“Listen — An Inclusive Art Exhibition,” runs through Friday and features 84 pieces from 107 artists in a variety of media. The Creative Expressions Art Club at Citizen Advocates sponsored the show for artists from Clinton, Franklin, Essex and St. Lawrence counties, from 3-year-olds to people in their 70s. They created works with oil paint on canvas, photography, acrylics, graphite, collage, sculpture, melted crayons and mixed media. Citizen Advocates is a nonprofit corporation that serves people with developmental disabilities, mental illness and substance abuse issues. It has facilities in Malone and Saranac Lake.

“We wanted to reach out to our community within Citizen Advocates to create the show to highlight the diversity of what we do and to show who we were,” Director of Waiver Services Kary Johnson said.

Artists’ works are strewn throughout the main room in the VIC, which lets a visitor look in any direction and see art. Visitors are also given a list of the works and artists in the room, allowing them to go on a scavenger hunt to explore each piece.

The show starts at the VIC’s welcome book with a dog sculpture made out of stones, which is followed by detailed landscapes, sunsets and trees as well as colorful abstracts focused on splatters, triangles and a meticulously beaded cornucopia.

“Rev it Up!” a motorcycle mosaic by Wayne French, hangs on a column in the Paul Smith’s College Visitors Interpretive Center for the Citizen Advocates’ art show “Listen.” (Enterprise photos — Kelly R. Carroll)

The exhibit also includes many pieces inspired by animals with water color birds that seem to be splashed on to paper, a cartoon frog and elephant embellished with glitter, a patterned horse made out of rice and a butterfly collage created as a collaboration between several artists.

The show also housed several black-and-whites including a charcoal of an old man and two portraits of actor Leonard Nimoy. The exhibit also included a “map” of Saranac Lake with twists easy to get lost in, and a green and brown stained glass image of the female body that catches the light from the sun outside.

Citizen Advocates put on the exhibit to encourage creative expression, self-support and independence among the individuals supported by the agency, which serves as a work program for people with a need for developmental and behavioral health support.

“What we’re trying to do is show that a lot of us do like to create and that the creative process is important for everyone,” Johnson said. “It’s an important part of being a human being. The people that are involved in that get the same thing out of it that all of us do when we really feel like we created something.”

The 41-year-old agency, which has been showcasing artwork since 2011, hopes to put on similar shows in the future, Johnson said. She is open to talking with people who would be interested in hosting the pieces.

“Joy”, an oil painting by Diana Cox, hangs on the wall in the Paul Smith’s College Visitors Interpretive Center for the Citizen Advocates’ art show “Listen.” (Enterprise photo — Kelly R. Carroll)

“We really liked that we had a more substantial show that ran for a length of time,” Johnson said. “The exhibit really is to add to the vibrant art culture that’s already part of our community, especially in Saranac Lake.”

The exhibit is free and open to the public Tuesdays through Sundays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to the VIC website.

“We’ve had a very positive response,” Johnson said. “We had an opening (reception Nov. 3), and about 70 people did attend that. I think there was appreciation for some people, and I think there was amazement for other people. People felt it was a good show, so it’s all been positive.”