Just a little over a week after graduating from McCallum, Scout Goldsmith and Julie Kizer started their summer of national service with AmeriCorps. AmeriCorps is a federally funded program which allows individuals to serve with non-profit organizations. In the Austin area, eight non-profit organizations provide opportunities to do everything from disaster relief and conservation, to early literacy and college access work.

Five of these organizations open their service opportunities to high school graduates who are at least 17 years of age. One of these organizations, Imagine Art, gave the Fine Arts Academy graduates a chance to work alongside artists with disabilities. Imagine Art is a 501c3 non-profit organization that strives to empower people with disabilities by providing gallery and studio space in which they can grow artists and individuals.

According to Goldsmith, their work this summer was one of their first “real” jobs. Having to complete 300 hours of service while keeping up with a wide range of responsibilities was a new, but highly meaningful, experience.

“It was really fun working [at Imagine Art], and I got to make a lot of connections with a lot of people,” Goldsmith said. “The best thing was you sit down and you start talking to someone one day and then suddenly you’re just sitting with them every day and making art with them constantly.” 

In their time at Imagine Art, tasks varied daily. Some days, Kizer and Goldsmith were working with artist after artist, while other days they had loads of down time. Flexible time in the studio allowed them to learn skills of their own. Goldsmith attempted to use the pottery wheel and therefore attracted the attention of some artists who wanted to learn to use it, too. 

Class of 2024 graduate Scout Goldsmith assists artist A’Laura Berry while Berry paints pieces of pottery made by herself and by other artists at the studio. (Lillian Gray)

“I did two things with clay a couple years ago, but coming here to the St. Luke’s location we have a really cool clay studio, and I just started doing it sometimes in my free time,” they said. “Then I somehow ended up teaching other people how to use the wheel even though I just started, so I got to learn with other people, which was really nice. Now I have a bunch of pottery that’s gonna take up all my space.” 

Imagine Art’s open studio allowed Goldsmith and Kizer to make close connections with many of the artists who attended regularly.

“We have a girl, A’Laura, who likes to find things on Pinterest that we like to make,” they said. “Specifically with sewing, she would just show up with this random thing on Pinterest that she wanted, and I would be like, ‘I don’t know how to make that.’ But, then we would learn together. I would try to go one step ahead of her, so I would know what was coming, and I could help her with it. But really we were pretty much learning together, and it was really nice.”

A’Laura Berry, who has been an artist at Imagine Art for roughly nine months, enjoyed working with the summer AmeriCorps members, especially during moments like these.

“I’m really thankful for Scout,” she said. “They helped me learn stuff on the sewing machine. When Scout came, we started doing jewelry which was really fun and enjoyable. It’s just been a blessing having them. I think people enjoy learning different stuff from them. We’re going to miss them when they leave very much, but we hope they come back for another term.” 

Along with Goldsmith, Kizer has become a transformative leader for many of the artists. Kizer, who knows ASL, or American Sign Language, is able to communicate with deaf artists like A’Laura’s friend, Courtney.

“When my friend Courtney was here, and I wasn’t understanding what Courtney was signing, Julie was able to understand,” Berry said. “That was really helpful because I’m still learning ASL myself.”

For Kizer, this year’s summer spent at Imagine Art wasn’t unfamiliar. Their mom, Debbie Kizer, is the founder of the organization and established it back in 1996. Watching their mom expand the mission and impact of Imagine Art has been an important part of Kizer’s life.

“The whole point of Imagine Art is to integrate artists that have disabilities,” they said. “I think there is a lot of really cool creativity that comes from a community of artists. Anyone can be an artist, anyone can make art. Imagine Art helps a lot of people [who are] oftentimes ignored or pushed aside. Growing up watching the kind of change my mom has tried and developed in these communities is just really interesting and very inspiring.”

AmeriCorps service provided Kizer a nice balance as they prepared to enter their first year of college.

“It’s a perfect mix of doing art and community service,” they said. “It’s very rewarding to work in an art studio and volunteer in a community while also getting paid. It was rewarding seeing how the artists have grown and changed and the impact that us and all the other AmeriCorps members have had working here.” 

As both of their times serving with AmeriCorps came to an end in early August, Kizer and Goldsmith said their goodbyes to the artists they had spent countless hours with over the summer. The end of their term marks a new beginning as they will both attend ACC in the upcoming school year. Goldsmith plans to study Radio Television Film to be a costume designer in the film industry while Kizer is going into biology with the hope of pursuing a career in zoology.