ASU senior raises autism awareness through art

 by Sasha Malekooti
 published on Wednesday, March 19, 2008

John Battaglia / THE STATE PRESS

PROACTIVE: Megan Tollefson is an ASU senior completing degree programs in Painting, Marketing, and International Business who recently organized an art exhibition on autism at ASU to benefit autism research in Phoenix.

One ASU art senior is trying to spread awareness of autism by combining her artistic and social interests to promote support for the condition.

Megan Tollefson, a painting and marketing senior, organized the "Hopes and Dreams: Insight into Autism" art exhibition as part of her undergraduate thesis project.

The Art for Autism exhibit opened Monday, March 17, and will continue until March 28 at ASU's Step Gallery in Tempe Center. All funds raised from the purchase of the artwork will benefit autism research in Phoenix.

Having autistic family members herself, Tollefson has personally been affected by the hardships and inconveniences that accompany those who contend with the condition.

Tollefson said she hopes to better the lives of those with autism and society's perspective of it through her work.

"I want the general public to be able to recognize and understand autism," Tollefson said. "For being as common as it is, people don't know as much as they should."

Through her numerous oil paintings, Tollefson conveys the reality of autism and how it affects the lives it encounters.

Not only does her work showcase those with autism, it also translates the abstract qualities of autism and provides the public with the different perceptions and emotions that a person who is autistic experiences.

Bright colors and a disproportionate perspective were used when creating the artwork in order to express the childlike demeanor that those with autism may possess, Tollefson said.

Tollefson also created many of the paintings with a puzzle-piece motif as a way of representing the symbol for autism, which is a missing puzzle piece, she said.

Along with her own artwork, the show also features paintings created by autistic members of the Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center, Tollefson said.

Reach the reporter at: sasha.malekooti@asu.edu.