Indianapolis - How do you capture homelessness? Some Indianapolis high school students are using art to get to the heart of the issue. They're part of Beyond Perceptions, a program meant to increase awareness of homelessness in the city.
The program is sponsored by Wheeler Mission Ministries, the Homeless Initiative Program and the Indianapolis Art Center's outreach department.
Each year, roughly 30 art students from three high schools are chosen to take part. Their first assignment is a "before" piece - what they think homelessness is. Then after touring three shelters and meeting with people from Wheeler Ministries, they do an "after" piece.
Michelle Gunter, the IAC's director of outreach, said the students "get to use their art in a way that really examines a challenging subject and they examine the power of art to change minds as well."
Dylan Stone, who just graduated from Bishop Chatard, called his recent involvement "one of the best experiences of my high school career."
Dylan, who plans to study architecture at Ball State University this fall, said he's led "kind of privileged life, so I never really had a first hand encounter with homelessness until this experience."
Dylan's "before" piece is based on a childhood memory. He recalls being downtown with his family.
"We were walking down a street and I remember seeing a homeless man with a bag over his head and it was really cold and I felt bad. It really stuck with me," he said.
His 3-D artwork shows a nondescript man sitting against a building on a wet, chilly night. There's a bar in the background, a nice restaurant to the side and a man hurrying by.
Dylan said he was trying to capture "the anonymity of it, I suppose, and everyone too busy to notice him in the rain."
Brian Foy is one of the people Dylan met later in the semester. Brian lives at Wheeler Mission where he's in a program for alcohol addiction.
Once happily married with children and his own company, Brian lost it all.
"It was all about me. I lived for me, to get mine, my stuff - I had the cars, the house, the wife and in the end it almost killed me," he said.
Brian said he was "on the verge of going homeless in South Carolina when my family rescued me. Or I should say God rescued me. The Lord sent my sister to get me."
Brian shared his story and did his own paintings. Though he's quick to say he's not an artist, his ghostly images show the power of addictions.
He said the alcohol or drugs "look very seductive and attractive at first but as you progress in the addictions, you start to realize the horror of what you're doing and you're trapped. In the end, the addiction owns you."
Two years into the Hebron program at Wheeler, Brian is now ministering and mentoring others.
Hearing Brian's story and others, Dylan's "after" painting is much more upbeat.
It shows a smiling man with a bright background.
"I wanted to show and emphasize the hope I saw in the people I met through the process," he said. "That's the main thing I got from it. It's not a scary thing. With the help of the organizations it's a hopeful thing."
Brian said he too gained a lot from the experience. "It gives me an opportunity to meet fresh faces and get real with them, tell them this is what it's really like and this is how you can help."
Brian added, "You have to understand that everyone is just one bad decision away from homelessness. You'd be surprised at who's homeless today, who shows up at the mission."
Dylan said next time he sees a homeless person, "I'll probably have to see if I can extend a hand and help in some way."
Besides Bishop Chatard, students from Lawrence North and Fountain Square Academy were involved in this year's project.
The student art works will be exhibited at the Indianapolis Art Center through July 31st.
Beyond Perceptions
