At 24, Elizabeth Schafer not only seeks inspiration for the art she creates but is an inspiration herself.
Elizabeth was born with albinism, a condition that causes a lack of pigment in your hair, skin, and eyes, and is legally blind. Through this condition, she found art and a way to communicate with the world how she sees it and inspire others to follow their dreams.
Previously the Volunteer Coordinator & Art Studio Manager, in June 2024 she was named Director of Splashes of Hope, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating custom-designed art murals that transform spaces.
Over the phone, we spoke to Elizabeth to learn more about her art and work with Splashes of Hope.
Congrats on your new role as Director with Splashes of Hope! For those unfamiliar with Splashes of Hope, can you explain what this organization does and your role there?
Splashes of Hope is a nonprofit that paints murals for hospitals, healthcare centers, veterans' homes, nursing homes, and social service centers- anywhere that can use a little bit of uplifting, we’ll paint a mural for them.
I started with Splashes of Hope in the summer of 2019 between two of my college semesters as a volunteer artist, and I would come to the studio and help out with whatever was needed, whether it was finishing off panels that we installed in hospitals or helping with different events that they were hosting. Throughout that summer, I really fell in love with Splashes of Hope's mission and the people I met.
When it was time for me to go back to school in Boston, I wanted to take a piece of that with me. So I started the Splash Club in Boston, where I would set up a mural for two hours every week, a panel, and have any of my peers come and help paint the mural for a local facility in Boston. I did that throughout the rest of my college career and throughout my summers, I continued to volunteer with Splashes and then started helping to run the volunteers.
When I graduated college, it worked out that Splashes had a position open for me to take as the Volunteer Coordinator and Art Studio Manager. I hopped on that and got to do a lot more of the coordination side of things, in addition to some of the stuff I had previously been doing. Over time, I've continued to learn more roles and hop into what was needed, to the point now we’re working into this position of Director. I get to do a lot of the coordination and behind-the-scenes things in the office, but I also get to stay connected to the artists in the studio.
I’m very grateful to be in a position where I get to learn and interact with so many different people and different facets of Splashes.
How did you personally become interested in art and what do you hope to communicate through your art?
I became interested in art as a young child, and having albinism, my parents always encouraged me to try different things. I would go to an art studio after school called The Tiny Artist, and while I was there each week, I would create a painting and give it to someone. I loved the idea of being able to give something to everybody.
I always looked forward to making something personalized for someone. As I kept doing it, I realized that art was a way for me to explore my vision and that I saw the world differently than everybody else.
At first, I would take a picture of something and then zoom in really close to it and draw it. By zooming in and looking closely at it, I could learn things about it and see details that I would typically overlook or not realize were there. I was always very focused on drawing it to make it look like what everybody else sees.
Then at one point, I switched and started doing the opposite. I would set up a still life, not knowing what the objects were in it, and then paint what I saw as a way to show other people, because people always ask me, “How do you see?” I never had a good answer because I don't have a comparison point.
So painting became a way for me to explore what I was able to pick up from different distances and see, and then use that as a communication tool to show other people what I'm able to pick up and see from those different distances.
I try to communicate the way that I see the world and it can be used as a tool for parents and teachers of other children with albinism to help give a little bit of a hint into the world of what they may be seeing.
I also love art as a form of communication in general and getting to share, learn about other people through it, and learn about other things. Art is so vital in communicating properly.
What was your favorite mural or painting to work on for Splashes of Hope?
There are so many different projects that I love for different reasons. We recently did a Painting for a Purpose with the American Nurses Association at their yearly conference. We brought an outlined mural for them to help paint and then we installed it at Oishei Children's Hospital in Buffalo.
This was a really sweet project. It was the first Painting for a Purpose that was an away trip that I coordinated myself, and seeing nurses who are there with patients, day in and day out, who care so much about adding their touch to the mural, it was really sweet.
The team I worked with on that trip- Sandy, Grace, and Steve- were amazing to work with and we got things done so efficiently and had a great time meeting all the nurses.
When we installed it in the hospital, they shared with us how they hadn't had a piece of artwork on the floor where it was being installed yet, and the hospital staff was so excited to have it. It touched everybody at the hospital and it was a nice all-around, great experience.
Outside of your art for Splashes of Hope, what are you working on?
My most recent personal project was one that I did based on facial recognition, seeing what I could pick up from people's faces.
I presented it at the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation (NOAH) conference this year in a presentation titled ‘How We See’, to start the conversation about how people with albinism navigate the world and how we see.
Besides that, I have a bunch of work-in-progress projects all around that I'm always going back to whenever I'm not busy.
Besides painting, do you have other mediums you like to work with or are interested in learning?
When I was in college, I went for art education, and we got to explore different types of mediums. I got to take a glass-blowing class and pottery classes, a lot of woodworking classes, and mixed media installation classes. I got to try a little bit of everything.
Woodworking in particular is one that I have a bunch of work-in-progress pieces that, when I get the chance, I want to go back to working on. It's fun to combine the 3D element with 2D, even with the pottery, too. I can sculpt something, then add a painting on top of it, and it adds another layer to what you're working on.
We thank you for being a fan of our brushes! Can you share which Dynasty Brush line is your favorite and why?
Oh my goodness, I love Dynasty brushes! We use them all the time at Splashes. Dynasty Brushes are our main tool for getting our murals accomplished.
The Orange Ice- it has an orange handle and comes towards a point at the top- I love that paintbrush! I got a lot of use out of it recently when I was at one of our Painting for a Purpose events. We use them all the time, for every mural.
What do you hope to accomplish next for Splashes of Hope?
For Splashes of Hope, we have a waiting list of over a hundred facilities waiting to get a splash as we call it, so my main focus and goal is trying to get facilities paired with sponsors. We want to get those places off our waiting list and get murals to them!
What do you hope to accomplish personally with your art?
Personally, I hope to continue to build communities through my art, whether it's vision-related, albinism-related, or otherwise. It's a fun way to show your gratitude towards people who are important to you.
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