Christopher Edwards started coming to ArtStreet about three months ago. Before then he had never created art.
“I never thought about doing anything like this, it never crossed my brain,” he said. “A couple months ago I brought some stuff in, and I didn’t go back for about two weeks. When I came back, everybody applauded, and someone said they sold a couple of my necklaces. I was floored.”
He said he has been making and selling art ever since.
“I couldn’t wait to get home and tell all my friends, ‘Hey I sold some stuff,’ instead of it just sitting in my house,” he said. “I’m like, ‘Damn!’ This sounds like something I can get motivated for. And it keeps me out of trouble.”
Edwards said he grew up in an area in New Jersey where employment was low and drugs were plentiful. He entered the Vietnam War as a member of the Marine Corps, where he served from 1968 until when he was discharged due to a bullet injury in 1970.
“I got shot, but at least I came home. I was at least on the good side,” he said.
He said he then worked for a telegram company, aligning poles across the country. He has severe arthritis and can barely move his fingers. His hands shook as he painted bright blue paint on a leather string necklace.
“I like coming here because I got arthritis, and I get a chance to get my hands doing something,” he said. “It’s therapy for me.”
Lee Johnson said he started visiting ArtStreet regularly when he was homeless five years ago. Though he is no longer homeless, he still works with the program as a mentor. He was raised by the state of Michigan, where he said he was constantly surrounded by psychologists.
“Being raised by the state, I was raised by shrinks and counselors, and I can’t stand them. I have no use for them,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, psychology is witchcraft.”
He said ArtStreet has given him an outlet for expression and kept him out of jail; he had three aggravated assault charges on the same cop.
“I have a problem with temper,” he said. “When I lose my temper, I get real violent, which doesn’t happen often. This place was the only program in any kind of psychological or counseling setting that I could deal with.”
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He said he prefers making more conservative art and typically draws pictures with a ballpoint pen. His pictures usually have more than 20,000 miniscule pen lines. He said he wants to continue to pursue art as a hobby and as a means to make extra money.
He said he likes ArtStreet because it sells the art, and the artist receives all of the profits.
“It makes a big difference when you’re counting pennies for a cigarette,” he said.
