LeVar “Var” Lawrence

Written By LeVar "Var" Lawrence
Var, a Black man wearing a multicolored windbreaker and jeans, sits in front of a bush and black gate in a motorized wheelchair, and looks straight to camera.

LeVar “Var” Lawrence was born and raised in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. While other children were out playing, Var spent countless hours inside nurturing a love of drawing. From there, a lifelong love of visual arts was born. At the age of 28, Var was shot over a dice game dispute that left him paralyzed from the neck down. An active family man, Var lives through his love for his children; Shaequan Lawrence, LeVon Lawrence, Lequan Lawrence, Lequasiah Lawrence, Leshea Lawrence, Varnaeshiah Lawrence, and LeVar Lawrence. Today, Var is a core member of the OPEN DOORS Design Team, using bold graphics to creatively inspire and uplift community. His poetry has been published in Wheeling & Healing: A Poetry Anthology Edited by OPEN DOORS Reality Poets.

Stories

Visual Art

 
LeVar "Var" Lawrence

In 2005, I was shot in an argument over a dice game in the Fort Greene projects, where I lived. From the Hospital, I went to Goldwater for rehab. In 2013, they closed, and I came to Coler.

I always knew how to draw anything. If I had chosen to stay in school, I could've been a tattoo artist or an architect. Instead, I chose to be a drug dealer. Once I got paralyzed like this, I started using my phone to manipulate pictures, using more abstraction. I can still be an artist, just in a different way.

When we talk to people, I say what’s in my heart. I talk to kids as if they’re my own. I see my own kids every week. I have three boys and three girls, aged 14 to 25, and I talk to them straight up. That way they can feel they can be straight up with somebody else.

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