The Creative Union Gallery, which used to be called, It’s a Gift, is an extension of the art program at the Walnut Street Center.

The Walnut Street Center, which assists adults with developmental disabilities, partnered with another social service organization, Outside the Lines Studio, to provide an outlet for “outsider art” artists. Outsider art refers to non- mainstream artwork.

Anyahlee Suderman works part time at the Walnut Street Center and runs the art program while managing the volunteers at the gallery, inventory and art sales.

There are three art studios including the art retail space. Suderman says that roughly 60 people pass through her art room every week for 1 to 2 hours, working on a range of art projects from masks to paintings.

At Creative Union they sell a variety of fine art: Still life, realistic, abstract, nature, mixed media, ornaments, linen shoes, hats, woven wallets, greeting cards, handmade jewelry, custom screen-printing shirts, paper flowers, bags, pillows, coasters, bookmarks and more.

Every week Suderman brings a group of Walnut Street artists over to the Outside the Lines Studio and she works with the artists on projects that culminate in installation sculptures. The group of “outsider artists” install their projects at 310 Massachusetts Ave. in Central Square, which is across the street from Middlesex Lounge.

The building on Massachusetts Avenue belongs to the MIT facilities department and they have given Suderman the use of that window space for the past two years.

Currently the window displays the group’s vision of a winter scene: An albino penguin with pink eyes stands at the North Pole surrounded by Charlie Brown Christmas trees.

Behind the winter wonderland scene hangs a giant beaded necklace that the artists created. “They worked for over a year making giant beads that are about the size of a paper towel roll,” Suderman said. After decorating, the beads were strung together and then they were displayed on the wall.

Right now, the Avant-garde artists are working on a project involving relief-block printing for blind people. They will be at the seventh annual department of developmental services focus conference on March 14, in order to learn about ways of working with people who have vision loss.

The artists will create a tactile art project, which will become a show on display at Creative Union Gallery in the spring. Visitors to the gallery will be given blindfolds so they can experience art as a blind person.

Embracing the creativity of disabled artists, the Creative Union Gallery empowers imagination, proliferating the evolution of outsider art.

Located at 29A Union Square, the shop is hard to miss with such a colorful window display.