Founded in 1989, Studio by the Tracks (SBTT) is a nonprofit organization with a mission of providing free art classes to troubled children and to adults with autism, Asperger’s or mental illness. The name comes from the building’s proximity to the railroad tracks in downtown Irondale; trains go thundering by on tracks less than 50 yards from the studio walls. Adults with autism work in the studio five days a week, and about a dozen of them have contributed paintings, drawings and mixed media works to a sports-themed exhibition titled “Let the Games Begin!” Muses-turned-subjects include Olympians, astronauts, the Harlem Globetrotters, heroes of Alabama and Auburn football, barnyard animals that live on Scrabble board playing fields, the Whammies from Press Your Luck and sundry other paragons of gaming and athleticism. The show opens on Thursday, Sept. 10, with a reception from 5:30-8:30 p.m. in the i.f gallery inside SBTT, located at 301 20th St. South in Irondale. For more information, call (205) 951-3317 or visit www.studiobythetracks.org.

HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS by Michael Hall.

ALABAMA FOOTBALL by Wesley.

THE SCRABBLE GAME by Art.

WHAMMIES by Michael Hall.

GALAXY by Robert.

Here’s a link to a story I wrote about SBTT prior to the spring exhibition, “Reduced, Reused, Recycled!”