Autistic artist Marcy Deutsch was born in 1983 and considers Yelm, Washington her home. At 5, Marcy was first diagnosed with moderate high functioning autism and given a bleak outlook by the doctors. Despite all the odds piled against her, she graduated Pierce College in Lakewood, Washington with a 3.7 grade point average. She also learned to fly planes, even though she won’t drive a car.

It is through her art that she has learned to connect more to the world around her. Marcy’s style is unique and many feel that her exquisite artwork captures the very soul of the animals she draws.

She was the winner of the 2008 Yelm Art Week poster contest*. She has also participated in the Olympia Arts Walk, where her incredible art received the praise of all who saw it. She was 1 of only 12 autistic artists in the U.S. to be accepted into Heroes for Autism art auction in Hollywood, California. While there she got to mingle with many of the stars of the TV show, Heroes. She also had art in the Autism Artism 2009 art show and will be at Art Now for Autism 2009.

Her art is currently on display at Yelm City Hall in the Mayor’s office*, Yelm Chamber of Commerce, Yelm Library, and Yelm Family Medicine. She has had art displayed at Reflections Gallery, Loft Art Gallery, Schaffer Art Gallery, Capps Gallery at Saint Martin’s University, Thurston County Juvenile Courthouse Gallery, Home Care Quality Authority Gallery*, and Earth Artisans Gallery. She has appeared in numerous newspaper articles, HAP 2008 Online Literary Magazine, as well as in Bird Talk magazine. She is in the February 2009 issue of Dog Fancy and will be featured in the book Artism A-New. She is also in a book about Asperger’s, which is in Polish! Marcy recently had art displayed at the Strokes of Genius exhibition at the United Nations Plaza, and even sold art at Princeton’s art show, ArtFirst!

As an adult dealing with autism, Marcy also deals with the severe stress and anxiety that plague other adults with this disorder. The severity of the stress has caused depression and may be either schizophrenic or bipolar. However, despite this setback, Marcy moves forward, finding that not only does her art help her relax, but it helps heal as well.

What is incredible is that as a young child, Marcy rarely drew, and only if she had to. It was only when a school project required all the kids to draw their favorite pet or animal that Marcy drew Tiny, her green-winged macaw. It was then that everyone realized what an incredible talent she had. Teachers in awe were amazed at her artistic rendition of the bird and contacted Marcy’s parents to let them know about this savant like talent. Immediately, Marcy started taking private art lessons, honing her talents. Marcy is skilled in many different medium, including color pencils, oils, pastels, and watercolors.

Marcy’s artistic journey is an inspiring one and gives hope to parents of other autistic children. She is also beginning to speak at autism and special needs conferences to further help and inspire others with disabilities.

Marcy is a recent graduate of Enterprise For Equity, where she learned how to start and to run her own business. During the graduation she gave an inspiring speech. See below.

* Linked to PDF file, viewable using Adobe Reader, available at www.adobe.com