Tuesday, May 10th 2011, 1:37 PM
Just two years ago, autistic artist Amoako Buachie could barely control his temper, breaking out into screaming fits that were so loud neighbors called the cops.
But with the help of teachers – and after being featured in the Daily News – the 20-year-old savant from Flatbush is now working at top Manhattan studios and displaying his creations in some of the city’s best art museums.
“The change is incredible; he is happy,” said Buachie’s mom, Akosua Mainu, 48. “He’s not making the noise he used to – before it was almost every night but now he’s more alert and he’s watching ‘The Cosby Show‘ and laughing.”
Buachie – who paints with acrylics and sketches his own cartoon characters – is displaying his creations in the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the second time in two years this month.
Last month, he drew a piece that was featured in the Lincoln Center production of “Where The Wild Things Are.”
“I’ve learned a lot,” said Buachie, who hopes one day to work as a cartoonist for Warner Bros. “I like [art] a lot. It makes me happy.”
After Buachie was featured in The News two years ago, his mom was able to transfer him out of Wingate High School where he wasn’t getting attention – and into Public School 370, a school for kids with special needs in Brighton Beach.
PS 370 principal Susan Goldberg helped Buachie get involved with art programs in the city, put him on an art-focused academic track – and has seen his attitude and abilities dramatically improve ever since.
“At first he was very apprehensive to even try new things or want to be involved in the school,” said Goldberg. “Now he’s one of the kings here; he’s a mentor for other art classes…and has the responsibility of helping other kids learn.”
Since January, Buachie has been learning new techniques and working with professional artists with disabilities at the Pure Vision Arts studio and gallery on W. 17th St. in Manhattan – a gig Goldberg helped coordinate.
“He can basically draw or paint anything he wants to and he doesn’t look at any reference material,” said Pure Vision Arts director Pam Rogers, who is helping Buachie on a current acrylic painting of the Manhattan skyline.
“Here he is part of a whole group of people on the autism spectrum who all have the same thing in common: They love art and it is one of their sole endeavors in life.”
With Goldberg’s help, Buachie now spends Sundays at the Chelsea studio of the Rush Philanthropic Art Foundation, which helped display his work at Lincoln Center.
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