Homelessness, Art and Determination

Three years ago Jonathan Strachan-Wynn was evicted from his home with his mother and two siblings.

This month, the performing arts major at Wolfson Campus hopes to inspire others at TEDxYouth@Miami on Feb. 19, when he talks about how he has overcome challenges including homelessness and started an arts organization that brings culture to schoolchildren.

“It was a rough time,” said 19-year-old Strachan-Winn. “I even contemplated suicide at one point.”

It was during that roughest of times, when his family moved from hotel to hotel, sometimes even sleeping in the family car, that Strachan-Wynn changed his outlook on life and created his arts organization.

“The message I’m spreading through [TEDxYouth@Miami] is that through hard work, determination and perseverance anything is possible,” said Strachan-Wynn, a music student at Wolfson Campus. Today he studies guitar, singing and piano.

His mother, Joy Strachan, held a job as an overnight employee for Miami-Dade Transit. After finally finding a place for them to stay, Strachan came home one night and had a conversation with Jonathan that would inspire him to make a change in his community.

“One day I was at work [on a Sunday] and I was looking at a Silver Knight program,” Strachan recalled. “I had never really paid attention to the show but because it was the only thing on TV, I kinda watched it.”

The Silver Knight program, begun in 1959 by John Knight, a past publisher of the Miami Herald newspaper, is a student recognition and scholarship program that values high academic achievement along with selfless acts of service. Past winners include Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos.

Seeing the program made Strachan see her son as a Silver Knight nominee. She suggested that the then Miami Arts Charter student begin his own non-profit organization. A month later, Strachan-Wynn had the plans for 60 Minutes of Art, a volunteer organization aimed at bringing art education to blighted Miami neighborhoods where funding cuts have prioritized core education over cultural electives.

His mother saw her son as unique and full of potential, not the student bummed out because of their lack of housing. That vision changed Strachan-Wynn’s outlook too.

In a 60 Minutes of Art session, Strachan-Wynn, his volunteers and artists from different strands may teach a watercolor class, show the proper technique for playing an instrument or host a dance session at one of four parks throughout Miami.

It wasn’t easy at first. At the very first session at Charles Hadley Park in Liberty City one of Strachan-Wynn’s presenters, a visual art student from Miami Arts Charter, was showing the students how to draw cartoon characters.

“None of the students were receptive,” Strachan-Wynn said. “It made me restructure my approach and rethink how I’m going to execute it.”

Now he makes the sessions interactive and student-focused.

In one Halloween session, student actress Samantha Palomino put on a scary show for the students.

“When the kids would come in, Jonathan would introduce me and everyone else and give a brief explanation as to what would be going on,” Palomino said. “[At the Halloween one he asked] ‘Do you guys know any history behind Halloween?’ or ‘Who’s going trick-or-treating?’”

Bety Smith, the former park manager at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park, oversaw six of Strachan-Wynn’s sessions.

“While at the park he conducted arts classes for music, dance and drama and the kids absolutely loved them!” Smith said. “His programs are interactive and have shown changes in our students both socially and academically.”

60 Minutes of Art has held more than two dozen artistic sessions and even garnered the support of sponsors such as BIC, KIND, All Pro Ink and Peeled Snacks. Looking forward, Strachan-Wynn aims to connect with three additional Miam-Dade County parks and publicize four new partnerships on the organization’s website.

“I feel that the program has grown tremendously,” Strachan-Winn said. “It has the potential to grow even more.”

Strachan-Wynn first learned about the TEDxYouth@Miami event when he performed at TEDxMiami as a Miami Arts Charter chorus singer in 2013. Strachan-Winn spoke to the TEDx curator about his non-profit and filled out an application for the TEDx Youth event happening in 2015. He wouldn’t be called in for an interview until August of last year.

“When my family and I became homeless, for me that was the greatest heartache I ever endured,” Strachan-Winn said. “It was art that got me through that.”

His friend and 60 Minutes of Art volunteer, Erica Yedwab, lauds Strachan-Winn’s capacity for both selflessness and friendliness.

“I think he’s an awesome person, amazing for doing something like this,” Yedwab said. “He definitely is driven and skilled. That’s what pushed him to create a non-profit.”

The TEDx Miami Youth event takes place at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd, on Feb. 19 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. For more information go to their website and for tickets visit Arsht Center.