My mission is to change our culture by using art to make social statements. I will impact the people of Denver and people everywhere with my vision. I will help those members of our society that are shunned and ignored by raising the awareness of the general public about these neglected people. I will give them a face that will be recognized and associated with the Denver’s Road Home program. I will work with existing government, private, and ministry programs to promote the goal of ending homelessness.
I have passed by and observed many poignant city scenes of people in who inhabit bus stops and street corners. I usually have just a few seconds to see and record a mental snapshot. These visual images have had a strong impact on me. I am working on a series of large, powerful visual-emotional interpretations that will not be ignored about the homeless people in our society. The exhibit will include black and white charcoal sketches and preliminary 18” x 24” pastel drawings which will describe how the finished paintings evolved. Additionally, there will be a story board associated with each piece that will acquaint the viewer with the people being portrayed.
It is important to give the DRH Program and the homeless people a face for the people of Denver to recognize, and it is crucial that many people see these artworks in order to have an impact. Therefore I am working with the Denver Mayor's office, downtown ministries, businesses and RTD to foster cooperation that will bring these entities together to benefit all. After Denver I foresee this exhibition to travel to other cities. Hopefully it will be valuable for fund raising and cultural awareness activities across the country. I cannot do it alone. It will be a cooperative effort.
The first part of the series will be devoted to the present human condition and “what’s so” right now. It will show faces without hope, the probable almost certain future for them displayed in their vacant stares.
The second part of the series will be devoted to the creation of the possibilities of hope for new and better lives. It will showcase the successes of the DRH Program.
For most of us, our involvement with homeless people is out our car window passing change to a street corner beggar with a cardboard sign. As long as we stay inside our protective shell and they stay outside, we can accept the status quo without much effort. We give a little to make them go away—we hope. But they don’t. It is a fact that we cannot change the homeless situation by giving change from our driver’s seats! We, all of us, must get involved.
What I have learned through direct conversations with homeless people is that each one has a story and something valuable to say. I want to show them as being just as human as our friends and families. I think that we subconsciously dehumanize these peopleso that we don't have to CARE and we can more easily ignore them. They are mostly dismissed as "worthless, a burden, dangerous, crazy, or there must be something wrong with them." What we don’t realize is that not much separates US from THEM. How many of us are just a few paychecks away from the street? What if we lost our health to an injury or illness? What if we lost our income, lost our investments, lost our spouse, or lost our sanity? We might succumb to drugs or alcohol. It is not that improbable, is it!?