When the ninth-annual Zoowalk for Autism Research kicks off next Saturday at the Phoenix Zoo, the participants will sport a T-shirt featuring the design of a Mesa resident who has worked to rise above the disorder.
The winner, 21-year-old Chris Weemes, had his drawing of a phoenix sitting just below the phrase Rise above autism selected among all the entrants to win the Zoowalks T-shirt design competition. As a result, Weemes drawing will appear on thousand of T-shirts that will be worn by the participants in the Oct. 5 event run by Arizona State Universitys Autism/Aspergers Research Program.
Weemes said he was quite excited to win the contest, and said he wasnt expecting his entry to take first.
It was mostly my moms idea to get me into the contest; I figured it would be fun, he said.
Part of the inspiration for the use of the phoenix is its symbolic representation of rebirth and rising above the disorder. Although autism is part of his everyday life, Weemes said it doesnt have that prominent of an effect on his life.
Its not that big of a deal, but it was back then, he said.
Weemes does draw on a regular basis, often using other photos as inspiration for his work. Included in the notepad he draws in are re-creations of cartoon and video game characters like Fox McCloud and a drawing of a church in Germany. When hes not drawing, he works at a courtesy clerk at Bashas and does a lot of biking and goes to the library.
Weemes will be one of the thousands who will walk on the fifth he has participated in the walk in previous years and he said hes looking forward to it for a couple of reasons. One of the reasons he cited is the location, as the walk offers him an opportunity to visit the zoos wildlife, especially the bats.
The other reason is the nature of the event itself, as the money the goal figure is $150,000 raised from it goes to ASU to support autism research. This years research project is a multi-treatment study for children and adults with autism.
Weemes design that will adorn the T-shirt should aid in the fundraising effort, and he said hes looking forward to helping people of all ages who have autism.
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East Valley resident wins Autism walk T-shirt contest