MetroFamily Magazine May 2020

Super Kids

of the Metro

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Art with heart

Autumn’s story BY ERIN PAGE. PHOTOS PROVIDED.

Autumn Hudgins’ earliest memories involve the arts. She’s been drawing for as long as she could pick up a pencil, dancing since she could walk, singing since she could talk. Though she’s graduated to bigger theatrical roles, she vividly remembers her debut as Mrs. Claus in a first grade production. About the time Autumn entered her teenage years, the now 18-year-old high school senior made a life-changing discovery: she could take her passion for the arts and gift it to others through service. Some individuals plow through adulthood unsure of their life’s purpose, but this Choctaw teen on the cusp of graduation has fully cultivated hers into her Serving with HeART initiative.

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AUTUMN’S SERVING WITH HEART INITIATIVE FOCUSES ON SHARING ART WITH THE UNDERSERVED AND EDUCATING THE COMMUNITY ON THE BENEFITS OF ART.

“I believe deeply that it’s my duty as a human to shine a light to others,” said Autumn. “My purpose is to help people and move others to create.”

A spark to serve Autumn was recently named one of Oklahoma’s top six youth volunteers by Prudential Financial’s Spirit of Community Awards program for outstanding service. Autumn’s first concerted volunteer effort coincided with her 13th birthday when she asked friends to collect clothing and toiletries for an organization assisting in the recovery and recuperation of human trafficking victims. “I couldn’t imagine people around my age going through that,” said Autumn. That party, which also included handing out kind notes to strangers at the mall, sparked Autumn’s creativity for service, inspiring her to look outside herself to help others. Several years later, Autumn’s Serving with

HeART initiative began to take shape, encompassing opportunities within the community to provide art to the underserved and educate others on the benefits of art. Autumn volunteered for a summer at Studio 222, an after-school program helping metro kids develop self-esteem and resilience against at-risk behaviors. Autumn realized the students she was working with didn’t often have access to art in their schools, or elsewhere. Likewise as an intern at The Children’s Hospital at OU Medicine, Autumn noticed when visiting and delivering gifts to patients that sketch books were scarce. So she rallied her school to collect more than 900 art supplies for hospital patients. While Autumn is grateful for opportunities to provide arts awareness to other kids in the metro, she can’t help but feel a sense of frustration that the benefits she’s gained from arts programs aren’t available to all kids. “Arts funding is the first to go, and I don’t think that should be acceptable,” said Autumn. “People don’t realize how necessary