‘Royal Service Dogs: Advocacy And Art’ is a project founded by Arien Smith during the time when he was raising money to afford a service dog of his own, for PTSD and mobility purposes.
There were no famous characters representing individuals with disabilities and he wanted to change that. Starting with Disney Princesses, he wants to fill a gap in visual culture by illustrating these characters with service dogs.
“It’s both a critique on the lack of disabled characters and advocacy for disability rights,” the artist describes his artwork.
Smith is a trainer, writer, advocate and mental health activist who wants to raise awareness about the importance of service dogs to the disabled handlers.
