Jacob’s Art Exploration

Jacob A. has always enjoyed art.

When he first started in services with Dungarvin in 2014, Jacob used art as a daily activity. Eventually he was able to start day service with Wabash Center in the Greenbush Industries workshop. Working with rivets, he quickly excelled as one of the top performers in his area. Although Jacob liked what he was doing, he soon expressed that he sometimes got bored and wanted to try more jobs, leading him to participate in other areas such as cutting paper, working with nuts and bolts, and various other placements.

Still, he wanted to do more with his art. To help make this happen, his Dungarvin behaviorist, Katie Mitchell, called a local art studio called La La Gallery. Through this contact Jacob was able to start working with a local artist named Angela once a week. Jacob enjoyed this experience so much, he soon expressed a desire to participate in an art class. Jacob’s team was excited to share with him that there were classes offered through the Greater La Fayette Art Museum in various areas of art.

A challenge soon presented itself. The classes were $180 for a six week period. Although Jacob made good money at his day program, this expense was pushing the limit of what he could afford. When presented with the opportunity to apply for a scholarship that were available for people who wanted to take the class but couldn’t afford it, Jacob eagerly completed an application. On it, Jacob had to identify why he wanted to take an art class. He explained that art was a way he coped with problems that he experienced in life. Through his art, he could express his feelings, and because of this, he wanted to learn more about drawing. In addition, Jacob also wanted to meet more people who had a similar interest in art as he did.

We were all excited that Jacob won the scholarship for the program…for the FULL $180 tuition course cost! Jacob attended his six week course, on Rendering/Drawing 1, for six weeks this past September and October. We can’t wait to see his next artistic endeavor!