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LEXINGTON, Kentucky (WLEX) — Joseph Curtis has been homeless for almost four years. Instead of just panhandling, he picks up a brush.
Every day, Curtis sets up at the corner of Russell Cave Road and West New Circle Road in Lexington, his 9-month-old dog Bobby by his side, and paints whatever he envisions that day.
“Panhandling out here like this, it breaks a man’s spirit,” Curtis said.
“I started doing this because it don’t make me feel like I’m bumming, you know. I do what I can for, you know, for my dog, for my girlfriend,” Curtis said.
State data shows more than 900 people are experiencing homelessness in Fayette County. Behind the numbers are real people with real stories.
Curtis says he is no fine art master, but he finds meaning in every piece he creates.
“I’m nowhere near Bob Ross, nowhere. That man to me is a God when it comes to paintings,” Curtis said.
He describes one of his paintings as carrying a deeper message.
“It’s more of — there’s a light at the end of the darkness,” Curtis said.
Curtis believes most people who buy his work are motivated by more than just wanting the art itself.
“I think people’s more or less, uh, buying my paintings just to help me out, you know, not because they actually want them,” Curtis said.
When asked about available resources, Curtis expressed frustration.
“They say they got resources. Well, all right, prove it. Quit tearing down buildings that they can get to, you know. Let the homeless use to sleep in,” Curtis said.
He also spoke about how he feels society views people experiencing homelessness.
“The way society looks at homeless people. They look at us like we’re a piece of trash,” Curtis said.
What Curtis says he wants most isn’t sympathy — it’s a chance.
“Give us a helping hand up, not a helping hand out,” Curtis said.
Through every painting he sells, Curtis hopes people see more than his circumstances — they see the person behind them.
Curtis says if anyone wants to purchase his art, you can stop by at the corner of Russell Cave Road and W. New Circle Road, every day.
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