Imagine a room full of acceptance, a place where the artistic spirit is revered, a place of celebration of differences, where families and people on the spectrum, regardless of intensity of symptoms, are fawned over for the creative gifts that they bring to the community.
Well, now you are picturing the art opening for “Viewpoints: Art from Artists with Autism,” held at the Yarborough Branch of the Austin Public Library back in February. We had around 100 people brave a cold rainy day to show the love to the Austin autism community, and boy, was it a great time for everyone.
And love we received. People overwhelmingly adored the work and praised the artists.
During the opening event, artists wore gold name tags to signify their presence and the artists sat by their work (or paced around with excitement) and beamed. One artist mom commented that her son was just so inspired by the experience that he went home and made more art. I love that people were inspired to make art and also to see people with autism in a different light because of this show.
Who doesn’t like positive praise? And artists with autism are no different. Each artist got a sheet of paper where the attendees could write their impressions of the art, like “I love your use of color” to “Your art is awesome.” The artists will be able to take these inspiring words home now that the show has closed and draw inspiration from it going forward. Good Job to all of the Artists! And many thanks to the Austin Public Library, Yarborough Branch for their commitment to inclusion.