guitar, keyboard and cello. He struggled with speech delay until he was five years old, when he started learning about art, and it has become an important form of expression and communication for Leslie. His artwork mainly involves different elements of nature such as animals, people, trees and leaves. He enjoys making art because it acts as a stress-reliever and helps him to understand the bigger picture of life.
Artists from Programs
Art for Good uses art to reach out directly to children from low-income families in one-room rented flats, hence the name Art Outreach. We provide free art enrichment classes and art excursions to underprivileged children who would otherwise not be able to afford them. We hope to use art to improve the quality of life, promote good mental health and well-being to the less fortunate, starting with the children. Artworks are made by the children, who want to play an active role in giving back to the community and contributing to our art programs. Proceeds from the sales will go towards our non-profit community art outreach programs.
Art and crafts from our “Refugee Women Empowerment Program”, where we empower the women from refugee facilities by teaching them crafting skills. The crafts include sewing, embroidery, and decoupage. Art for Good manages this project to support refugee women, where we sponsor them art materials and then purchase their completed products. The intention of this project is to encourage interaction, engagement and create sustainable income for the refugee women. More information on the project can be found here.
Art Partners & Supporters
Totally for Good is a brand collaboration between TotallyHotStuff™ and Art for Good. Totally for Good offers corporate gifts imbued with meaning and love, embellished with artworks created by young artists with disabilities. This initiative hopes to raise awareness and empowers artists with disabilities, by sustaining them with a form of passive income.
TotallyHotStuff™ is a lifestyle brand that offers creative, unique and novel gifts for retail customers and corporate clients. With their expertise and through this partnership, Art for Good is able to help to develop merchandise and products to feature artworks by local artists with disabilities.
Amanda is a certified and experienced Art Therapist who enjoys art making. Most of the art works she has made, is response art to the art therapy work she is doing with children. Response art is artwork created by art therapists in response to material that arises in their therapy work. Art therapists use response art to contain difficult material, express and examine their experiences, and share their experiences with others.
She also explores different art mediums to see how it works and what could work best for the beneficiaries, for different programs and platforms. She aspires to become a better artist for herself and for others. She hopes some day that her art can find a special place in people’s homes!
Amanda Chen