When curators for the open call art competition at de Young Museum in San Francisco saw a simple unsigned printed copy of a painting named “Pandemic Blue 1,” they chose if for their upcoming exhibition out of more than 11,500 pieces submitted.
“They had no idea that it is the work of a teen with autism,” said Crisanta Deguzman, mother of the artist James Lee. Lee, 17, is a student at Oak Hill School in San Anselmo. Diagnosed with autism since about age 2, Lee is mostly nonverbal — although Deguzman said she and some of his teachers can understand what he is saying.
“One of the benefits of Covid is that I did actually get to see what he was doing in class,” Deguzman said of the distance learning Lee did from March to early November. The 35-student school returned to in-person classes about three weeks before Thanksgiving for those families — like Lee’s — who were ready to send their kids back to campus.
The DeYoung exhibition debuted on Oct. 10, but was shut down in recent weeks due to coronavirus restrictions, Deguzman said. The contest jurors — four curators from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and three prominent Bay Area artists: Mildred Howard, Hung Liu, and Enrique Chagoya — had accepted less than 8% of the work submitted.
When Oak Hill, a small private school that serves mostly students on the autism spectrum, had to cancel its annual holiday fundraiser due to the pandemic, Deguzman volunteered to auction off Lee’s other paintings to help offset the school’s increased expenses.
“This is Jamesey’s way of raising funds for Oak Hill School and expressing gratitude for the extraordinary staff that continue to educate him and our other students,” Deguzman said.
Jamesey is the name Deguzman, a sculptor and filmmaker, gave to the art collective she formed with her son and herself. She serves not only as a monitor and social media voice for Lee’s work, but also an “editor.” By that she means she often uses clear sticky plastic to preserve layers of paint that she deems “good” from being painted over by her son’s exuberance.
To view and bid in the auction, see Instagram @jamesey.art or visit the school’s website at theoakhillschool.org All bids that are accepted may be claimed as a donation for tax purposes, DeGuzman said. Bids will be awarded on Dec. 28. The paintings will be available for pickup that day in San Anselmo, she said.
Lee, whose painting and athletic obsessions include swimming pools, oceans and round lifesaving floatation devices, lives with his parents, twin brother and 19-year-old sister in Hillsborough, San Mateo County. He commutes happily by school van daily to Marin — a three-hour roundtrip, Deguzman said.
“He just absolutely loves going to Oak Hill,” Deguzman said. “He loves driving over the Golden Gate Bridge.”
Michael Breard, Oak Hill executive director, said Lee has transformed himself in the six years he has been attending the school. Initially aggressive and prone to frequent tantrums and self-injury, Lee is now productive and enthusiastic.
“He loves being here,” Breard added. “He is such a joy — and his art is unbelievable.”
Breard said the school fosters trust by creating a welcoming environment and focusing on what students love to do and what they do well. Staff then use those activities as incentives to overcome other challenges.
“James used to love to build benches,” Breard said. “So as a reward, we would say, ‘OK, you can go build a bench.'”
Having all the the other students in the school also on the autism spectrum helps kids feel less isolated and that they belong, Breard said.
“Kids in the autism spectrum are their own tribe,” Deguzman said.
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Marin school auctions off paintings by teen artist honored at de Young Museum - Marin Independent Journal
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