A Peice to Die For

Authors Note:

I really wanted to do this piece because I remember this piece from when i went to the art museam and I thought it would be intersting to learn more about it. Please look formy use of A-B transitions.

Every 1 out of 800 live births end up with down syndrome. They live their lives with impulsive behavior, small ears, small mouths, and poor judgement. The list goes on and on, but there is no reason to feel bad for these kids because they live their lives just as good as every other kid in the world.

David M. Lenz is a Self-Employed Artist ,full time, in Shorewood, WI. He went to school and got his Bachelor degree in Fine Arts, at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee,in 1985. He got married to Rosemarie Feiza-Lenz  and had their son Sam. Sam wasn't a typical boy, he was born with down syndrome.

Although Sam does have down syndrome, he was still a silly 9 year old. According to PubMed Health, down syndrome occurs when there is an extra copy of chromosome 21. This form of down syndrome is called Trisomy 21. The extra chromosome causes problems with the way the body and brain develop. At the age of nine his father painted a oil painting of him standing in front of a scene in Wisconsin.  

Even as people see kids with down syndrome as children with special needs, many people don’t view Sam as a special needs kid because he lives a somewhat normal life. He is like other kids, but he has a special piece of him in the Milwaukee Art Museum. Before this piece was famous, it was entered in a contest with 4,000 other paintings. He was selected in the top 100 people. Then he was  selected to be in the top 7. Finally, after a long wait him and his family were flown out to Washington D.C. to be selected as the winner on June 23.

Life just lives on for this child who is able to live a not so average life. How tremendous would it be to know that a painting of you is being displayed at a museum. This little boy never let any sickness stop him in life so next time you see a “special needs” child just say “hi” to them because they are just another  person  like you and it just might make their day.