Jeff Owen Hanson

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Jeffrey Owen Hanson (born September 30, 1993 in Overland Park ) is a severely visually impaired American painter and philanthropist .

Life

Jeffrey Owen Hanson was born in Overland Park on September 30, 1993 to Hal and Julie Hanson. At the age of six, Hanson was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis . The disease caused him to develop a tumor on his optic nerve which severely impaired his vision at the age of twelve. In addition to chemotherapy , Hanson also had to undergo radiation therapy for 28 days . In addition to the visual impairment, Hanson also suffered from a learning disorder and hyperactivity at this time . During the 6th year he moved to the Kansas State School for the Blind . His high school he made Accounts at the Horizon Academy , a school for children with learning difficulties in Kansas City . After graduating from school, he devoted himself entirely to art and selling his paintings for charity.

Act

To find a distraction from the strenuous therapy, Hanson began in 2006 to use watercolors to paint on index cards. Because of this career start, Hanson also describes himself as an accidental artist . To make a few dollars, he sold his painted index cards along with his mother's baked goods on the driveway to his parents' house. By the end of the same summer he had raised $ 15,000 in this way , which he donated to the Children's Tumor Foundation to promote research into his disease.

After the first beginnings, Hanson switched to making paintings with acrylic paints on canvas , which he then auctioned at charity events. In this way, Hanson achieved sales of USD 350,000 for his paintings within five years, which he donated to 50 different charity projects. One evening he sold a single painting at auction for $ 15,000; another bidder paid the same price for Hanson to make a second copy of this painting. He raised $ 30,000 in just a few minutes.

At the age of seventeen, he set a goal of raising $ 1 million for charity by selling his art . He had already achieved this goal before his 20th birthday. Several celebrities now also buy Hanson's pictures, including Warren Buffett , Elton John and Billy Joel . Hanson produced a total of over 1,400 paintings. His paintings now fetch prices between USD 46,000 and USD 68,000 at auctions. In addition to painting, he also creates designs for hand-painted clothes that are presented at fashion shows .

In 2014, the Racing4Research car race organized by the Children's Tumor Foundation at Daytona International Speedway started with a Porsche 911 GT painted based on a painting by Hanson.

honors and awards

  • 2012: National Spirit of Community Award from US insurance company Prudential

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Lindsay Friedman: Legally blind artist raises $ 1 million with his art. In: USA Today of July 22, 2013.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Natalie Angley: Changing the world through art. In: CNN of September 6, 2011.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Short portrait ( memento from April 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) on the Children's Tumor Foundation website .
  4. ↑ a b c Art for a good cause: blind painting genius inspires the USA. In: Picture from April 4, 2015.
  5. ↑ Racing4Research Makes Colorful Return to Daytona with Park Place ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) on the Children's Tumor Foundation website .
personal data
SURNAME Hanson, Jeff Owen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hanson, Jeffrey Owen (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American painter and philanthropist
DATE OF BIRTH September 30, 1993
PLACE OF BIRTH Overland Park