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Dragonflies. Hearts and love. Fish and the ocean. The artists crowded around the paint-spattered tables barely pause to explain the inspiration behind their work. The intensity shows in their eyes, sounds in their voices, leaps from the pieces they’re creating. It’s a scene from any art school class in New York, Paris or London as students focus on final preparations for the annual art exhibition and sale. Yet this is Austin. And not a fancy art school or private studio. All the artists are homeless, and the scene is a mezzanine room at the ARCH (Austin Resource Center for the Homeless).
In 1991, Heloise Gold began handing out free sandwiches to the homeless at the ARCH’s predecessor, HOBO (Helping Our Brothers Out). Nineteen years later, Gold is one of five volunteer directors of what has grown into an Austin tradition. Every November, Art from the Streets holds its annual sale of paintings, created in the ARCH’s twice-weekly art classes. Those sandwiches? A way to get people’s attention. A dancer and performer herself, Gold simply wanted people to “come and do art.” And come they did. So, in 1992, Gold and visual artist Christi Pate helped found the first sale of the paintings created in the classes Gold had begun. Today, with the 17th annual sale scheduled for November 14 and 15, Art From The Streets has not only produced sixteen consecutive shows and attracted over 20,000 attendees, it has also raised more than $635,000 in art sales. The art work is still generated in the twice-weekly classes, and volunteers continue to run the program, although their numbers have also grown. The original dedicated founders, Gold and Pate (who admits to having “poured her heart into the project,”) are now part of a team of five, year-round coordinators, along with 10 class facilitators and over 100 show volunteers.
Apart from a small fee for mounting the sold pieces, each artist earns all of the money generated from the sale. Yvonne Baughman, a director of the program since 2008, who this year takes over from Pate as the show’s artistic director, attended her first artists’ pay-out day last year. “It was so moving,” she says, recalling the stories she heard as the artists talked about what the show meant to them. “We have an artist who lives in her car. Her insurance was due and she was excited to be able to pay it. Another, who had lived on the street all year, earned enough to get a place to live, at least for a few months.”
austinwoman recently sat down with Baughman, Gold and Pate to discuss what motivates the dedicated trio to devote so much of their time and energy to Art From The Streets.
austinwoman: Tell us about the art classes you hold.
Heloise Gold: We do not say that we teach art. We provide a space – both a physical place and a community – for people to create. We’ve believed from the beginning that when we give people the right kind of support and encouragement, creativity blossoms. It’s one of the things we’re most proud about for this project. We don’t come in and tell people how to make art. It comes out of people when there is the right environment. That’s why we call ourselves facilitators, not teachers or instructors.
aw: What impact has AFTS had on you?
Christi Pate: I would never have had the opportunity to meet the people I’ve met without this program. The artists have expanded my world immeasurably. I never knew how difficult it was to live on the streets, and all the factors that are involved. But it’s been a blessing for me. I’ve learned stuff about myself as well. I’ve experienced a lot of different jobs along the way, and found areas that I didn’t know I was good at.
Yvonne Baughman: Christi has made a very difficult job look easy. She has taken the job she’s done from its beginning as a very small show to something that has become a huge project.
HG: I’ve learned about the resilience of human beings. People are living on the street – they have harsh lives. Yet, they are vibrant, and excited about making art. It’s incredible.
aw: And what about the impact on the artists?
CP: The sense of pride they have when they see their work hung is overpowering. Then when customers come through the show and talk to them, they are like different people. It’s something they don’t get most of the time. They are invisible people in many ways. Having that dialog is fabulous for both the artist and the audience.
why go?
Top 3 Reasons to Attend
the AFTS Annual Art Sale
CP: The art is moving and powerful.
Other work is almost sterile compared to it.
YB: It’s all original art. No prints.
HG: This event helps all of us to have our stereotyping of who homeless people are shattered. It shatters it for the people who walk in the door; it shatters it for the artists as well.
more info
2009 Art From
the Streets Sale
November 14-15, 12-5pm artfromthestreets.com