VSA arts Honors Greg DePauw of Metamora, Illinois,

 with the VSA arts Chronicles of Courage Artistic Award

Washington, D.C. . . . VSA arts presents The Chronicles of Courage Artistic Award each year to an artist with a disability who has made a significant impact on his or her local community. The first recipient of this award, Greg DePauw, of Metamora, Illinois, has a refined artistic vision and unswerving commitment to his artistic discipline. Greg DePauw encourages others to participate in the arts through his teaching and through the Art Rod Foundation, which he founded in 1997 to teach art to children in rural and under-served areas. Visit the Web site at www.artrodfoundation.com 

"VSA arts is incredibly pleased to present Greg DePauw with this first ever Chronicles of Courage Artistic Award. No finer artist could represent what VSA arts stands for.  Not only is his artwork exemplary, but his contributions to his community have improved the lives of children around him. We want to applaud his achievements and thank him for the positive Impact he has had on others, says Doris Dixon, president of V SA arts.

Greg DePauw first exhibited with VSA arts in 1 988 at “Call to Rise”  in Orlando, Florida. By then, he had been painting and teaching professionally for more than 10 years. Since he was a young child, DePauw has been influenced by his artistic parents.  As a high school senior, his art career temporarily derailed by a trampoline accident that left him a quadriplegic. DePauw, who has since used an electric wheelchair, gradually regained the use of his hands, and earned a B.A. from Illinois State University in fine art in 1982. 

Gradually regaining use of his hands, DePauw has worked in various media, ranging from ceramics to watercolor to printmaking, and now focuses on metal sculpture. Using found objects like small plastic toys, metal or small wooden objects, he constructs dynamic and colorfu1 freeform sculptures that emphasize the relationship between time and value.           

“I am constantly amazed at the items once deemed valuable, now cast aside. I enjoy bringing new life and a new value to objects from our culture past and present, both large and small,” says DePauw.  DePauw has been working as a full-time artist for 29 years, and has an extensive exhibition history including many one-man shows throughout the United States and Europe. His work is included in corporate collections Internationally, including AT&T and MetLife. 

VSA arts is an international, non-profit organization founded In 1974 by Jean Kennedy Smith, former ambassador to Ireland, to help provide opportunities for people with disabilities using the arts. For more information about VSA arts visit the Web site www.vsarts.org

Attending the ceremony with Greg DePauw will be his brother Doug DePauw, of Metamora, Illinois, sister Mary Jo DePauw Rowley, of Waterloo, Belgium, and Marge Voelker, his attendant for 28 years, who is affectionately known as “Mrs. V.”

Greg Notes: “The Award will be presented during an International Gala event on May 16th held at the residence of the ambassador of Japan and presented to me by Jean Kennedy Smith, founder of The VSA arts.”