“I Didn’t Feel Like I was Good Enough Because I Couldn’t See” Vision and Visions of a Young Artist: A Visit with Rebecca Bruyere

by Allan Schneider

Becca’s art and her relationship with the individual pieces reveals a uniqueness of character and creativity as singular as the artist herself. Her wonderful works involve watercolor, acrylic, egg shells, hot glue, cardboard, and more. Her musical interests involve viola, cello, violin, ukulele, guitar, and piano. Because of a rare eye cancer, her vision involves unpredictable fluctuations ranging from 20/100 to 20/900. Becca’s remarkable art, her varied interests, and her resilient soul acknowledge adversity and celebrate diversity.

Rebecca (Becca) Bruyere, daughter of Brett and Amanda Bruyere, is a seventeen-year-old senior at Boise High School in Boise, Idaho. She has loved art all her life but concedes with her characteristic humility, “I didn’t think I was good enough because I couldn’t see.” All the more, one art teacher discouraged her from taking art because of her low vision.

Not so with her current teacher, Ms. Katy Shanafelt, who applauds not only Becca’s talent but also her attitude toward her work. “Becca comes with a strong desire which translates into her ability because she really wants to create work that she’s proud of.” She adds that Becca’s originality as far as medium has inspired the whole class. In fact, sometimes other students ask why they don’t get to do what she’s doing. “She’s not afraid to try things whether they turn out or not. And that to me is like the hallmark of someone who is going to be successful, because she’s not afraid to fail.”

Becca is active in the blind community teaching Braille at BELL (Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning) camps and participating in the VISTA (Visually Impaired Students Transitioning to Adulthood) leadership program. She would like to study art in college, and her dream school is the School of Visual Arts in New York. “I want to do something I feel is important.” Imagine that: a blind student in a visual arts school. “People are afraid to try.”

Ms. Shanafelt says, “I have enjoyed working with Becca more than I could have imagined. She has such a great attitude and welcomes challenges in her work. She has a great drive to create and shows the world that there is nothing she can’t do. She communicates her ideas to me, and we have such fun brainstorming how we will accomplish her plans. Sometimes we fail and try again. We learn by doing and are constantly surprised by the results of our play and experimentation. I think that the more Becca works, the less I have to set up any stages for her to work in—she is very independent and wants to be 100 percent responsible for her work. I admire her and have loved working with someone who, although she might appear sight-challenged to some, is one of the purest visionaries I have had the pleasure to know.”