Joseph had just caught the eye of a family of three, A Mom, a Dad and a little boy. As Joseph approached the family, with a cheap BIC pen and notebook in hand, he saw the expression on the Mom’s face, lasting for no more than a second. It was the expression that Joseph was just another beggar on the street. Probably a thief. Late at night he expected this, and didn’t judge the family harshly. Joseph knew the neighborhood well and how many crooks lived around here, always making fun of Joseph and his “silly” dream of becoming a great artist. The woman quickened her pace and was pulling her boy with her until the little boy turned around and saw Joseph’s smiling face. Joseph said “Hey, I can draw you a quick cool picture, I am a good artist and it will only take a couple of minutes.” This caught the attention of the Dad and the Mom, and now the whole family was looking quizzically at him. “ I am homeless, and don’t ever beg or steal for anything, and I am proud of that.” There was still a blank look on the father and mother’s face, but the boy was smiling back at him.

The boy had noticed Joseph’s dog named Baxter that had just come into view and was trotting toward Joseph and the boy. “All I ask for is some food or money in return for a drawing that I can do for your son” he said to the parents. “Well maybe we’ll go get dinner first and then come back” said that Dad. “No, we can do it now” said the boy, obviously not seeing his father's urging expression. His eyes were fixed upon Joseph’s beautiful dog that he took great care of. “Ok sure.” said the father nervously.

After about 7 minutes Joseph had finished his detailed, elegant drawing of the boy’s name, Thomas. There were many intricate patterns incorporated into Joseph’s drawing. “Do you like it?” asked Joseph. The boy nodded. “If you want to be as good as me, you have to put hard work into anything that you do. My friends would be wasting their time partying and slacking off while I stayed in and practiced my art. Remember that you need to keep trying if you want to get good at anything in life”. The boy nodded a second time. Joseph then told the family to have a good night, collected his money and bought dinner for himself and Baxter. That was a regular night for Joseph, spreading good lessons to kids so that they wouldn’t make the same mistakes that he had.

That night Joseph slept well, knowing that he had made a positive influence on the boy, despite the hard ground below his thin sleeping bag. That very next morning Joseph and Baxter walked around Wynwood, soaking in all of the culture, such as the graffiti. Many great graffiti artists had used the walls of Wynwood as their canvas, where they expressed their ideas and views. When everyone's graffiti all came together, it looked nice. No cuss words or inappropriate pictures on the walls. The people of Wynwood respected and cherished the walls. It was important to all of them.

All of the sudden Baxter started barking at a telephone poll. Joseph came over and saw a flyer. The flyer said that there would be an art contest for one million dollars. The guidelines for the piece of art was that you had to be a Wynwood resident and the piece of art had to “speak Wynwood”. Joseph smiled. This was what he had been waiting for. Joseph first visited the building where all of the art would be presented 3 months from now. He started talking to the people who had the same idea as him, and eventually came across some of the judges. He told them that he would make a piece of art for the event. They wished him good luck. Joseph was always kind to people he just met. He wanted to give everyone a chance.

The next three months of Joseph’s life, he poured all of his time, talent and effort into the picture. He also spent his money, buying a nice canvas and some cheap paints and brushes. The detail he put into his painting was grueling and frustrating, but he knew it would be worth it. He woke up happy and energized, and poured everything he had into that painting. He had finished his masterpiece, Wynwood. The good and bad culture of the town was presented in his painting. The viewer of the painted had a point of view of someone standing in the middle of the road, looking down the street and seeing all of the intricate designs and graffiti on every building on the street.

The day of the contest had come, and Joseph stood proudly by his work as the many spectators and judges were astonished by the quality of his work. Someone commented that Joseph had taken everyone else’s originality and style from all the graffiti, and put it on paper. Around half of the judges had seen his work. One judge told him that a lot of the judges had conversed and said that Joseph’s painting was undoubtedly the best piece of art at the contest and would definitely win. He took a break from the convention and went to check on Baxter. He gave Baxter food and water, and enjoyed the moment with his companion.

The first noises Joseph heard when walking back into the convention were screams and gasps as a man slashed up Joseph’s canvas and ripped it up, and shoved his way out of the event. All of this happened in the matter of 30 seconds, and Joseph just stood there, feeling crushed. Surely he wouldn’t win now. Half of the judges hadn’t seen his masterpiece, and couldn’t rely on the words of others in making their decision. All of his hard work was for nothing.

Joseph lost the convention and spent the next week hiding, keeping to himself and sulking around, and went back to making just enough money for himself and Baxter. The days seemed pointless, as he had nothing to pour his heart and all of his talent into. He was extremely depressed. Joseph started doubting that he was making right decisions, kind and empathetic decisions. It sure didn’t help him when the man destroyed his painting. He never felt culture anymore when he looked at the walls of Wynwood. He just felt bitter thoughts. After another week he saved up his money and decided that he and Baxter should try their luck in another city.

While he was leaving he passed a store with TV’s in the front window, and he saw the news. It said that people had been looking for him, and that his story should be told to people. One judge that Joseph remembered seeing from the convention came on to the TV and praised Joseph’s painting, and said that he still deserved the money. He decided to stay put in Wynwood for now. A few days later he met a reporter and told his story of hard work and perseverance. The story went viral.

It took time for it to spread, but soon many people were talking about Joseph. He began to get donations of hundreds of dollars from people that recognized him on the street. He was so thankful of everyone. He soon began to thrive and was invited to start an art group with many other talented artists that would go on to make millions. Joseph was one of those people. His career skyrocketed, all starting with his hard work and good reputation, and the painting that he poured all of his effort into, finally paid off. He kept spreading good lessons on to people and went into the top tier of art business, and was always humble and thankful. He was giving as well, and gave back to the community of Wynwood which made him into the man he had become. The neighborhood became very respectable and one of the top art producing neighborhoods, with fresh ideas made daily, and the Wynwood graffiti that gave many inspiration kept expanding.