Hansen Clarke, The Politician With Creative Vision

[bryanttillman]

cool-he's one of us.

[creativeconquest]

An only child, Hansen Clarke grew up in a working class neighborhood on Detroit's east side. His father passed away when he was eight years old, his mother supported the family as a school crossing guard. Food stamps helped fill in the gaps.

In third grade, an observant teacher recognized his artistic ability and urged his mother Thelma to provide him with lessons. This would change his life and become the catalyst that would open doors that would one day lead him out of a life of hardship.

[creativeconquest]

But, it wasnt easy. Private lessons were out of the question on a crossing guard's salary. However, being a resourceful person, his mother was able to arrange for the Detroit Institute of Arts to pay for the lessons through a grant.

Clarke's hard work and innate artistic ability eventually lead to a scholarship offer from Cornell University. While he would graduate from Cornell with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Painting, his career would take him in a very different direction.