BHS senior blends art and autism awareness
Although she has quickly dismissed email invitations to join Google’s annual art contest in past years, BHS art teacher CiAnn Jackson suddenly felt a bolt of inspiration this school year.
The difference?
Senior student Benjamin Freshour, whose artistic skill, speed and “superpower” made him a natural fit for this year’s theme.
“I get these emails all the time, every year, and I just dismiss them,” said Jackson. “This time I sat and looked at it and thought, ‘Wow, what kid could really pull this off?’ I looked at Ben and thought about his superpower characters and the work he had done already. It hit me in my head and my heart, and I said, ‘Ben, do you want to do this?’ He said, ‘Yep, I’ll do it.’ I knew he could, and he did.”
The theme for this year’s contest, which will create a pool of candidates whose artwork could be incorporated with the Google logo on the search engine’s main page, was “Your Superpower.” Freshour felt an immediate connection to that theme from his own personal experience, and also saw an opportunity to help others.
“I thought it would be a good opportunity for autism representation, because I am on the autism spectrum and I think it’s really fun every time I see art on a bigger scale provide that type of representation,” Freshour said. “It’s a common phrase in the autism community that a lot of parents tell their children, that autism is a superpower. But I think the reason I chose it is because there are a lot of hardships that come with it, so most of the time it doesn’t feel like a superpower to the people who have it. I think it’s important tell younger people that it is a superpower, because if you don’t other people are going to make sure they believe it isn’t.”
Diagnosed around the age of 13, Freshour said he hopes others feel supported through the painting he created, which prominently incorporates the rainbow infinity symbol of autism as the double “o” in Google.
“It can be very confusing growing up, feeling very different from other people,” said Freshour. “When I was younger I didn’t know I had autism, so I thought I was just strange. Other people, they’ll let you know when they think you’re weird. Thankfully I wasn’t bullied too much, but I don’t want other people to go through that. If this art piece helps people see that part of themselves differently, not as a flaw, then I think it’s a success.”
Creating the art
Jackson did not know Freshour was on the autism spectrum when she asked him if he would like to join the contest, but she had already recognized that his abilities and interests as an artist were a fit.
By the time he decided to enter the contest, Freshour had just two weeks to imagine the possibilities and finish an acrylic painting to submit. Although Freshour has enjoyed numerous other artistic endeavors like drawing, ceramics and digital art, this year’s BHS Painting 1 and 2 classes have been his first instruction in that medium.
“There are a lot of variables in painting,” he said, noting the difference between simply selecting a color value in digital art vs. creating and maintaining consistent colors by mixing paints. “You’re losing your paint as you go. Your colors are changing, bit by bit, as you go. If you’re painting over a multiple-day process, having to remix paints to make the same colors as before can be very hard. But I find those parts of it really fun.”
“He’s very good,” said Jackson. “And he loves to do it.”
Over about nine hours of time Freshour created the image with the autism symbol in the Google name, and included a figure holding a paintbrush in the background.
“I didn’t want the figure to really be the main focus of the piece,” he said. “It’s based on myself and it is holding a paintbrush, because that’s how I express my feelings, but it’s more of a background. I tried to make the autism symbol the brightest colors and have highlights around it so it’s the focus of the piece.”
The top five works of art in the contest will be announced later this spring, with voting occurring then to see which artwork is featured on the Google webpage. All five students will receive a $10,000 scholarship.
“Either way, I thought it would be fun to try. Even if I don’t win anything, it’s just fun to get your art out there in some way,” said Freshour. “If it makes it onto the front page of Google, that’s a really big stage to put your art on, and hopefully it would inspire someone else if they see it there.”
Regardless of how the painting is received by Google, Jackson said that Freshour has already made a difference.
“I think it’s great, what he chose to do, and I’m so proud of Ben,” she said. “I had no idea he was autistic. High-functioning or not, to let other kids to know that you can look at it in a different light – that it doesn’t have to be a negative, but it can be a positive – that’s huge.”
