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Meet Rob Surette

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Meet Rob Surette

April 6, 2023
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Sed ut perspiciatis unde.

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We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rob Surette a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Rob, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I am one of a small handful of Top-Tier Master Fine Artists for Disney. What that means is that I paint for their Fine Art Galleries, worldwide.
But after I give them my 40 or so hours each week, I am allowed to accept any other creative projects I’d like.

In my “free time” I have set 7 World Records with my artistry,
I have given “World Peace” artistic masterpieces to kings, queens, princesses, prime ministers and presidents all over the world.
I have left countless portraits at famous, historical sites as my personal tribute.
And I allow my paintings to be auctioned at 200 wonderful, kind and caring non-profit events each year…
I create murals with the children at homeless shelters, I visit childrens hospitals, and I create all kinds of initiatives to clean up trash in the inner cities.

I have been profiled on The TODAY Show twice, GOOD MORNING AMERICA twice, The TONIGHT Show, The OPRAH WINFREY Show, and many more.

..but the most meaningful project I have ever worked on is my speed-painting school assembly program which I call my AMAZING HERO ART!

For 29 years, I have visited about 5 schools each week, bringing the total number of performances to 4,000+ and the results have been sooooooo amazing and sooooooo fulfilling.

During my 60-minute artistic extravaganza, I throw and splatter paint all over the place, magically resulting in beautiful, larger-than-life portraits of famous historical figures… in only 2-6 minutes each.

In between my speed-paintings, I deliver the most powerful and positive messages which any adult can give to a child, and I accompany my mini-speeches with the most beautiful and magnificent images on my 12-foot video screens.

I tell my audience members (kids AND adults) that they matter in life.
I proclaim that we are all on earth FOR A REASON!
I share modern scientific research that suggests that the human brain is virtually LIMITLESS, so don’t ever say, “I’m not smart enough… I’m not good enough.”!

The reactions and feedback has been consistently been overwhelming.

Every single performance leave me, the performer, on a high… and leaves countless kids and teachers also on a high.

I get hundreds and hundreds of messages, e-mails, comments and letters, telling me how people were deeply touched to the core of their beings after experiencing my show.

One youngster, recently, went right home and emptied his piggy bank and asked his Mom if he could give it all to homeless people.

Another 6th grader also fell in love with the “humanitarian segment” of my show and said to her Mom, “I’m going to travel the world one day and help out at orphanages.” And that’s exactly what she does, now that she’s a nurse. Her favorite place to help is an amazing orphanage in Ghana, Africa.

I was so proud of her, I volunteered to draw a super-realistic pencil portrait of all 65 orphans.
This project took me 3 years and I just got the most heart-warming reaction videos, just 3 weeks ago.

Kelly’s Ghana Orphanage Story (featured in The Boston Globe on Sunday, February 12, 2023)
https://fb.watch/ito3okqqjo/
https://www.facebook.com/RobSuretteAmazingHeroArt/photos/a.767406916675794/1600714816678329/

One boy, who only has one hand, went home after seeing my show and accomplished a ninja gym feat which has always eluded him. He climbed up the giant “warped wall” for the first time.

And I will always remember a 3rd grader in my audience, who was in a vegetative state for four years.
She eventually recovered fully (much to the confusion of her medical team) and lived out her deepest dreams to appear on the tv show, “Dancing With The Stars”. In her letter to me she pleaded, “Rob… KEEP TELLING KIDS when you visit schools, like you told me, to KEEP BELIEVING IN YOURSELF, KEEP SHINING AS BRIGHT AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN!”

This work has been deeply satisfying and I hope I can continue it until I’m 100 years old.

Again, my messages are so simple, universal and powerful: Kindness, Self-Confidence, Be All You Can Be.

These are messages which every child needs to hear.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My grandparents lived with us, upstairs, and my grandfather would draw as a hobby. I remember watching him when I was only 3 years old, and I thought it was the most magical thing – taking a blank piece of paper and drawing something realistic.

My grandfather didn’t teach me how to draw.
He helped ignite my passion for visual art.

And I was so happy to win the art fair every year, from grades K-11.

My third grade teacher was my favorite teacher of all.
She asked us all to think about what would be a DREAM JOB when we grew up.
I hesitantly wrote down, “Disney Artist” and her reaction was profound:

She said, “You’re a good kid and I believe in you. Don’t ever give up on that wonderful dream.”

Well, 10 years ago, when I eventually DID become a Disney Artist, I looked her up at a nursing home, far from my home. I wanted to thank her from the bottom of my heart for believing in me. I brought my actual drawing which won me an art fair ribbon in 3rd grade, along with my first Disney Fine Art hand-painted masterpiece.

Here’s a link to hear her reaction:
https://fb.watch/jcqKB7ayby/

So, this is how I got started.
I had key people who were there for me.
Wonderful adults who inspired me and believed in me.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My MISSION is one which fuels me every minute of every day. My self-proclaimed MISSION is to make this world a much better place.
I want to create a major, noticeable SHIFT in the way people view life.
Sure, there’s a frustration with a mission of this magnitude… but it totally LIGHTS ME UP inside.

And I think that’s how I am trying to make this world better.
I encourage people to find the wonderful things in life that LIGHT THEM UP on the inside.
And to stand on my platform and just ENCOURAGE people to follow their hearts and souls… without being an example of this, myself, might not yield the greatest results.

So what I do is use myself as an EXAMPLE of someone who isn’t afraid to be myself.
I’m not afraid to follow my heart.
I’m not afraid to push myself to my absolute limits with my artistry, my outreach, my kind and caring spirit.

I feel as if I am only scratching the surface.
I’m 51 years old, and thus, I figure I’m 1/2 way done with this life on earth.
My sense is that the first 1/2 was just preparing me to REALLY LAUNCH my mission during the SECOND half of my life.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Again, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is seeing people’s reactions. For me, I don’t want to be an artist, primarily.
I am a humanitarian who uses visual art simply as my VEHICLE to reach deep into people’s souls.

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