Art Studio Makes a Difference, One Miracle Paint Stroke at a Time

The artists around the big sturdy table look up from their acrylic paintings and pastel drawings when he walks in the room.

They call him Dr. Dale and he smiles right back as they take turns greeting him.

Like the other artists, the one they call Dr. Dale came to  to do just that. Because the story of his smile on this day is extraordinary. 

Twenty-five years ago Dale Propson was a pediatric dentist, soccer coach and an all-around Rochester-guy-about-town. Then one day, right in the middle of Walton Boulevard, the car he was driving was hit by a drunken driver, and everything changed.

He lost most of his eyesight. He lost functions in the frontal lobe of his brain – important functions like problem-solving and emotions and everyday reasoning. He became depressed.

So for the 64-year-old dad, grandfather, husband and former dentist to be standing in an art studio today, smiling and ready to paint, there is a little bit of a miracle story to tell.

'Amazing individuals with amazing talents'

The way Shelly Tyshka describes it, Paint a Miracle is an art studio and gallery designed to offer people living with disabilities – physical, mental – an opportunity to explore the arts in an inspiring and innovative environment.

There are classes and studio time. The artists' work goes on display and can be sold. Pieces are catalogued and priced.

For those reasons and so many more it is real, genuine art.

"The cool thing is, when you walk through the door here, you have no idea you are in a room with people society might want to label," Tyshka said. "You see amazing individuals with amazing talents."

Paint a Miracle is a nonprofit center. Though artists pay for the classes, the center relies on donations for scholarships, instructors and supplies.

The studio is the beneficiary of Saturday's inaugural ; all but $1 of each $25 entry fee for the 5K run will support Paint a Miracle.

"It's an amazing organization and this event has the ability to really help them," said Rob Ray, the race organizer.

Making a difference

Tyshka is Paint a Miracle's director. She is also Propson's daughter.

She was 15 on that day in 1985 that rocked her family's world.  She was a competitive figure skater with three younger brothers. "In a second, our lives totally changed," she said. Her dad had specialized in working with kids with special needs.

"Everybody knew him," she said.

The physical effects of the accident were tragic: Propson was in a coma for months and endured years of rehabilitation. But most of all, Tyshka remembers him being depressed.

One day about 10 years ago, an aide took him to an art studio.

Propson did not want to go in. "What's the point?  I can't see." Tyshka remembers him asking. The owner of the studio coerced him inside. You don't need eyes to paint, she told him.

And that was all it took. He started to paint and began to heal.

Tyshka, who was working as an attorney at the time, began plans to open her own fine arts center to help people like her dad.

"This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to fill a need I saw in the community," said Tyshka, now a 40-year-old mom of two.

She opened Paint a Miracle eight years ago.

Reasons to celebrate

More than 150 artists come through the studio in any given year. About 50 of them are what Tyshka calls "regulars."

Some of them are survivors of brain injuries like Propson's. Some are living with autism or Down syndrome. 

But as Tyshka said, there are no labels. Around the table, they are all only known as artists.

Shannon Vermeulen comes to Paint a Miracle four days a week.

"I love it here," said Vermeulen, 33, of Armada. "Every week I learn something new. It's a great place to be."

She paints with watercolors and acrylics; she draws with pastels, and is learning pottery.

"Our job is to make the arts accessible for everyone," said Lynn Reardon, the studio's education director. "Every artist sees things differently, and that's something to celebrate each and every day."

For Tyshka, the celebration is in the self-confidence that it has given her dad.

"He has been able to redefine himself as an artist. It has given him a reason to get up in the morning," she said.

"We have seen this totally change people's lives."

You can see a display of Paint a Miracle artwork on the second floor of .