news- autistic child's art brightens City Hall
X. Rayburn
Autistic child's gift on display
By Danica Wright Booth
For The News Examiner [Gallatin, Tennessee]
The brightly colored, multimedia art of Bellevue
resident Grace Goad lines the walls of the Gallatin
City Hall.
The show will run until the end of August before
possibly moving to the Bellevue Public Library.
Having art showcased anywhere is an accomplishment for
most artists, but at 12 years old, and as a person
diagnosed with autism, Goad's accomplishment is much
more remarkable.
When doctors diagnosed Goad's autism at 32 months old,
her mother, Leisa Hammett, began the long hours of
early intervention, taking Goad to speech therapy and
educational programs.
But Hammett felt something was missing.
"Had she have been typically developing," Hammett said,
"she would have gone to dance and art classes.
"She was missing out on some basic childhood joys: the
joy of movement, the joy of creating music, the joy of
creating art."
Hammett saw elements of artistic ability in her
daughter when she was only 4 years old, but found that
many of the dance and art studios that offer classes to
other children were not equipped to handle her
daughter.
"I started to look for specialists in the arts,"
Hammett said.
Goad has been showing her work since 2000, and though
the Gallatin exhibit is her first solo showing, her art
has been displayed around Nashville, Franklin and even
Washington.
Most recently, Goad has been working with Franklin
artist Yvette Renee Parrish, who operates Full Circle
Art and works with the Franklin Special School
District.
"Working with Grace has been challenging for me,"
Parrish said. "I'm not an art therapist.
"When I first met Grace she put her head to my
forehead. We just had a connection."
It's a connection that keeps Parrish working to create
new ways for Goad to express herself.
Parrish created a rolling brush that would better
accommodate Goad's tendency to rock as she works, and
she helped Goad use blowing techniques to push paint
around.
"As she's rocking," Parrish said, "she can paint. She
can still be herself. It moves with her, and she's
comfortable and not feeling like she's doing something
wrong."
Goad works with stained glass, painting and some clay.
Much of her work favors a layered effect.
"We tend to somehow demean or diminish their
intelligence, their capability," Hammett said of those
diagnosed with autism. "This is just an alternative way
that she can express herself."
link to article (with one photo of the art):
http://tinyurl.com/jy3kw
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