During his senior year of 1982, while majoring in Studio Art at Georgia State University, Jerome received a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. Schizophrenia belongs to a group of mental disorders characterized by a withdrawal from reality. He continued to paint as he had all of his life, and studied privately for many years after his graduation with Joseph Perrin, a world renowned artist and head emeritus of the School of Art and Design at GSU. Jerome is now many years into recovery, and deeply involved in the
creation as well as the business side of art. In 2004 the Carter Center in Atlanta invited Jerome to give a solo art exhibit to an audience that included President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter. Mrs. Carter has since purchased two of Jerome’s paintings to hang at the Carter Center in Atlanta and Jerome’s art donations to the Carter Center have brought as much as $20,000.00 for a single painting at auction.