'Art saved my life': Father on Long Island finds inspiration in drawing on daughter's lunch bags
NEW YORK (WABC) -- As kids head back to school, there's one ritual that is arguably universal for parents and their children: packing lunch.
For one dad on Long Island, what started as a simple way to cheer up his daughter has turned into something much bigger -- an art form that saved his life.
With the scratch of a pencil and stroke of his marker, Ryan Wosleger takes us on a trip to the North Pole, a journey through the solar system and an adventure with Mickey and friends. It's all in a day's work and doodle for the father of two, better known as the "Snack Bag Dad."
But being the "Snack Bag Dad" wasn't always the plan for Wosleger, who opened up about feeling stuck in his 17 years working in corporate America.
"I would compare it to treading water. I was not moving very fast, very far. I was working really hard, but I was not fulfilled," he said. "I was very creative, and any time I brought up maybe a creative solution to a problem in a very dry insurance industry, it wasn't valued. I was told to just kind of be quiet."
Then, the pandemic hit, and Wosleger found his new calling.
"I like to think that art saved my life. I went home in March 2020. I was miserable. Like many, a lot of anxiety and depression," Wosleger said. "The light bulb moment was drawing with my daughter. I sent her to school, to nursery school, with a snack bag. I noticed that she was coming home happier. She wasn't as homesick, and I realized that I was I was happier too."
Bubble letters became masterpieces, and those brown paper bags became Wosleger's lifeline.
"When I started creating art with my daughter, she was starting to listen to me, and I realized, I was like, my voice is being heard. And it may be by my five-year-old daughter, but it's being heard," he said.
Wosleger knew he had something special, but he couldn't just make a change overnight, especially with a wife, daughter and baby on the way.
"So, I had to be patient. And little by little organically, it led me to the point where I was applying for the master's in art education," he said.
Now Wosleger is teaching kids and parents across Long Island on how to turn ordinary lunch bags into extraordinary art. For his daughter Briar, it's made her the star of the cafeteria.
"When you go to school and you pull out your lunch bag, what do your friends say," Eyewitness News Entertainment Reporter Joelle Garguilo asked his daughter.
"'Oh my god, your dad is such a good artist.' It makes me feel amazing. It makes me feel so special to have you," she said while hugging her father.
As for Wosleger's creations, he saves every single one.
"I keep every single bag I give to my daughter. I will put together a book, and I'll give it back to her, and I hope that she will be a 'snack bag mom,'" he said.
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