Color

c o l o r

summer 2013

to embolden people to find their vibrance

HOME IS WHERE THE ART IS the hidden gem of homeless art

CHROMACOMA

color’s suprising impact on life

Perspective this street art

isn’t as 3-dimensional as it appears

contributors Cara DeWitt

Cara is a native Austinite. She enjoys playing music – she is currently studying french horn and occasionally piano on the side – as well as listening to it.

She plays soccer and swims, as well. In her free time, she likes reading and sometimes writing and drawing. Her favorite colors are purple and turquoise because they’re bright and fun.

Zoë Feder Zoë is on the LBJ colorguard and winterguard. She is most interested in pursuing writing and reading. She is very intrigued by less accepted forms of art such as graffiti and tattoos. Zoë’s favorite color is yellow because it is bright like the sun.

Mica Mangibin Mica is a passionate, filipino-born swimmer and piano player. She enjoys writing stories, and confesses her love of her Barbies despite her age. Mica loves music, particularly types such as R&B, Dubstep, and Pop. She would like to pursue a career in music or teaching.

Her favorite color is turquoise because it reminds her of the beach.

2 color | summer 2013

LETTER FROM THE

EDITORS

When it comes to finding art in Austin, there’s no one better to ask than a native. Color is devoted to finding new and fresh art forms around this unique city where designs and creations that spark our curiosity can be found at every street corner.

This edition of Color is meant to do the same thing for our readers as seeing the art around the city. We are here to inspire you to create and to stimulate your creative mind drive what you see. We’re not here to redefine art, the art is doing that on its own.

When most people think of art, they envision a large canvas with a portrait in muted tones, or maybe bright splashes of color in loosely geometric patterns hanging on the white marble wall of an art museum. An art museum where you are not allowed to comment or question without being ‘shushed’ by a wide-shouldered security guard. The creations we want to showcase and that you, the reader, want to see are just waiting to be discovered. Color is here to find it for you. We look in the less known places and expose beauty for what it should be seen as. It’s our mission to encourage you to question art, to try to understand it, and to help you find that one piece that inspires you to find your enthusiasm.

Thank you and we hope you enjoy this edition as much as we do.

summer 2013 | color 3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

a parade of cows the facts and figures behind the Austin CowParade

chromacoma

the impact of color on emotions and mood

your painted world

8

learn to make paint from household items

4 color | summer 2013

12 6

18

home is where the art is

the homeless have a chance at geting off the streets

artists manipulate street art to appear 3-dimensional

perspective

tips from the experts

songwriting secrets

20 14

summer 2013 | color 5

All the materials you will need for your endeavor. These inclue eggs, chalk , food coloring, a container, beer, sugar, water, laundry detergent, paint and plastic bags.

your

Painted Story and Art by ZoĂŤ Feder

world

1

THE FRAT BOY ART

recipe inspired by Crafting a Green World writer, Becky Striepe

1 bottle of beer 1/2 cups of flour food coloring

Step One: Mix the beer and flour together.

Step Two: Add the food coloring and mix together.

Step Three: Break up all clumps and add more flour if nessecary.

Add more flour for a thicker consistency.

sometimes you have to get a little dirty to YOU UNDERSTAND that make a beautiful piece. You also know, because you are pretty and smart, that you cannot keep spending money constantly on new paints. Also, because you are pretty, smart, and environmentally conscious, you know the resources on this planet remain limited.

Discover a few new ways to make your own color through homemade paints.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN PAINTS

2

A NOVEL IDEA

recipe from

Martha Stewart Living, January 2007

3

BREAK SOME EGGS

recipe from

Demand Media writer, Rachel Steffan

4

EAT YOUR ART

recipe from About.com ‘Family Crafts’ writer, Sherri Osborn

1 cup latex paint

1 egg yolk

1 egg yolk

small container

colored chalk

1/2 tsp. water

2 tbsp. non-sanded grout

1 tsp. water

food coloring

paint stirrer

2 resealable plastic bags

small bowl

small container Step One: Pour the 1 cup of latex paint into the container.

Step One: Mix together egg yolk and water to form egg tempura base.

Step One: Put the yolk in a bowl and add the water.

Step Two: Add the 2 tablespoons of unsanded tile grout to the paint.

Step Two: Place the colored chalk in the two bags and crush into a fine powder.

Step Two: Mix the yolk and water together well.

Step Three: Mix with a paint stirrer, carefully breaking up clumps.

Blend very well for a smooth writing surface.

Step Three: Add the powdered chalk to the egg tempura base.

Supplement white chalk and food coloring for colored chalk.

Step Three: Add food coloring until desired color is achieved.

Brush onto cookies for baking for a colorful treat. summer 2013 | color 7

Photo courtesy of Bailey Quin

C

ounselor’s room. Midday. A light aquamarine color covers the walls while the furniture presents itself in soft browns and greys. A student sits on a beige sofa towards the end of the room. Her body shakes, tense from the stress of seemingly difficult and infinite amounts of homework. She feels as if there was a big weight pressing her down, with no one to lift it off. Gazing at the surrounding decor, she sighs. Her heartbeat slows down. She begins to calm down and loosen up. The once stressed student gradually turns into a calm and collected girl.

The girl may have had the ability to recover quickly from anxiety, an important skill in the rigors of school life. However, a big factor in her calming down is something we fail to think of: the counselor’s room itself.

The counselor may have strategically chosen the cool colors that surround the room to cause the sweet, relaxing sensation. The cool blues make the blood pressure lower, soothing the mind. The browns represent stability, causing one to keep their emotions intact. It may seem surprising, but color can prove to be the perfect battle plan for controlling emotions.

“Color can be emotionally evocative and powerfully symbolic,” art therapist Mandy Rutherford says. Art therapists like Mandy use color and creative

techniques such as drawing, painting, and pottery to evaluate their client’s emotions and help them balance out their feelings. Most of Mandy’s therapy sessions have a particular use with color. “Use of color in art therapy sessions comes up in two ways, color used and identified meaning,” Mandy says. “I have used color with clients to do emotion mapping, draw outline of client on butcher paper, client creates a color key assigning an emotion per color and then identifies where those feelings are experienced somatically.

This can be very informative.”

Using and applying colors for the right situation may have the right effect. Austin teacher and clinical psychologist Maria Francisco uses colors to enhance brain activity in her students. Bright, warm colors surround her classroom to exude the feeling of warmth and welcoming.

Through color, she can learn a little more about her kids. “Colors play an important role in learning, getting to know the child, that is, their personality, likes and dislikes and temperament,” Maria says.

Through her students actions, mood, and clothing, Maria discovers their color preferences. Younger girls tend to like pink or purple, while boys go for the blue, red, or green. “[The kids] come to school wearing princess costumes, or Spiderman and Batman shirts,” Maria laughs.

TOP: Maria’s students create a spring mural to decorate their classroom.

BOTTOM: Maria’s students portray art in different ways, drawing and painting a big favorite. Photos courtesy of Maria Francisco 10 color | summer 2013

“When they color or paint, they use their favorite crayons or markers first. Sometimes, when there’s not enough pink or purple, they will fight

over the crayon or marker.” Multiple behavioral tests prove that little children tend to remember colors

“

Color plays much an integral part in our lives. Without it, human experience would be vastly different.

”

rather than verbal cues. Because of their temporary inability to talk and comprehend, younger children have to interact with the world physically.

Black, white, or red infant toys encourage the baby to interact with them. Most toddlers are seen running around the aisles of the toy section carrying books, dolls, or various other toys with primary and secondary colors to as Maria says “stimulate their brain and mental functioning.”

Teenagers are a different story.

Their brains react the same way; however, they can relate to more experience process more images and verbal instruction.

“Emerging teenagers, say 5th grade and up, usually are either eager or hesitant,” Mandy says. “Small children tend to use brighter colors, primaries and tertiary colors and tend to have a non-muddying pattern. Adolescents and adults tend to use a broader spectrum of color in general. By that age, generally the person has selfidentified as an ‘artist’ or not.”

receptor called a photoreceptor, which is located in the retina, at the back of the eye. The light then gets separated into three pathways. One perceives wavelengths of somewhat-red light, another for green, and another for blue. Light reacts with one of these photoreceptors, and like the bright sun melting the mountain of snow-a natural disturbance, it causes an avalanche, altering the electrical status of the photoreceptor.

Somewhat like a telephone wire, the “electric signals” move on to the next cell in the eye, and the next, sending these signals out of the optic nerve, at the back of the eye, eventually making its way to the back of the brain, called the occipital lobe. The Occipital Lobe serves as the center for 40 different brain areas for different types of visual processing, the part of the brain that scientists haven’t figured out yet.

Teenagers choose colors based on their emotions, taste, experience, and character. For example, one may apply their favorite color to their bedroom walls, clothing, and other objects used in daily life.

“I think they go for neutral colors to condition the mind to think and have the flow instead of distraction and clutter,” Maria says.

Maria’s teenage daughter, Michaela, has a totally different perspective. “I mainly like warm colors,” Michaela says. “They make me feel happy and upbeat.”

Warm colors start up the nerves and circulation so as to cause one to become energetic. Ironically enough, Michaela particularly likes blue, a cool color. Countless color tests and surveys reveal blue as the most popular color, and along with purple, as the most preferred among teenagers. Designers and psychologists recommend blue as a bedroom wall color because it

promotes creativity and causes one to become relaxed and tranquil. “Blue is an incredibly soft color,” Liberal Arts and Science Academy freshman Ella Pettichord says. “I think it may remind [teenagers] of freedom, especially as they struggle along to try to understand their place in the universe and to try to fill the shoes of the adults their supposition to be. Purple is another cool color, and shares a similar wavelength to blue, so I think it may invoke a similar reaction.”

On a psychological level, how the brain reacts when it sees color is still a mystery that needs to be solved.

“The brain is a very capable computer but it is also very complicated, and we’re just not there yet.” says Alex Huk, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas. However, through behavioral and visual tests, we do know a few bits of the whole.

When light makes its way into the eye through the pupil, it “hits” a light

“We can predict, knowing someone’s genes, whether or not they will be able to tell apart two colors,” Huk says. “Again, disappointingly far from understanding preference or educational consequences, but the degree of precision that this [test] affords will hopefully lead to powerful therapeutic and applied knowledge over the next few generations.”

Color proves as a strong ally during the battle of life. Its influential effects on emotion and character inspire us deeply in infinite ways. Whether we complete the investigation of how colors affect brain, they have proven itself noticeable throughout every aspect of our world. People express oneself – their likes and their dislikes, their personality, and emotions through color.

“Color plays much an integral part in our lives,” Ella says. “Without it, human experience would be vastly different.” summer 2013 | color 11

A PARADE OF COWS

by Cara DeWitt

work into the night to install 40 fiberglass cow statues JULY 27, 2011. Volunteers around the Capitol City in the kickoff of the Austin CowParade. On the surface, it appears to be just another fun Austin art event, but it’s so much more: it’s the newest chapter of a worldwide charity event. The money raised at auctions at the end of the city-wide exhibit all goes to local causes. You could say that it’s all very, well, mooving.

MILLION $1.49 t o t a l r a i s e d $900,000 was recieved by the Superhero kids at Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas.

$600,000 went to overhead: expenses from the kickoff party, auction, public displays, artist commissions, etc.

AT RIGHT: Linda Figg’s “Batsy at Twilight” commemorates the iconic Austin bats. Photo courtesy of CowParade Austin.

seventy-four total cow statues.

13th:

Nov.

60

Austin artists painted

sixty

of the cows were auctioned off to Austin buyers.

$33,600 was the average bid price.

The highest was $150,000.

12 color | summer 2013

3

The cows decorated the Austin streets for

months.

BELOW: “Guitar Cow,” painted by Mary Ruden, stands in front of the Austin City Hall. Photo courtesy of CowParade Austin.

CowParade Austin KXAN.com, “‘CowParade’ art auction raises $1.5M,” November 2011 Statesman.com, “A look back at CowParade Austin,” March 2012

CowParade Worldwide

75 32 6 CITIES.

COUNTRIES.

CONTINENTS.

CowParade is the most successful public art event in the world, with more than

$30 million raised to date.

300 MILLION PEOPLE have seen at least one CowParade exhibit.

Chicago held the original CowParade in

1999.

summer 2013 | color 13

Leon Keer created “Terracotta 3D Lego Army” for the 2011 Sarasota Chalk Festival.

Photo courtesy of Leon Keer.

PERSPECTIVE

by Cara DeWitt

O

n a stretch of pavement by the Irish coast, crowds vie for a spot in front of a large piece of street art. Some take pictures of friends standing in crazy poses on the art. From any other perspective, the piece looks oddly stretched, but from the exact spot the onlookers group around, it appears as a huge icy crevasse gashed in the sidewalk. There are no red- and blue-lensed 3D glasses involved – it’s all in the perspective.

This 3D street art uses the human eye’s perception of farther away objects being smaller to create an illusion of 3-dimensionality. It’s one of the most accessible forms of art because it’s painted directly onto city streets for anyone to see.

3D street art’s popularity increases yearly as more and more artists take up the art form. Pieces can be found in cities all over the world. Increasingly, cities organize 3D street painting festivals, attracting flocks of artists and curious viewers.

These festivals represent a wide range of styles: everything from classical paintings of human figures to a PacMan board. But every piece has something in common: they all make for great photographs.

Artists use a grid in the planning of their art to stretch and distort the parts farthest from the intended viewing point so that to the viewer’s eye, each section of the grid appears the same size vertically. The art of the Renaissance inspired the technique, but only recently have artists applied it to street art.

became apparent. The viewer of 3D street art is much closer to the piece than a viewer of a far off ceiling.

Additionally, street art is viewed from an angle instead of from directly underneath. Wenner had a simple solution – use a grid to stretch out the part of the art farthest away from the intended perspective.

During the 17th century, artists painted the ceilings of Roman baroque architecture with designs meant to give onlookers an impression of the ceiling extending into the heavens.

In the thirty years since its origin, many artists have refined the technique to the technology available today and to their own styles. “In the past I have typically used a sketch, albeit rough ones, to work from. I’ve also used a camera lens to view the site and imagine a likely image for the space,” says Philadelphian artist Tracy Lee Stum, known for her 3D mural commemorating past US Winter Olympic athletes.

In 1982, Kurt Wenner took the principles used in this art as well as traditional street painting style to create his own art form. However, two major issues with applying the technique to street painting quickly

A girl runs across Edgar Müller’s Irish piece “The Crevasse.” Photo courtesy of Edgar Müller.

16 color | summer 2013

From an angle, Joe Hill’s “All Aboard!” appears slightly skewed. Photo courtesy of Choo Yut Shing.

population has.” Like all art, 3D art can be creative and spontaneous.

Stum often doesn’t use a rigid sketch to design her work.

“I may rough out an idea and once the properties of a good design are worked out, I forget the sketch and go with impulses I get while working on the actual painting,” she says.

The interactive element of 3D street paintings make them fascinating for onlookers. Because the pieces are life size, people can stand on them and pretend to be jumping into the hole, looking over the edge of the waterfall, or riding the lion. “Scaling a painting to work with live participants is a fun challenge for me,” Stum says.

“

participates in 3D street painting festivals all over the world. “The sticky base protects the work from the wind.”

Although the chalk can’t withstand the elements forever, some street art festivals take further measures to preserve the art for as long as possible.

In some cities, the picture is fixed with a special varnish.” Arndt says.

Stum has found that she will often start a design a certain way, then make significant changes when adapting it to the street. “I receive impulses and follow those absolutely – they always take me to a better result than staying with a rigid framework.”

Today, 3D street art is everywhere.

Whether it be small pieces in a festival as close to home as Houston, huge works on a stretch of the Irish seaside, or young artists aspiring to create the next masterpiece, this art form stretches the limits of perspective.

Once the properties of a good design are worked out, I forget the sketch and go with impulses I get while working on the actual painting.

”

“I spend quite a bit of time going over my image design to make it work the best it can with a particular scale.”

Unfortunately, the materials used don’t allow for permanence. The brevity of the pieces’ existence cause even more interest for onlookers. Most artists create their pieces using chalk or powdered chalk, called pigment.

Some use additional materials to protect the art. “I dilute the pigment with water and sugar,” says Nikolaj Arndt, a Russian-born artist who

However, some cities choose to wash away the art with brushes and water once a festival is over. Many of the world’s major cities have had their streets and sidewalks painted with chalk art illusions. But the art form could soon spread beyond the cities.

“Certainly big cities are terrific for these works, but I am also keen to travel to more third world countries to introduce the art form to communities there,” Stum says. “Art inspires, and oftentimes folks in those areas don’t have access to what the first world

Julian Beever works on “Meeting Madame Butterfly” in Mexico City. Photo courtesy of Nathan Gibbs. summer 2013 | color 17

SONGWRITING SECRETS story and art by Mica Mangibin

blow your mind. It tune energizes you. The lyrics inspire you. Songs don’t just pop MUSIC can out of nowhere. Artists reveal their inner-self through their songs. Their words. Their

rhythm. Their life story written and sung. Whether publicly or privately shown, songwriting serves a journal of one’s life. If you’re feeling confined and small, and you don’t know how to speak out, or if you just want a bit of creative fun, then spill your heart on paper and pencil and let the lyrics flow.

1. Feeling It Feel the inspiration rushing through your veins. Any song, event, or feeling can hit you and cause your mind to flow with creativity. Whether you won or lost a race, had a major breakup or makeup, slap or kiss, all of these can evolve into an inspiring song. Start “popcorning” words and ideas that relate to your inspiration. Write down every word that pops into your head.

Link similar words together to form one big group – the theme of your song. The theme serves as the purpose of your song. The important message that you sing out. Every aspect of the song: the words, mood, instruments chosen--must relate to the theme.

2. Writing It

Songwriting seems like a difficult task. Tapping into your creative flow can be difficult when you don’t have enough ideas to work with. Look at your words! Which ones fit with your theme the most? Knowing how to incorporate the mood is crucial if you want to let it out. Romantic ballads will usually have metaphors to enhance the drama. However, too many can sound like a Shakespeare monologue.

Party songs often have quickly-said, happy words to raise one’s energy. But as always, too much ruins the effect.

The simplicity and flow of your words will make the song sound catchy and appealing.

18 color | summer 2013

expert’s tips

“Use words that people use everyday. Because if those same words are used in just an everyday conversation, it will remind that listener of your song,” singer and songwriter Ken Hill said.

3. Catchy Chorus The chorus derives from the theme of your song. “Great choruses separate themselves by a change in melody or meter,” songwriter Richard Tuttell said. The verses of the song support the chorus. The words of the chorus burst out and link the verses together.

Michael Jackson’s “We Are the World” greatly accomplishes this. The verses talk about the struggles of the world. The chorus then smashes the meanings of the verses as it speaks about unity of the world to fight and defeat these struggles. Most people recall a song by the chorus, so make sure to keep it catchy and flowing.

does not have any variety to emotions.

A song with happy lyrics should balance out with sad lyrics. Again, in “We Are the World” the majority of the song happily talks about helping people unite to overcome their struggles. The coda balances out that optimism by taking its focus back on the problems and how they seem undefeatable. Codas may present themselves in more emotional lyrics or an upbeat instrumental passage.

Codas contribute to an effective closing with the song, the final chorus.

4. Rising Coda

The melody and tempo contribute to the mood of the lyrics. If there were no music, your lyrics would change into one long poem. Each verse should have some contrast, example, the speed or the notes.

However, extravagance can cause some confusion. Make the coda and the final chorus the most emotional.

The singer will usually tweak the melody a bit for the song to remain in the listener’s head. Experiment with the song!

The coda sounds different compared to the rest of the song, both in tune and in emotion. It exists to express the peak of one’s feelings. According to Musicologist Charles Burkhart, codas are a “particularly effortful passage” in which the purpose is for the listeners to “take it all in”, and “create a new sense of balance.” In other words, a straightforward, “just-one-feeling” song may bore a listener because it

5. Tuning It

Bringing it All Together Now for the final, most enjoyable part, producing the song. Form a band with family or friend to step up the fun, or use music programs to bump up the style. According to TopTenReviews, FL Studio Producer Edition dominates as the number one song production program. However, simple programs like Garageband, DUBturbo, or simply music recorded on your phone will work. Instruments such as piano or guitar always keep the song upbeat and interesting. Songwriting expresses the true you. It also serves as a peaceful punching-bag when one feels the need to let their feelings out. It will take time, but with more time results in better music to the ear.

Feel the creative flow? Set your heart to it and start making music!

“

I loved poetry, putting words into rhythm. I get to focus on the things that fascinate me, like how people treat each other. There is no real pattern, no way to predict love, it’s a neverending challenge. I always loved history, romanticism, and I like to look at the contrast between fairy tales and the reality of love.”

TAYLOR SWIFT, SINGER

“

If a composer could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in music.”

GUSTAV MAHLER, COMPOSER

not m ’ I it, f s. I ough .” m e thr ble pro gone omeon l a s ci ’t t so aven ches u o h u I ab to rite h it or re it w u s ER ug ten I of g thro make , SING n goi nt to VERA a I w NI RI JEN My songs are basically my diaries. Some of my best songwriting has come out of time when I’ve been going through a personal nightmare.”

GWEN STEFANI, SINGER

“

Music Biz Academy, “Something Out of Nothing: 21 Songwriting Tips.”

Brainy Quote Music Industry How To, “How To Write a Song for Beginners- A Step By Step Guide to Becoming a Songwriter.”

Ditto Music, “10 Tips on How to Boost Your Creative Side When Writing Songs.’

“

Photo courtesy of iamcootis.

home is w here

art t he

is

by ZoĂŤ Feder

Pat Bailey, Art from the Sreets artist, holds up

work at the annual show and sale. The program allowed her, a homeless woman, to create and sell her art to the public. In the Art from the Streets documentary, she was shown living in her car – the back seat folded down for a makeshift bed and the rest of the cabin too small to call a home.

summer 2013 | color 21

T

he cover of the documentary, Art from the Streets, represents the organization by the same name.

This painting simply represents a face suspended in its frame. But never has art been simple. The painting cuts off just behind the figure’s ears, whose closed eyes resonate in the sweet silence of the canvas. Painted without a clear race or gender, the face can be anyone. It becomes more human as the features disappear and soften.

Rather than a skin color, strokes of soft greens, light grays, muted blues, and hints of crimson adorn its features.

This beautiful painting easily describes Art from the Streets as a painted masterpiece that helps elucidate ourselves.

A homeless artist composed this painting, like the other works at the Art from the Streets annual show.

At the most recent show, the 20th anniversary in 2012, almost 100 homeless artists had representation and collectively created 2,000 pieces ready for purchase. Art from the Streets is an organization that provides a space for “homeless or formerly homeless” persons to create and later sell art.

The story began when Heloise Gold, with aid of a friend, started taking art supplies to a homeless shelter in Austin named Helping Our Brothers Out (HOBO). Now, that homeless shelter has adopted the name the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH).

The first show resulted from a serendipitous happening of sorts after the original founders and

volunteers saw the amount of artwork the artists had created in the short time of their classes, now called open studio sessions. And those artists didn’t have too much to create their 80 or so pieces from.

Those initial two only brought basic art supplies to the shelter and asked the people there if they wanted to paint or draw. Gold had no idea if talent existed or if any artists unknowingly awaited discovery. Most of the volunteers can’t even define the term ‘artist’, as seen in the documentary.

Twice a week at St. David’s Trinity Center, a cabinet and tables splay across a tile floor. In the wooden cupboard reside basic art supplies brushes lay waiting for the hands of the artists.

No instruction occurs at these open studio sessions. The artists’ imagination and natural talent guides them in place of a teacher.

The show has progressed in eminence since its debut in 1992 and has always had great success. “[The first show] was a totally wildly successful event for us and I think it had a really different impact on the artists,” said Bill Jeffers, one of the original founders of Art from the Streets.

“It just meant a lot to them that people would like their art, would come to the show in the first place and then would buy stuff. They were just not expecting that, kind of couldn’t believe it.”

Art from the Streets documentary cover art. The documentary follows the lives of multiple artists on the way to, and through, the show. Photo courtesy of Layton Blaylock.

22 color | summer 2013

By looking at one’s canvas, you can gain understanding of the artist as easily as looking at their heart on their sleeve. Those emotions may surprise the viewers of the piece

as they did many of the people who have gone to the shows.

Though one might expect a homeless person to throw hatred at the world because of their situation, their art does not reflect feelings of frustration.

On their “unprompted

own, to express those kind of ideas, almost ever y body g e t s busy painting stuff that they think of as being beautiful,

”

Jeffers said. “It’s a lot of beautiful landscapes, colorful abstracts, it’s just absolutely not political, it’s not angry.”

One of the artists, John Curran, who paints various landscapes, was a featured profile in the documentary.

Currently, he resides in Green Doors, an organization that helps provide affordable housing for people who struggle with homelessness.

Green Doors extended to Curran due to his status as a war veteran.

He takes his art very seriously.

“He really looked at what he was doing as his job and he would go in there and just work,” said Layton Blaylock, the mind and hands behind the documentary. For many of the individuals in the program, a main source of their profit comes

Volunteers assist at an art project in Minneapolis which also provides a space for the homeless community’s art. Photo courtesy of Alan Wilfahrt.

from the show and that gain can help the artists immensely.

an understanding and a support for the issue of homelessness.”

Jeffers talked about how some of the artists make enough from the show to put deposits down on apartments and get off the streets for a year or more.

The annual sale and show is as impressive as it is impressionable.

Art hangs everywhere, covering the fence of twisted metal they stand on. One might think it crowded where nearly a hundred artists are represented. The idea might exist that over one thousand observers might not leave enough space to breathe.

But, he said in elaboration, something inevitably happens that puts them back on the streets.

Something nearly inconsequential to us as getting sick can lead to their fall. This can put the viewer and buyer in the position to view the artists in a different position than the viewer, himself.

“They’re living, breathing, feeling human beings which have something to offer society,” Blaylock said. The audience of this show certainly understands this point.

Simply by going to the show or volunteering, the outside community reaps benefit.

“It kind of reframes what homelessness means to regular people in Austin,” Jeffers said. “I believe that they know that these are real people and are not that different from themselves. So I think there’s a huge benefit to our program in that way, just creating

glowing; each filled with a sense of pride and accomplishment at their numerous pieces of art all around them and all the community interested and involved. “[Art] can be frivolous and yet still entertaining and artful or I think it can be something that is beyond entertainment and try to allow people to see things in a different way. Art does all of those things,” Blaylock said.

In a normal scenario, the fear of congestion is valid. But, in the area of St. David’s Trinity Center, not one unhappy expression graces a face in the crowd. Every artist is

If you’re interested in volunteering or getting involved in any way, visit the Art from the Streets website at artfromthestreets.com for more information.

Homeless Subpopulations

Chronically Homeless Chronic Substance Abuse Veterans Severely Mentally Ill Victims of Domestic Violence Persons with HIV/AIDS Unaccompanied Youth (Under 18)

information from US Department of Housing and Urban Development

summer 2013 | color 23

Paint for any occasion.