“Art found me rather than I found it since the very beginning,” Elena Gatti, an independent artist from Chicago, shared. “It gave me a voice and allowed me to connect with people.”

As a student who struggled with dyslexia from a young age, Elena used art to communicate when words failed. “Art gave me the confidence that words and my school environment failed to deliver,” she said.

A Budding Artist

When Elena was 7, she remembers walking downstairs to her basement, completely stunned. Her mom secretly built her an art studio—a sacred space dedicated to tiny Elena to make art. She put weeks of work into creating Elena’s first studio, showing support for her daughter since day one.