Meet Krista Capo of Dane Capo Art

Today we’d like to introduce you to Krista Capo.

Krista, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Our story isn’t brief it is tiresome and filled with long suffering. There is nothing brief about it. Seizures since he was 10 months old with a 6 year reprieve from 12-18 and an autism diagnosis at 5.  Every seizure feels like an eternity and waiting and wondering for the next one to come seems longer than that.  Our road has been long in Dane’s 22 years on earth and out of rebellion or gut instincts I always seem to choose the road less traveled. My swearing at the school administration over Dane’s cognitive functioning was very tiresome and I started feeling bad about my behavior and what was becoming of the 2 of us. I became the crazy lady who was angry all the time with the kid who was shut down and no longer talking. The day came when his 5th grade teacher thought he wasn’t capable of learning states and capitols so she put him in a corner.  Within 24 hours both of my kids and the cat were packed in the car to go see for ourselves. I had truly lost my mind. We were gone for 6 weeks and covered 37 states. It was a new beginning. This is when I knew I would quit my 7 year argument with God and go ahead and homeschool.  3 amazing, invested and intelligent humans later we had a teacher that was studying art history and Dane was studying Matisse. He decided to paint Matisse’s self-portrait and the results were stunning. I continued painting and my house was filled with color and expression and a kid that was thriving.  He was being educated and studying things that interested him, the stock market, home economics horticulture and art.  With the seizures having subsided we started making gains and feeling whole.  We got to sleep through the night! You know that feeling of having a new born and thinking you will never sleep through the night again? Well that was us except it when on for 12 years.  Sleep deprivation is an awful state!  Being a parent to a child with special needs is never ending. I know, I heard you said either is parenting a regular kid. Well I invite you to spend 48 hours with Dane and let me know how you get on a how tired you are.  So now having been rested for 6 years and Dane painting away, we had an opportunity. A friend had an empty space in a gallery and asked us to show Dane’s gift with the community.  We accepted! I wanted to give him the opportunity to make some money since he at the time would not sell his original pieces. We made greeting cards with all the funny things Dane says on the back!  It was out little autism PSA!

The night was incredible! And Dane Capo Art was born!!!

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
If it was just about the Art business, it has been incredibly smooth and we have had a lot of success as far as being an artist goes. The BIG struggle for us is Dane wants a real job and this doesn’t feel like a real job. He wants coworkers, a pension and benefits. So my struggle lies in he may never have those things and I have created an incredible opportunity for him and he wants the mainstream thing. Quotes from Dane Capo “if I was working in social security office I would be helping on benefits there,” if I was working for the police department would be helping people get permits for block parties,” “if I was working at Disney store I would help be a cashier” end quotes, “I don’t want to be a boss I would rather work for Disney Airlines or Government”

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Dane Capo Art – what should we know?
We are an original art business, showcasing a person with a disability having incredible talent and the ability to inspire, entertain and delight the public. We are known for bringing art to the public in a variety of price points, original art, reproductions, socks, cards notebooks and reusable shopping bags. The thing we are most proud of as a business is his work led him to meeting Ringo Starr. It is incredible to know that someone thought his art was worthy of being in front of a Beatle! Ringo, A Beatle, No one is more famous than a Beatle!

I would define success by Dane feeling like this has gotten so big and productive that he is making enough money to get a paycheck and a W2, have insurance as well as constant social interaction in an environment that makes him feel successful.

What sets us apart from others is Dane! We have created something from nothing. We have created our own path that will hopefully lead to success for him. Our merchandise is 100% made in LA.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
•Our Village, Temple Grandin for speaking at a conference and saying these things that day, “each and every one of these kids has an ability, find it”, “you cannot go to college with them what can they do on their own”

•The Advocates, Maylin, Deborah, Karen, Alyse ,Becky and Eunice for teaching me everything I know.

• Laura Kokinda, Our first home school teacher.

• Laura Deer, Our first non school SLP.

• Amanda, his homeschool teacher that discovered his ability.

• Chris Miller, gave us gallery space for a month to have our first show.

• The 100 people that showed up to the show.

• The lady that won the Beatles reproduction in a raffle at an art show and sent it to Ringo.

• The Real Estate Developer for giving us gallery space in his empty real estate in Hermosa and DTLA!

• The 3 amazing ladies that designed his website because they think his story needs to reach the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: danecapo.com
• Phone: 310-625-9173
• Email: http://www.danecapo.com

Image Credit:
Krista Capo

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.