Visionaries & Voices (V&V) began in 1999, when two social workers in the Greater Cincinnati area started to come across artists with developmental disabilities making incredible works of art in isolation.  Partnering with these artists (the first to be discovered were Raymond Thunder-Sky, Antonio Adams, Richard Brown and Paul Rowland), they found venues to showcase these works of art in local galleries, coffee-shops, and other locations.  The first major exhibit occurred in 2001, at Base Gallery, downtown Cincinnati.  Titled "Art Thing," this exhibit was attended by hundreds of people, and was featured in local and regional media.  After this success, the idea of a studio began to gain momentum -- a studio where artists like Raymond, Antonio, Richard and Paul would be in charge and have the resources and encouragement to create more works and to teach the community how vital their visions and talents are to our collective culture.  This studio, eventually called "Visionaries & Voices," was envisioned as a place where artists of all abilities could work together, a "home-base" where creativity, community and collaboration would flourish.