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This is Nicole. Nicole is one of our most prolific and friendly artists in the Artworks
program at VSA Colorado / Access Gallery. She is constantly creating a steady stream
of artwork. She has an impulsive desire to create. I know she uses her art to focus her
mind, calm her anxieties and to cope with her emotional and learning disabilities. Nicole
loves to paint narratives of places and creatures. She loves really loves dragons, dinosaurs,
mythical creatures and Ancient Egypt. She alternates between these themes and she actually
sells quite a bit of her work in the gallery. She is a very popular artist. Nicole's imagination
plays out through her art and she writes stories to narrate her character's and all of the
adventures they go through.
Nicole also is a commissioned artist for our annual Pet Portrait project. We teach students
how to paint pets and then work to get commissions for them as a way to for them to make a little
extra money.
Nicole comes to the gallery about 3 days a week and she also works during gallery events
as an Artworks artist talking to people about her work and the programs. She takes the bus
to and from the gallery on her own. When she become an Artworks artist with us about 4
years ago, she went through bus training with the STAR program within the Denver Public
School system. This training taught her how to use the bus and gave her confidence to
be independent and take the bus to and from the gallery. However, when things vary from
her routine it is uncomfortable for her. She could take another bus that would drop her
off much closer to her home, but, she has difficulties with transitions and is resistance
of change. So she uses a route, the route she first learned, even though the other bus
is much faster. Her journey to and from work goes through several neighborhoods and lets
her off several blocks from her house. And then there is the "hill". Nicole dreads this
hill when going home and at first, would do anything to get out of it. It is a progressive
incline that takes the wind out of her. I think it is good exercise for her and she
has gradually over time become used to it. And now it is just a part of her routine.
When we told Nicole that we would be documenting her journey home, she painted us a picture.
She wanted us to know where her house was and what it looked like before we traveled
there. Her painting is very detailed and she put a lot of effort and time into creating
it. This demonstrates how very helpful and thoughtful she is. She is such a dedicated
and important Artworks artist for VSA Colorado.