St. Paul artist selling work to benefit Australia wildlife

A St. Paul artist is using his passion for drawing to benefit Australian wildlife recovery.

The artist’s name is Sidney James, he goes by Sid and says the news coverage he’s seen of the wildfires remind him of horror movies.

“These animals can’t save themselves. They get trapped, and they don’t know what to do,” James said. "We couldn’t do anything about the fires, but we can do something about them now.”

James said his inspiration comes randomly, and he doesn’t know how to describe his style well.

“I just have an idea, and however it turns out, it turns out,” James said with a smile.

His work is done inside Interact, a St. Paul art and performing studio for professional artists with disabilities.

James was born with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

“The main thing I want to do with art is tell stories without using words, and that’s easy for me,” James said.

His most recent story is about a Koala named Jeremey. Yes, with three E’s.

“He’s Australian, he has three E’s, don’t judge him,” James said with another smile.

Sid painted a picture of Jeremey, and now Interact is helping him sell cards with the painted picture on them to help wildlife victims in Australia.

Interact Visual Arts Manager Joli Grostephan-Brancato said as a nonprofit that is used to getting support, it’ll be nice to give support.

“It’s going to have a much bigger impact than we anticipated,” Grostephan-Brancato said.

Along with KSTP, James has also shared his story with reporters in New York. His goal is for as many people as possible to help.

“Let’s keep that momentum going and provide them with some more support so they don’t have to worry about the resources. They can just focus on the animals and what they’re doing,” James said.