Josh Fleagle was diagnosed as severely learning disabled at a young age and was adopted from a Bulgarian orphanage at the age of 7. Fleagle freehand sketches each piece without the aid of any ruler or straight-edge. He was discovered by Artisan Arch through another Shelby County charity, Project SEARCH.

 

Taking Fleagle’s sketch, Hopkins finishes each piece using watercolors. A single mother with a passion for painting, Hopkins decided to use her background in product development to provide commercial opportunities to artists like Fleagle who might otherwise not have an outlet in the mainstream market. 

 

Artisan Arch was established in 2014 as a way to provide opportunities for learning disabled artists to gain exposure for their work. Each collaboration provides income for the artist, while also funding the foundation’s efforts to promote and discover more learning disabled individuals with profound artistic ability.