TEXARKANA MAGAZINE
Jessica Haas performing at a Memphis Red Birds baseball game on July 4, 2025.
W hen she was only 26 years old, New York Magazine named Texarkana native Jessica Haas “the mother of the speed painting movement.” Still, it is more than just her ability to create phenomenal art at high speeds that makes her the impactful person she is today. Haas attributes the support of her family, an encouraging art teacher, and the local pageant system as the catalysts for her success. “I’ve always felt like Texarkana was a very ambitious city, that if you want something and are willing to work hard, there are people who want to help you,” Haas explained. Although she grew up in a very sports-driven home, Haas describes her younger self as “artsy” and as a “wallflower.” However, it was the competitive nature of the sports world that she maintained and translated into other aspects of her life. As a teenager, she became interested in pageants, ultimately winning a local teen title. In preparing to compete at the state level, her pageant director, Donna Barry, inquired about what she thought was her real talent, to which Haas replied, “Art.” She recalled, “In that moment, Donna handed me a magazine and told me to see if I could draw the image in ten minutes while she talked to my mom about other parts of the pageant. I remember thinking, ten minutes was crazy, but I also knew that the time limit for talent was only 90 seconds.” Haas then went to her high school art teacher, Nicole Brisco, and told her she needed to learn how to paint as quickly as possible for an onstage talent. As the two collaborated, they decided she should start with a large-scale charcoal drawing instead of a painting. Haas then spent each afternoon in the art room working on her talent. “Each week, I brought a pile of posters, as many as we could afford, and I would stay after school to practice. I don’t think I’ll ever forget those memories of Mrs. Brisco with a stopwatch, like a coach telling me how much time I could spend on each element and yelling, ‘Don’t give up! Don’t give up!’” Haas said with a laugh. She continued to hone her talent throughout high school, and it was her love for art, along with encouragement
from Brisco, that led her to attend the Memphis College of Art in Memphis, Tennessee, after high school. While in Memphis, she continued to compete in pageants, and her competitive nature fueled her drive to perfect speed painting. “I started thinking about the time it took for me to flip my painting over. I think it was somewhere between seven and ten seconds, and how many more strokes I could get in if the easel flipped itself while my arms were busy doing something else,” Haas explained. “I ended up inventing an easel and having a welder build it for me that would self-unlock and pop, turning the painting around.” Her innovation and hard work paid off, leading Haas to become the first contestant in the history of the Miss Tennessee pageant system to win talent as a speed painter. During this time, she not only broke records with her artistic ability but also chose to take a stand for her faith. “I had wanted to paint Jesus for a while, but was afraid it might come across as corny. I knew that whatever I created in connection with my faith needed to reflect excellence and bring glory to the kingdom of God. I had already shared my testimony during the interview, but I felt that painting Jesus, someone so recognizable, would have a far greater impact. That decision ultimately opened the door for many opportunities and truly drove the start of my speed painting career.” Haas’s faith also shaped her calling to ministry. At 16, after she was saved, she became involved in the girls’ ministry at her church. Through the program, she was paired with a middle school student named Kayla Wallace, and the two quickly bonded over their similar backgrounds and experiences. “It was probably the second Bible study when Kayla walked up to me and said, ‘Jessica, you’re my role model.’ I remember thinking, ‘Me? Is she sure there isn’t someone better?’ I was overwhelmed and scared, but I took it very seriously,” Haas explained. That summer, Haas encouraged Kayla to write out her testimony, telling her, “God doesn’t waste our sorrows. He uses them to help others.” But as the summer ended, Kayla sadly contracted
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LIFE & STYLE
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