About Seth Chwast

Seth Chwast was diagnosed with autism as a very young child, and lived for years in a world of roller coasters, haunted houses, and classical music.

A dramatic change came in 2003, when at age 20 he took an oil painting class at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Seth, who rarely speaks, began describing his world in paint. He displayed an innate ability to mix colors and create amazing works of art that reflect his vision of his world and the world around him.

Seth’s artworks represent his journey. In 2004, he begins painting with Donna Rogers-artist/mentor and soul mate, and a number of creative, dedicated Cleveland Institute of Art students/mentors as well. Out pour paintings of horses, auroras, whales and self-portraits. To explain Seth and his art, his mother, Debra, produces an 8-minute documentary entitled A Different Kind of Journey. The documentary is accepted into the Ohio Independent Film Festival in November 2004, featured at Cleveland’s Ingenuity Festival of Art & Technology in 2006 and shown on WVIZ PBS many times. It is later seen by the staff of The Today Show, which leads to a feature segment about Seth that airs on January 3, 2007.

By this time, the Chwast home is filled with art, including 30 small watercolors and 74 large paintings in oil or acrylic, including six paintings that are each six feet by seven feet. It is a world of color and joy. People who visit walk around in wonder, smiling and laughing.

In March 2007, Seth begins to travel. After experiencing Costa Rica, Seth’s art explodes with colors of the tropics. A trip to Galapagos is planned. Meanwhile, Seth has solo exhibits at University Hospitals of Case Western Reserve University and at the Cleveland Clinic, who each purchase paintings. He receives a second call from The Today Show, asking if he would like to be featured again on New Year’s Day 2008 as their most inspirational story of the year. By the time they return to film him, in one year Seth has produced another 116 paintings.

Seth travels to Galapagos in November 2007, where he schedules his first international exhibition, opening on March 28, 2008. Filled with confidence and excitement, Seth goes to the Cayman Islands and meets with the director of the National Gallery, who schedules a solo exhibition of his work for October 25 through February 25, 2009. Seth’s second trip to Galapagos includes an opening reception for 150 people, including the mayor and the governor of Galapagos. Seth and the exhibit are featured on national television. He meets with Graham Watkins, director of the Charles Darwin Foundation, who invites Seth to be their artist.

Seth regularly flies to New York to paint with Kip Jacobs, a bold, edgy, accomplished artist, creating Manhattan cityscapes and mobiles. In July 2008, Seth participates in the Art Omi International Artists Residency in New York’s Catskills. On opening day, he is seen by the Chelsea Art Museum’s Nicollette Ramirez, who reviews for Whitehot Magazine and names Seth as one of the three outstanding American artists of the residency. She invites Seth to participate in a group exhibition in Trinidad in November 2009. Seth and his mom return to Cayman for three visits during his exhibition, to be on national television, to give gallery tours and to meet with the special needs staff and the families of the autistic.

Seth is then contacted by Anne DesRosiers, the Arts & Culture project director at Cleveland’s Jewish Community Center, who invites him to be the artist for a special classical music concert on May 3, 2009. Art consultant Teresa DeChant curates the JCC exhibit, titled Seth Chwast: A Retrospective. Seth’s art will be on display through May 25.

Art historian Arielle Mark discovers Seth’s work at the Cayman National Gallery and invites him to have an opening at her gallery in Englewood, New Jersey from May 30 to July 12, 2009. Seth is invited by the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (CMNH) to participate in Visions of Galapagos, “a collaborative effort between the museum, painter Seth Chwast and the Dittrick Medical History Center,” part of the museum’s Darwin Year, running July 18 to October 11, 2009.

Future plans include a return to Cayman to present an oil painting of an iguana to the Cayman National Trust, an exhibit at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, an opening in Arlington, Texas, and a solo opening at Art Omi (Time Equities Inc. at 55 Fifth Avenue in New York City). For Art Omi, Francis Greenburger has invited Seth to transform the lobby with a wall-sized painting of Manhattan Island, commissioned for this event. Also, Seth is invited by CMNH to return in 2012 to provide the companion exhibition of his art for Mythical Creatures, which travels from the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

Seth continues busily painting to this day. Seth stands as an icon for anyone who has been in a hopeless situation, was invisible and ignored, and then triumphs and bursts into beauty and glory. He lives in a state of bliss, and his paintings convey his contagious sense of joy, happiness and beauty; his story will inspire you.

Please visit Seth's gallery for the pleasure of viewing his beautiful work.