At 14, she'd already sold $7 million in paintings

Autumn de Forest picked up a paintbrush at five and never put it down. By six, she was asking her father to get her a booth at a local art-in-the-park program—not because adults told her to, but because she wanted to show people what she could do.

At that first booth, something unexpected happened. Visitors would approach, compliment the work, and assume it was her father's. When they learned that the artist was the small child standing beside the easel, they couldn't quite believe it.

From Skepticism to the Vatican

By eight, Autumn was on the Discovery Health Channel. The media machine kicked into high gear: Disney, The Today Show, Wendy Williams. She became the child genius everyone was talking about.

But not everyone was convinced. Some in the art world questioned whether her work was genuinely good or just impressive for a kid. Others wondered if the whole thing was orchestrated. Autumn kept painting anyway.

Her daily routine by age 14 was punishing in its discipline. She'd wake at 7:30 a.m. in her parents' Las Vegas home, paint for one or two hours, tackle schoolwork, then return to the studio for three or four hours before dinner. Most days looked the same.

The work spoke for itself. Her paintings were displayed in galleries worldwide. In 2015, at 16, she received the International Giuseppe Sciacca Award in Painting and Art—a recognition that took her to the Vatican for a private showing with Pope Francis.

That same year, she worked with the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities under Michelle Obama, traveling to underprivileged schools to lead painting workshops. By her teenage years, her paintings had sold for over $7 million at auction—individual pieces fetching as much as $25,000. Most of that money went to charities and disaster relief.

Building the Next Generation

Now 24, Autumn is represented by Park West Gallery, the world's largest art dealer. But her focus has shifted beyond her own work. The Autumn de Forest Foundation tracks the young artists she's met over the years and supports their development. The foundation sets up 529 education accounts for students and gives 10 percent directly to them to pursue their art.

In 2017, Teen Vogue named her one of their "21 Under 21" for her talent and commitment to art education. What began as a six-year-old asking for a booth at a local park has become a quiet infrastructure for helping other kids do the same.