Uncategorized – Art Spark Texas

9th Annual Artist of the Year Award winners

Kim Flor — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 17:07:00 +0000

Congratulations to our 2026 Artist of the Year Award winners!

We are excited to announce this year's exceptional winners of the 9th annual Artist of the Year Awards.

Join Art Spark Texas on September 27th from 1–4 PM at the Rollins Theatre for an inclusive awards ceremony centering and celebrating artists with disabilities, veterans, and creative leaders in our community.

The event is free and open to the public - 701 W Riverside Dr, Austin, TX 78704

RSVP details coming soon

Donna Provencher

Artist of the Year Award

Pebbles Wadsworth

Gloria Bond Creative Aging Award

Glenn Towery

Creative Veteran Service Award

Rachel Salcido

SPARK Award

Penny LeLeux

Lynn Marie Johnson Media Arts Award

Jonah Dillon

Director’s Commendation Award

All for Art Collaborative Exhibit

Kim Flor — Wed, 27 May 2026 16:20:56 +0000

For the third year in a row, Art Spark Texas proudly participated in All for Art, a powerful community exhibition hosted by Imagine Art that centers the creativity, lived experiences, and voices of unhoused and disabled artists in Austin.

More than just an exhibition, All for Art is a celebration of connection, visibility, and artistic expression. The showcase brings together local nonprofit organizations working at the intersection of art, accessibility, housing, and equity — creating space for artists whose work and stories deserve to be seen, valued, and supported.

This year’s exhibition featured artists from Art Spark Texas, Mobile Loaves & Fishes, Imagine Art, and Art from the Streets, highlighting the strength and diversity of Austin’s creative community.

Art Spark Texas was honored to exhibit work from an inspiring group of artists, including:

Jonah Dillon (@treadlightly_art)
Mason Miller (@_mason_miller)
Celeste Garvy-Pesch (@celestialcelebrationsart)
Joe Olvera
Ashlie Bailey
Jeffrey Hill

We are deeply grateful to everyone who attended, supported the artists, and helped make this year’s exhibition meaningful and impactful. Events like All for Art remind us of the importance of creating accessible spaces where artists of all backgrounds and lived experiences can share their work and connect with the community.

Stay tuned for future collaborations with Imagine Art and upcoming exhibitions and programming from Art Spark Texas. We look forward to continuing to celebrate artists, accessibility, and the power of creative community together.

Speaking Advocates Spring showcase 2026

Kim Flor — Tue, 26 May 2026 20:43:59 +0000

Our Spring Speaking Advocates Showcase recently took place at the beautiful Rosette stage in Central Austin. Led by Art Spark Texas Speaking Advocates teaching artist Mitchell Bowman, the evening highlighted the voices, experiences, and creativity of five remarkable participants who shared deeply personal and memorable stories with the community.

We’re grateful to this session’s graduates for their courage, honesty, and talent:

Adam Griebel
Amrrita Chopraa
Delaney Shiono
Ariel Deruvo
Ryan Crabtree
Each story reflected the power of self-expression and the importance of creating spaces where disabled and neurodivergent voices are heard, valued, and celebrated.

About Speaking Advocates
Speaking Advocates is a six-week workshop series designed to support neurodivergent adults and adults with developmental and other disabilities in writing personal stories and building the public speaking skills needed to share them confidently in a variety of settings, including conferences, classrooms, civic organizations, legislative sessions, and community events.

Each workshop series concludes with a public Showcase where participants perform their stories for an audience of friends, family members, and community supporters. Stories are also recorded and featured on Art Spark Texas’ podcast platform, TRUE TALES PODCAST.

By combining storytelling with public speaking, Speaking Advocates challenges misconceptions surrounding disability and reminds audiences of our shared humanity, experiences, and aspirations.

Questions or Interested in Participating?
To learn more or get involved, contact Jerry at:

Jerry@artsparktx.org

Spring Break Animation Workshop

Kim Flor — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 20:18:07 +0000

Bringing Stories to Life: Spring Break Animation Workshop with Art Spark Texas

This March, Art Spark Texas hosted a Spring Break Animation Workshop designed specifically for youth with disabilities. It was an incredible week of creativity, connection, and empowerment.

Partnering with local artist Brian Joseph (Bydeeman), the workshop invited participants to explore the world of animation through storytelling and hands-on art making.

Art Spark Texas Director of Education Jerry Slayton guided students in transforming simple materials into expressive tools for visual narrative. Drawing inspiration from Bydeeman’s signature “people art”, inclusive, faceless figures representing all races and abilities, students crafted unique puppets to serve as the stars of their own stories.

How It Worked

Over the course of the week, participants:

Created custom puppets based on Bydeeman’s people art.
Learned animation fundamentals - from movement and sequencing to visual storytelling.
Collaborated with peers to bring their characters to life in short animated pieces.
Acquired new creative skills they can continue using beyond the classroom.

Every student’s ideas were valued, and the diverse art forms reflected the variety of voices in the room. For many participants, this wasn’t just a chance to dip their toes into animation, it was an opportunity to see themselves as storytellers and makers. By taking home their puppets and the skills they developed, students now have fresh tools to continue their creative journeys long after spring break ends.

Art Spark Texas Radio Hour 2026 Intern

Kim Flor — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 20:37:14 +0000

We are pleased to announce our new Intern for the Art Spark Texas Radio Hour on KOOP Radio, Austin's best independent radio - Jaela Mitchell! We asked Jaela to share a bit about herself - catch her on KOOP radio Mondays from 2-3pm at 91.7 fm or tune in online any time at https://koop.org/program/art-spark-tx-radio-hour/

From Jaela:

"I was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana– acclaimed for its vibrant culture, rich cuisine, and
harmonic tunes of jazz. Born in 2006, I’m what’s called a “Katrina Baby,” a child conceived
during the historic Hurricane Katrina. So, birth certificate wise, I’m a Texan due to my family’s
refugee status at the time but at heart I’m a New Orleanian. A city that was left with nothing
following the disastrous hurricane, but the people didn’t stop there. Communities, neighbors,
friends, family all joining as one to rebuild the city forming a resilience like no other. That same
atmosphere is what I grew up with: music, art, cornerstores, secondlines, jazz bands,
po-boys,french markets, and beignets. It’s what made me–me; and for that I couldn't be more
fond of the city. A city engraved with resilience.

I attended the same school K-12, a prestigious charter school famous for its art programs. It
wasn’t until the start of middle school when I started taking interest in the electives offered. I
dabbled in media arts, starting on camera quickly before realizing my skills were more suitable
for behind the scenes needs. At that moment, once the switch was made, I met my real
archnemesis, stagewriting. If anyone has written a screenplay, they too would understand the
tediousness of the task required, so I said no to that because I didn’t quite find it suitable either. The imagination, creativity, and vision was there but how was I too professionally and appropriately share my ideas with others? Writing. I joined creative writing class as an elective for two years before joining the official program where a certificate would be awarded upon completion. I successfully graduated high school with that certificate and six years of creative writing under my belt. I loved it. Writing is freeing, it is fun, it is patient, it is kind. But, I had left it alone.

It wasn’t long before Texas had seen me again, only 18 years later when I attended UT San
Antonio for higher education where I studied supply chain management. A year following that, I
transferred to St.Edwards located here in Austin where I now study Writing & Rhetoric, with a
concentration of Journalism. I am fascinated with language, the power of words and how it
transforms the soul and the people impacted by it. It isn’t hard to be a writer, because we all
write. And for so long I was a writer, but now I am an author. Authorship over your word means
treating language as a canvas for what’s in the mind and heart. It is the one thing that separates
authors and writers, the credibility associated with.

I want all of us to become authors of our own story, sharing what made us who we are. I hope to
continue to use my voice to remind others that it is us who write the pages of our book. We must
continue to do so unapologetically, and resiliently. Forever, and ever."

Beyond Art Showcase: Mason Miller

Kim Flor — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 16:49:50 +0000

Beyond Art Showcase is a curated spotlight series by Art Spark Texas celebrating Texas-local artists with disabilities as professionals, innovators, and creative leaders. “Beyond” reflects what this series stands for:

Beyond assumptions.
Beyond stereotypes.
Beyond limitation.
Beyond tokenism.

This showcase creates a focused, artist-centered space where audiences can experience artwork, hear directly from the artist, see demonstrations, and support their work through purchase, all in a setting designed for meaningful connection.

For this inaugural event, we are proud to feature Mason Miller, student artist at nonPareil Institute, joined by mentor artist Johnny Villarreal and his interactive Edge of Animation Station, offering live animation demos and original work.

We'll see you there! Spread the word: March 28th, 1pm - 3pm at 1152 San Bernard. in the Rosewood neighborhood in Central East Austin, Texas

RSVP HERE - LIMITED TICKETS AVAILABLE

Art Spark texas feature at the historic paramount theatre

Kim Flor — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 17:31:35 +0000

Since 2021, the Austin-based Paramount Theatre has highlighted local nonprofits on its historic marquee in celebration of #AmplifyAustinDay - our community’s largest day of giving.

Each year, their team selects a diverse group of organizations, including local shelters, arts groups, youth programs, and other community nonprofits, to spotlight on their iconic marquee and across social media to help promote generosity across Austin.

We are deeply grateful to the Paramount Theatre for selecting Art Spark Texas as one of this year’s featured nonprofits.

Our staff, board members, and friends gathered in our new purple 30th Anniversary t-shirts to celebrate in front of the marquee at this historic theatre. It’s truly an honor to be recognized in such a meaningful way and to stand alongside so many incredible organizations serving our community.

Thank you, Paramount Theatre, for shining a light on Art Spark Texas and the power of accessible arts for all.

Donate to Art Spark Texas

Photography by Kevin Garner - follow their Instagram @luxeboi

Black History Month Artist Spotlight: Michael Douglas

Kim Flor — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 18:05:03 +0000

Follow Michael Douglas

Black History Month Spotlight on Comic Artist Michael Douglas

February is Black History Month, and we were honored to meet Michael Douglas, a comic book writer based in San Antonio, Texas recently after joining our December Beyond Art Market, where we had the opportunity to learn more about his creative process and the experiences that shape his work.

Read more below, and be sure to give him a follow on Instagram to see more of his incredible storytelling.

Q&A with Art Spark Texas

Q: To start at the beginning, how did you first get into comics, and what eventually led you to creating your own stories?

Douglas: As a kid, my brother was an avid reader and collector of comic books. I remember thumbing through the pages of his X-Men, Ninja Highschool, Teen Titans, and Batman comics, completely amazed by the illustrations, bold color work, and explosive lettering.

It wasn’t until around 2014 that I rediscovered my love for comics. I spent countless hours catching up on older storylines before eventually getting current and becoming a Wednesday Warrior at my local shop, Laughing Ogre in Columbus, OH. From there, I went on to start a podcast called Uncanny Nerdverse, where my co-host and I talked about X-Men comics and more.

Over time, I began to step away from mainstream comics. I moved to San Antonio, TX and started creating my own stories, commissioning artists to bring my scripts to life. Within the past year, I’ve finally returned to catching up on so many incredible comics from other creators. Veil Vol. 1 was my favorite graphic novel released last year.

Q: As your creative journey continued, what does “Creating Comics While Black” mean to you personally as an artist and storyteller?

Douglas: Living my life every day as a Black man with dwarfism, I’ve developed a deep passion for the artistry of comic books and a desire to create my own. It also means learning how to create on a budget—making sure the bills are paid before commissioning artists.

Accessibility is important to me as well. I make my comics available digitally for free, ensuring readers from around the world can access them. When it comes to storytelling, people of color and those with disabilities will always be prominently represented in my work.

Q: Why do you feel representation in comics is still important today, especially for Black readers and young artists?

Douglas: Without it, comics will continue to shut out potential new readers, writers, artists, shop owners, and podcasters - people who could otherwise help build positive, inclusive communities within their local scenes.

Q: How do your lived experiences influence the characters or worlds you create?

Douglas: I might pull something from my past, toss it into the creative blender, and give it an escapist spin. Or I may think back to OG skateboard legend Chaz McGee from my hometown and blend multiple concepts into one.

Q: What kinds of stories do you feel are missing or underrepresented in mainstream comics today?

Douglas: Characters with disabilities and superpowers matter to me. I’m still patiently waiting for Marvel Comics to release a Puck mini-series. Marvel has also kept Anna Maria Marconi shelved—two characters with dwarfism, both portrayed in a positive light, both sidelined.

Q: What are some of the challenges and freedoms that come with working independently as a Black comic creator?

Douglas: Affording commissioned artists while still making sure my living expenses are covered is always a balancing act. Finding reliable artists who truly sync with you isn’t easy, and I’ve been exceptionally blessed with the artists I’ve had the pleasure of working with. When it comes to creative freedom, I can do whatever I decide and create my own destiny.

Q: How has community or collaboration with other creators shaped your work?

Douglas: Outside of publishing comics, the community has shaped my desire to give back to the local creative scene. Collaborating with the artists I commission has also introduced me to their incredible stories, which continue to inspire me.

Q: When someone finishes reading one of your comics, what do you hope they take away from the experience?

Douglas: Take away: Aye! That was fun!

Q: What advice would you give to aspiring Black and/or disabled artists who want to tell their own stories but aren’t sure where to start?

Douglas: Don’t be afraid to turn that blank page into a comic book script. Don’t be afraid to reach out to your peers for advice, artist referrals, community-building, co-projects, or events.

Q: Finally, what’s next for you creatively, and what are you excited to explore in the future?

Douglas: I’m not sure what’s next for me creatively. It continues to evolve and shape itself along the way, and I’m excited to keep exploring authenticity.

a story of leadership at art spark texas: Celia Hughes

Kim Flor — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 19:03:18 +0000

Celia Hughes has built a career defined by one consistent throughline: access to the arts is for everyone.

As Executive Director of Art Spark Texas, Hughes has spent decades advancing inclusive programming that positions artists with disabilities at the center of cultural life.

Early Work: Ground-Level Beginnings

Hughes’ trajectory began long before her leadership role. From a young age in the 1960's, she has been committed to improving quality of life for people with disabilities.

One of her earliest formative experiences was at Clover Patch Camp in Schenectady, New York, where she created an arts and crafts program for youth with disabilities through Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital. The camp was one of the first of its kind in the region, and it revealed something foundational: the issue was never a lack of creativity, but a lack of access and opportunity.

With a degree in Speech Pathology and a parallel commitment to the arts, Celia built a multidisciplinary career spanning theater, television, film, galleries, classrooms, and youth leadership organizations. That breadth of experience would later inform her approach to building programs that are both artistically rigorous and structurally inclusive.

From access arts austin to Art Spark Texas

In 1999, Hughes stepped into a leadership role at what was then known as Access Arts Austin, a volunteer-led, Audio Description service for theatre and film performances. Soon, she led the transformation to VSA Texas, the Texas affiliate of the international organization, Very Special Arts, founded by Jean Kennedy Smith. The new organization's mission expanded to include all people with disabilities in multidisciplinary arts programs, newly commited to bringing arts access to people who have historically been excluded from public cultural life.

Recognition and Long-Term Impact

Hughes’ sustained contributions have been recognized at the state level. In 2014, she received the Governor’s Trophy from the Texas Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities, an award honoring long-term impact in advancing employment and empowerment for Texans with disabilities.

The recognition aligns with the scope of her work. Rather than one-off initiatives, her leadership has focused on building systems that persist. Programs that create ongoing opportunities, not temporary visibility.

A Clear Philosophy: Art as a Universal Right

Hughes’ approach is grounded in a direct extension of a well-known idea articulated by John F. Kennedy: that art draws from every sector of society. Her contribution is to explicitly include disability in that framework, as an essential dimension of diversity.

Continuing the Work

Even after decades of leadership, Hughes positions her work as ongoing. Her own reflection emphasizes that recognition does not signal completion.

The goal remains consistent: to build inclusive, arts-inspired communities where people can “envision, create, dance, play and sing their stories, out loud and proud.”

That framing underscores the scale of the work - it is not only about programming, it is about the continued fight for cultural change.

Looking Ahead

Today, Art Spark Texas continues to operate as a key force in disability arts and accessibility in the state. Hughes’ influence is evident in how the organization approaches programming, partnerships, and community engagement.

Her legacy is not only in what has been built, but in what has been normalized. And that shift, while gradual, is structural and ongoing.

In the 30th year of Art Spark Texas programming, we take a moment to recognize the story of the executive leader of the organization and continue to tell stories all year of the organization and the people whose lives it has touched.

Photograph by Steven Rogers Photography

Photograph by Kitty Bird Photography

Photograph by Steven Rogers Photography

Photograph by Jen Reel Photography

CEC ArtsLink Fellow Residency with art spark texas

Kim Flor — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 21:42:06 +0000

We received a beautiful tour of the brand-new Imagine Art facility and heard the story of how it developed, from an idea to a fully realized space many years later. We were welcomed into Sage Studio’s space and spent time with some of the incredible work their artists are creating. We met with Fusebox co-artistic director Ron Berry, and we attended the Fusebox Artist Salon featuring Deborah Hay, where she introduced her new concept of Performance Club.

Maka also taught one of our Elements classes, bringing her own flavor of curiosity, rigor, and play into the room. After class, we invited her to join us for dinner, and in the spirit of offering something “truly American,” dessert turned into her very first root beer float. Watching someone encounter ice cream and fizzy soda (that tastes like toothpaste drink to this Finn) in the same glass for the first time might be one of my new favorite art experiences, there was a lot of laughing, careful sipping, and “wait, this is a thing?”

We had coffee with Lynn Hoare, who shared about her previous work in Poland and her current project in Smithville, Potluck, where Maka later joined a workshop. Lynn connected us with Jenny Arffmann at Creative Action, and we were able to observe the final workshop performance of The Courage to Stand, an anti-bullying piece that is part of their Brave Schools program for 4th and 5th graders. Later in the month, we visited Creative Action and had a rich conversation with Noah Martin, Jenny, and Joe McIalwain about Creative Action’s current work and future plans. There was a lot of nodding, and note-taking.

Maka was also a guest on our KOOP Radio Hour with Celia Hughes, which was a fun and thoughtful way to share her voice with a wider Austin audience. And in one of my favorite full-circle access moments of the month, she experienced audio description at the Bass Concert Hall when Celia described The Outsider. It turned into one of the most meaningful moments for her, when accessibility became not just a concept, but a real, lived experience.

In November 2022, we had the honor of welcoming a dear friend and colleague, Monika Požek, to Austin, where we hosted the very first MeetShareDance Festival ever held in the United States.

Monika had been a CEC ArtsLink Fellow, spending time in California with AXIS Dance Company, and then decided to extend her stay in the USA to visit Art Spark Texas. Of course, we couldn’t not do anything, so we had to host one of her famous MeetShareDance festivals, which have been happening across Europe since 2012. The festival is unique in that it is hosted in a different country almost every year and always in close collaboration with local partners. (Monika doesn’t really do “small.”)

Monika also introduced Art Spark Texas to CEC ArtsLink. CEC ArtsLink is a New York–based international arts organization that, since 1962, has supported transnational cultural mobility and collaboration, empowering artists and arts leaders to engage communities in dialogue and creative projects for a more equitable, compassionate, and sustainable world.

In March, CEC ArtsLink reached out to us about the possibility of hosting an ArtsLink International Fellow in 2025, and we were thrilled. In June, Maka Chkhaidze and I met online to dream together, create a wish list, and outline an action plan for a residency that would take place in October. Throughout the fall we waited, somewhat anxiously, while embassies were closed and visa appointments were cancelled. There was a lot of “maybe… hopefully… fingers crossed.” Then, in September, we got the good news: Maka had received her visa, and suddenly all of our plans were about to become real.

Maka arrived in Austin at the beginning of October and hit the ground running. Within the first week she had participated in a DanceAbility class at Austin Community College (ACC) and traveled to Huntsville for the Texas Dance Improvisation Festival—dancing, seeing performances, and meeting folks from all over Texas. That first week really set the tone and context for the rest of her stay: full, curious, brave, and very, very moving.

All through October, we made site visits to other organizations working at the intersection of arts and disability, learning about the histories, challenges, and hopes that shape their work. I kept finding myself saying how wonderful it was that her residency was giving me a reason to keep meeting and visiting people in my own city, exactly the kind of gentle nudge from the outside that reminds you there’s a community here to return to.

We also participated in the Austin Together Community Workshop on Sustained Collaboration learning about not-for-profit mergers. This workshop gave Maka lots of ideas on how to move the work forward at her hometown Tbilisi. On another day, we met with Dance Waterloo and its founder, Morgan Teel, and learned more about the community-centered work they’re doing in parks and public spaces. As part of our Austin wanderings, we also witnessed a performance by ACC choreography and dance improvisation students “investigating overlaps between art and dance,” and Maka had the chance to sit down with ACC dance faculty member Melissa Sanderson for a rich conversation.

Maka also sought out people she wanted to connect with, including Kate Taylor, Artistic Director of Salvage Vanguard Theater, who hosted an evening for her artist talk. It was such a generous, energizing night: Maka shared a short documentary of one of her works and spoke about her organization, InForm – Platform for Inclusive Minds. Founded in 2022 in Tbilisi, InForm is a non-profit that brings disability narratives into the contemporary art scene in Georgia, building bridges between disability communities and the wider arts world. Through inclusive performance projects, educational programs, and a mixed-ability contemporary dance theatre group, InForm advocates for a more accessible and just cultural landscape. Thank you, Kate and Salvage Vanguard Theater, for showing what Austin’s art scene is all about: support, curiosity, and care (and a healthy dose of “let’s try it and see what happens”).

I also want to say a huge thank you to everyone who opened their doors and their calendars for us. Every tour, every conversation, every “sure, come by and I’ll show you around” made this residency what it was. It is such a joy to bring visitors into a city where the welcome is so incredibly warm. I really believe this is one of our community’s superpowers: the way people not only say yes, but sit down, make time, explain, listen, and answer all the questions, ours and their own.

I love to think of all these connections as a web. From the moment Monika came in 2022 to Maka’s residency in 2025, the time between has been quietly filled with these fine filaments, relationships, conversations, workshops, rehearsals, shared meals, that connect us across cities, disciplines, and communities. Nothing flashy, just thread by thread, person by person.

Sometimes it takes someone from the outside to remind you that you even have a community. A visiting artist arrives and suddenly you’re putting on real shoes, leaving your email inbox behind, and actually going out to meet people. Maka’s residency did exactly that for me. I’m grateful not only for meeting her and learning from her practice, but also for the way her presence pushed me back out into Austin, into studios, theaters, classrooms, and cafés, re-meeting people and organizations that are, in fact, part of my everyday artistic ecosystem.

Her visit reminded me that community isn’t something we only build during festivals or special projects; it’s something that exists all the time, whether or not we’re paying attention. This residency helped us trace those filaments again, to feel the web that’s already there and to remember that we’re all held in it together, even on the days when we forget.

*These amazing photos from the event were taken by Kriston Woodreaux.

Thank you, Kriston, for your generosity and talent!