Alex Iverson Medford, Oregon Award of Excellence $2,000 Age 22

"The real shift in gears in my artwork, an increase and more availability to materials, has come with becoming a studio artist at Sfumato. I like people seeing me more as an artist and less as a person with a disability."

Alex Iverson, who has a developmental disability, is self-taught. He practices art as a studio artist at the Studio Sfumato in Oregon. Studio Sfumato is a self supporting, year-round artist studio and social enterprise for people who happen to have physical and/or intellectual barriers. At the studio, Iverson is able to find a place to exercise his creativity and stay focused. "Art is so interesting because you never know how it will turn out." He prefers the use of colored pencil, acrylic on canvas, and mixed media. Within the piece Monks Walking, Iverson depicts the subjects walking slowly in a fast paced world. Iverson is also a musician and plays the accordion, piano, guitar, xylophone, and keyboard. He also writes music.

www.studiosfumato.org

Influential Art Teachers/Professors:
Studio Sfumato