Member Spotlight

A Window Into His World

Autism hasn't kept Michael Zapotocky of Flagstaff from painting his heart out. Michael is, first and foremost, an artist.

Autism serves to sharpen Michael's creative edge by giving him an unusual view of the world. Since he rarely speaks his deeper thoughts, his artistic expressions have become his main way of communicating his feelings.

Working one-on-one with art instructor David Hartley in the day treatment program for people with disabilities at the Hozhoni Foundation has given Michael a new and creative look on life. "I've got friends who paint like Michael and they get good money," Hartley says. "For Michael, he doesn't care about any of that stuff; he just paints."

Michael's family was not fully aware of his disability until he was diagnosed at 4 ½ years old with autism and a brain injury. He spoke his first words when he was about 7 years old. Hartley says there are many categories of autism, ranging from people who are highly verbal, can write and play music, to those who withdraw into themselves and are harder to reach. About a year ago, Michael was in an artistic slump. His mother Barbara Zapotocky Athens, who has lived with her son since moving to Flagstaff in 2002, said "He had a breakthrough. I think Michael has come from this harder to reach stage, to being more open to communicating."

Nine of Michael's abstracts, mostly created while at Hozhoni, are hanging in a small show on a stone wall in a local café downtown. "His pieces are sincere, vibrant and full of life," says Tamara Ramirez, Program Coordinator for the Program in Community, Culture and Environment at NAU. Capstone Health Plan purchased one of Michael's prints during the fall 2006. It hangs in the entrance way of the office, welcoming all who enter.

With the help of his mother Michael writes, "The most favorite places of my heart are in Flagstaff, Arizona. The place I enjoy the most in Flagstaff is a small lake on the east end of the city. It sits across from an area of pine trees and hills and we call it 'The Duck Pond.' I love to sit on my patio and watch the wild geese and ducks as they fly in and out. I love to draw and paint the lake and the mountains, the sky and the forest and all of the colors of Flagstaff. There is a very special place in my heart because of the wonderful people of the community of Flagstaff that have welcomed and helped me and accept me with my multiple disabilities. I am brain injured from birth and autistic and life can be a real struggle without strong support from my family and my community, and especially my fellow artists. All of this makes for a very warm and content place in my heart."