Some of Columbia’s homeless population will have art displayed at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport this fall.

For a fifth straight year, Transitions Homeless Center, located in downtown Columbia, has organized an art exhibit at the airport displaying the work of their clients. The exhibit will show throughout the fall and includes an annual art show and auction, which takes place this year Oct. 19.

The art shown is the best produced each year in the art classes offered to residents, Elizabeth Igleheart, Transitions’ vice president of advancement, told the Chronicle. Each artist gets a commission on any piece sold, with the rest of the funds going to support Transitions.

“It’s just a great way for our clients to sort of realize that even though they’re homeless, they have talent and a gift that people appreciate,” Ingleheart said. “And it obviously makes them feel really good and valued.”

She noted that the exhibit has opened up opportunities for these artists. A couple artists have been approached to do commission pieces as a result of the display, she said. 

The center tries to bring a few of the artists to the annual art show each year, giving them the chance to talk about their art – what they were thinking and feeling, how the art represents their experience and journey with homelessness.

Igleheart said one piece that particularly resonated with her from this year’s selections was “Homeward Bound,” by an artist she identified as Jim.

“It’s a picture of the front door and the front window of a house that has a welcome mat out in front of it,” she said. “And through the window, you can see a vase of flowers and a painting on the wall and it’s actually the view of one of our clients that he moved into when he moved out of Transitions.”

Art is just one of many things taught in the volunteer-led classes offered by Transitions.

Before COVID-19, the center provided 250 classes a month to its residents covering a variety of topics such as learning to shop on a budget, understanding your credit and how to improve it, resume and interview preparation, among others. Residents at the center have a general requirement to complete eight hours of classes a week – unless they have work, in which case the requirement is reduced.

For the airport, the exhibit is part of a rotating program of art displays, called Art in the Airport, which highlights local artists.

“We’re thrilled to be able to continue our strong partnership with Transitions to bring such a powerful exhibit to our travelers,” Kim Jamieson Crafton, the airport’s director of marketing and air service development, is quoted in a release. “By amplifying a marginalized group within our community in this way, CAE is able to ensure its focus of diversity, equity and inclusion remains woven into the fabric of everything we do.”