Art is Inclusive

With his bright smile and infectious positivity, Nathan “Nate” Hausmann brings a steadfast work ethic and a love of the arts to the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge. For the past year, the 22-year-old has worked for the council in varying capacities, doing everything from organizing data to transcribing. What makes Hausmann’s story special is that he has autism, though his co-workers will tell you it does not hold him back. 

Nate attributes his success to ACGBR President and CEO Renee Chatelain, whom he worked with at the Manship Theatre at the Shaw Center. “She’s the best boss a guy like me could ever have,” said Hausmann. “She is super supportive, understanding and patient with me. And it’s not just Ms. Chatelain who helps me, but the whole staff. I love working with Ms. Chatelain and the other employees who understand my autism.”  

“Nate has taught us that everyone has a spectrum of understanding and a unique way of communicating,” said Chatelain. “If we can all be aware of these qualities in others, we can begin to understand each other better and improve our community. This is Nate’s gift. I hope that our example will open up job opportunities for adults with autism in other organizations and businesses.”

Hausmann is also an artist himself. His self-proclaimed obsession, as a young child, with animals and the alphabet inspired him to create personalized books for family and friends featuring brightly illustrated giraffes, jaguars, and other animals improved over hours of repetitive practice. This venture launched the publication of an English-Hebrew animal-alphabet book that he presented to the Jewish Book Council’s authors’ conference in New York City. His presentations expanded to Washington, D.C., Houston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Memphis, where he would read excerpts from his book. Wanting to make these visits more interesting and interactive, Nate developed animal-alphabet flash cards that were used as a memory game with kids. 

While the subject matter remained the same, Hausmann eventually expanded to canvases other than paper, incorporating his animal-alphabet themes onto furniture and then onto baby blocks made with wood scraps. 

“Since I have autism, I have a lot of things that I have trouble with,” said Hausmann, “like acting appropriately in social situations and taking other peoples’ perspective. These are things that lots of people don’t have to be taught. But drawing my ABC animals is not something that anyone ever taught me. I taught myself. It’s just something that I was born knowing how to learn to do easily, so it just makes sense to do something that I’m good at.” 

Find all of Hausmann’s work and lengthy accolades from his fans at his website, abcanimals.net.