Autistic Cork artist's work to feature on UN stamp

An autistic Cork man who cannot read or write but is a gifted artist, has been chosen as one of eight global artists to feature art on a new range of United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) stamps.

Colm Isherwood (25) from Mahon was chosen as the only Irish artist whose work will appear on stamps to celebrate World Autism Day on 2 April.

Colm and his brother, Eric, both have severe autism they have no speech and cannot read or write. However, Colm has reached new heights with his sensory and tactile artwork.

Art has always been a big part of Colm’s life and he attends Eastview Brothers of Charity Cork where art teacher Áine Crowley continues to inspire him. His father, Eric, told the Cork Independent that following the 2010 exhibition at CIT, pictures of Colm’s paintings were submitted to the UN in September for their autism awareness month in April.

“He appears to be very excited about it. He had a lot of attention so far and loves it, as he did with the exhibition, when he walked in and saw the crowd of people looking at his art,” said Eric, who stated that he and his wife Veronica were overwhelmed and proud.

The final selection was the result of a nationwide search for talented artists with autism who were eager to share their designs with the UNPA.

Creative Director, Ms Rorie Katz decided to showcase the artwork of people with autism, to educate people about their talent, passion and creativity.

“It was an extremely difficult and challenging process to choose only eight designs from all the artwork submitted,” she said.

“All of us were personally touched by the stories of the artists and their families who are extremely passionate and supportive about raising awareness for autism.”

UNPA will issue the stamps on 2 April in recognition of World Autism Day and will be available for valid postage from the UN offices in New York , Geneva and Vienna. They will also be available to buy from UNPA offices.

“We would like to thank the people of Cork for supporting Colm,” his father said.

“We hope that this shows that the investment they made in 1995, in sending our sons to the Boston Higashi school, was worthwhile.

“Every person with a disability has worth and should be supported. Early intervention is the key to success and we hope our Government will continue to invest in disability services,” he said.

Colm spent 2011 working on a new series of paintings which are due to be exhibited in later on this year.