Corona resident gives young artists an opportunity to be seen
Corona’s Colson Ayars said most people seem to be shocked by the fact that he lived the first 20 years of his life in the same house with his parents and 10 siblings.
“It doesn’t seem crazy to me since that’s just how I grew up,” said Ayars, who moved out last year.
Although Ayars doesn’t remember doing it, his father told him about how as a toddler he would color envelopes from corner to corner. He does remember spending nearly every hour of his free time creating new things while growing up.
“I think now looking back that was a huge part of why I delved so deep into art,” he said. “I had so much extra time and not really a lot to do, but I don’t think I was ever bored. Art was sort of just always on my mind in some way. It developed
from an intriguing activity that killed time to a way to build new brighter worlds when mine got tough.”
Ayars would hear about forms of art that he didn’t know, go to the library and borrow all the books he could on the subject. He would look up videos and blogs, immersing himself in learning about things
such as origami, miniatures, painting and sculpting.
In thinking about what pieces have meant the most to him, Ayars points at a watercolor book he carries in his leather wallet.
“I’ll pull it out and paint my surroundings,” he said. “Sometimes it’s just the
landscapes; sometimes it’s people or things. But those little art pieces, although not my best work, are absolutely the ones that represent my journey, and now I have over 30 little paintings of the places I’ve been. It’s quite fun to look back through my eyes and see what I was seeing back then.”
Recently, Ayars had an idea that he wanted his peers to be able to share art together. His original concepts were small, but his friends helped build it into something much larger. Featuring visual art, film, live music and poetry, Invisus Festival of Unseen Art will take place from 6-10 p.m. Wednesday at the Riverside Art Museum, 3425 Mission Inn Ave.
“I underestimated the lovely people in my life,” he said. “My friends Dayton Hardee, Ciena Fitzgerald and Sam Nassar, plus so many others, really made it into what it is. They saw an unplanned small idea that held a lot of meaning to me and they built it into a place where so many more people can share their art and get excited about showing it. Invisus is Latin for ‘unseen.’ I don’t want to let people’s art remain unseen.”
Ayars described the event as giving high school- and college-age young adults an opportunity to showcase and sell their art at an organized event. The hope is that this will give them a taste of the art scene and instill in them a fervor to continue creating, as well as to feel celebrated for what they’ve discovered in themselves.
“It’s so valuable for young artists to be encouraged to experiment and create,” said Ayars. “It’s so much easier to just entertain them, but to pour into them and inspire them, that will give so much to their future.”
Ayars said he hopes to continue bringing art and real-world issues together. He also plans to focus on his favorite art form, filmmaking.
Tickets are $10 online at showpass.com (search “Invisus”). They can also be purchased at the door for $15 the night of the event.