Meet Zenaviv – A Social Enterprise Startup On A Mission To Significantly Improve The Lives Of Artists With Autism

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Below is our recent interview with Harish Bikmal, Co-Founder of Zenaviv:

Q: Could you provide our readers with a brief introduction to Zenaviv?

A: Zenaviv is a social enterprise startup on a mission to significantly improve the lives of artists with autism and provide them with hope for a better future.

Simultaneously, we work to challenge and change the way the world perceives people on the autism spectrum – from individuals with challenges TO people with unique talents and strengths.

At the end of the day, as Temple Grandin says, these people are not LESS, but DIFFERENT.

We accomplish these goals by promoting the artwork of these individuals to businesses, corporations, hospitals, and individuals to help the artists earn an income, improve their self-esteem, and families can see a ray of hope.

Q: Harish, how did you get the idea for Zenaviv?

A: You may have guessed; I have a personal connection to autism. My younger son Himal was our inspiration behind Zenaviv. He was diagnosed with severe non-verbal autism with immune and gut problems when he was two. Although he is 17 now, his developmental age is about six.

Fortunately, with a tremendous amount of hard work and perseverance from my wife and several teachers and therapists, Himal has learned to paint. And one thing led to the other and starting of Zenaviv.

Let me share the story, after Himal’s diagnosis, we were told he may need to be put in an institution by age five, which left us with very little hope for what his life and our lives together could be.

As you can imagine, my wife and I constantly worried about his future – especially his life when we were gone and no longer there to take care of him. Like other parents, we struggled to do as many things as possible to help him, but the progress was very slow… When he was about 10 years old, keep in mind he couldn’t properly hold a fork, he picked up a paintbrush from his mother and started dabbing on the canvas she was working on.

When we saw this, we started him in art therapy and training and since then his teachers and therapists have been tremendous in helping develop and nurture his painting skills. This provided a glimmer of hope to us.

As Himal continued to paint and we continued to be overwhelmed with his medical and therapy bills. – there was no insurance coverage for autism in the US then – we decided to hold a fundraiser to sell his art pieces. He had painted about 50 pieces at the time, and when people heard about the fundraiser, over 100 people from the community donated their art to his cause.

We were so blown away by the support we felt. It was crazy! It deeply touched our hearts!

Then, on the day of the fundraiser, we sold over 1500 greeting cards in 2 hours and over 130 paintings in 6 hours.

This was where the idea of Zenaviv came from and where I was further inspired to help people on the spectrum share their talent and help reduce the stress levels on the families by taking them outside of their daily challenges and helping them see some hope for the future.

Q: Can you give us insights into your products?

A: Currently, we primarily promote two types of products:

1. Museum-quality reprints of the artwork on canvas and fine art paper. We can acrylic plexiglass as well.
2. In addition to the prints, we also put the art onto various products such as calendars, greeting cards, totes, and mugs, to name a few.

We do this because for each piece of art, the artist can earn over and over again with the sale of each print or product.

We’ve found that many businesses enjoy collaborating with us by co-branding our products with their logo to give as gifts to their customers, prospects, and employees.

It’s a nice way for our artists to feel recognized and benefit financially while also allowing the businesses to showcase their charitable side to their clients.

We also paint custom wall murals. I can say that one of my proudest moments since starting Zenaviv was when a couple of our artists painted a 345 sq. ft. mural at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington D.C. It can be seen here.

And, recently four of our artists completed a Thomas Jefferson themed mural at the Jefferson Hotel in DC!

Q: What makes Zenaviv a good choice for artists?

A: Zenaviv was started primarily to improve the lives of artists with autism.

So, we have structured Zenaviv in a way that maximizes the income for the artists. Currently, each artist earns over 66% of the profits from the sale of their art. Keep in mind, this is sales from the multiple prints and products with art on them. So, the artist can earn several times and not just one-time income from sale of the original.

Importantly, the response from the artists and parents has been heartwarming. The artists and their guardians have said that the income they are earning is helping them with some of their needs such as art therapy, speech therapy, etc.

It’s gratifying to hear the parents say that they are seeing their children excited and happy and wanting to keep creating more art.

Let me start with my son, Himal, he’s not usually very expressive, but when he sees one of his paintings hanging in a local business, the expression on his face is just priceless for us as parents. This is how the power of artistic expression has impacted him. For our family, it was the very spark of hope we so desperately needed to forge ahead.

The father of a Zenaviv artist, whose talented daughter participated in an art show Zenaviv held last fall, told us that after the event, “she came to us [and] said ‘this is cool, and I am excited to be there’; words we heard as parents for the first time from our daughter.”

As a father myself, such news propels us to move ahead with re-doubled enthusiasm.

Ultimately, we look forward to a day where individuals are proud of their work, there is hope in the family rather than despair and the general public looks past their autism to see the talents of these individuals!

Q: What are your plans for the future?

A: We dream that all families impacted by autism nurture the passions and strengths of their children to develop a sense of purpose in them. The families should be proud of their children and live with hope for a brighter future and not tired of daily struggles and challenges.

Our vision is to provide recognition, opportunity, and income for every artist with autism to accomplish these dreams.

Thus far, the response from the parents of children on the Zenaviv platform has been very gratifying. For example, one mother, speaking of her son, says it has “given him a greater sense of satisfaction in his artwork, and consequently made him feel like a more valuable member of society. [He] is a happier person as a result of Zenaviv.”

Thanks to recognition from organizations such as The Washington Post, Woman’s Day, and Four Seasons Hotels, the confidence level of my son Himal and the other Zenaviv artists has grown by leaps and bounds. They feel a huge sense of accomplishment whenever their art is displayed or sold. Every word of praise has only motivated them further.

These developments have validated the power of our cause and guide us in surging ahead.

The goal is for Zenaviv to be a platform for all these individuals wherever they live. We hope this recognition inspires other parents to nurture the ‘hidden’ unique strengths and passions of their kids.

By the end of the year we expect to promote at least 25 artists with consistent income. Over the next five years our goal is to directly impact 2,000 artists and indirectly several more around the world.

Q: Who’s eligible for Zenaviv? How does someone submit art to Zenaviv for promotion?

A: Any individual with a diagnosis of autism OR other disabilities whether it’s physical, neurological, developmental, or military related is welcome to apply.

Our mission is to empower the artists by providing them with a means to earn income and boost their self-esteem, so we keep it pretty simple.

One can send us an email at Support@Zenaviv.com with a brief background on the individual (a couple of paragraphs) and pictures of a couple samples of their work. It could be just pictures of the art taken by phone.

You can also go to our website and write to us from the Connect section.

From there we decide whether our platform would be a fit for the applicant and whether their artwork would fit with our clients.