Guest Blog: Queen P’s Story in Verse and Color

In this guest blog series, Heartshare teaching artist Mitchel Coffman offers an inside look at our Artshare program, highlighting the talented artists he works with and the meaningful connections, growth, and self-expression that take place in the studio every day. Artshare creates opportunities for adults with developmental disabilities to explore their creativity, develop artistic skills, and share their unique perspective through art.

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"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

—Maya Angelou

I don't remember the first time I met Queen P, or what our first interaction was, but I'll never forget how it feels to work with her to bring her artistic visions to life. Patricia—or "Queen P," as her caregivers call her—has a welcoming, familiar smile. She wears thick eyeglasses that magnify her kind eyes, and she carries a presence that sticks with you: caring, patient, as measured as she is warm. She reminds me so much of a grandmother. My grandmother, actually.

She's been a staple in my class since I started, a year and a half ago. In a program full of individuals in their late 20s, 30s, and 40s, she's the elder stateswoman, and she carries that role with pride and responsibility. She's the first to offer supportive words when someone's having a bad day, and just as quick to tell someone to behave when they're out of line.

Familiarity is a theme across every program I work with. Once someone chooses a seat at the art table, it's theirs from then on. Queen P always sits at the head, her trusty composition book, full of her latest writing, resting on the cushion of her rolling walker.

She's first and foremost a poet. She writes her thoughts and feelings regularly, and over the last year and a half, she's stayed open to everything I've challenged her to try, hunting for the approach that felt right for telling her stories, for giving her poems a visual life. She's made self-portraits (one of which was the image for a Heartshare gallery exhibition), collages, still lifes, landscapes, and palette knife paintings. We laughed together while she painted a pop-art portrait of Steve Harvey. She's a huge Family Feud fan.

After working through all those techniques, Queen P found what felt right. Every piece she makes now is authentically hers, a fusion of fine art and poetry, hers alone. It's been rewarding to watch her find that outlet.

I’m convinced people like Patricia are put in our lives to make us better, helping us become more patient and, ultimately, kinder to one another. In my time working with developmentally disabled adults who face adversity in the truest sense of the word, I've learned that they don't treat their challenges as an excuse, nor do they want pity. Patricia is a poet and artist full of heart, positivity, optimism, and a touch of spirituality.

Next time, I'll introduce you to Terrell, another artist whose story deserves to be told.

Mitchel Coffman is a New York City-based artist working across painting, murals, and film. He serves as an instructor in Heartshare’s Artshare program, where he helps participants with developmental disabilities to explore their creativity, develop their artistic skills, and share their stories through art.