Prefer to listen? Press play above.
I make good coffee: no specific brand, but it brews fresh and bold and wakes me with its Arabica aroma. But sometimes, saturated with work-from-home isolation, I need coffee infused with the ambient buzz of conversation and the canvas of other humans nearby doing their own work. Earlier this week, on Tuesday, I parked near CJ’s on Main, a small coffeehouse tucked among vintage buildings in the art district of Denison, Texas.
In perhaps a single motion, I locked the car door, spotted the new Goodwill, and was in the entrance surveying the displays. I can’t pass by a thrift store without at least a quick scan (true thrifting takes time and raptor-like acuity). Expecting vintage uranium candy dishes (that I want but won’t use) and holiday dog sweater re-runs, I instead found displays mindfully curated with original art pieces and professionally printed artist bios.
Inside Goodwill ArtWorks
I had detoured to the new Goodwill ArtWorks center — a gallery and studio space where artists with disabilities or other barriers to traditional employment can create, display, and sell their work, building both income and community. Turns out I’d arrived a bit early; they were opening the next day. But the director graciously showed me around, pausing from an assembly line of swag bags, and invited me back to that night’s opening reception.
That evening, I drifted through the venue, taking in mixed media, acrylics, photographs, and murals. Every space insisted that I pause and enjoy: a color-drenched upright piano by artist Matt Bardwell of The Odd Frog; an alluring wall of upcycled frames; a floor-to-ceiling interactive MultiBall screen. I sketched my own bit of design on the collaborative wall mural and chatted with familiar faces.
Richard Simpson’s Mixed-Media Vision
Back at the art displays, I struck up a conversation with artist Richard Simpson. He explained how making art helps him process both Asperger’s and diabetes: his vibrant and urgent paintings give him a way to direct that intensity into something he can control and share.
As a mixed media artist and musician, Richard uses paint, collage, watercolor, and pastels as “a tool for kindness, healing, and hope.” His mission: “helping others feel like superheroes through his work”!
I’d been asking other attendees how they’d heard about the center, since it was such a surprise to me (it had been an empty car showroom for a few years). Richard’s answer stayed with me: He’d been following the announcements, and the moment he saw the call for artists, he reached out to the curator and asked to submit his work. That kind of self-advocacy — direct, confident, unafraid — is inspirational.
“One little act of kindness can go a long way.”
Richard Simpson, Artist and musician
Refreshed and Recharged
Sometimes the best discoveries happen when you’re willing to be interrupted. I’d left the house for coffee and a change of scenery, and I came home with a new favorite gallery (and a great t-shirt), recharged for work.
Goodwill ArtWorks Denison is located at 315 W Main St, Denison, Texas. Visit goodwillartworks.org for more information on hours, classes, and artists.