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Press Attention for The Incredible Intensity of Just Being Human
We are so grateful to see the local news covering the community effort to reduce and eliminate mental illness stigma.
http://www.issaquahreporter.com/community/376639651.html
Art and Social Change: Issaquah follow us on instagram, facebook, and twitter 
Open now in 3 locations!
New Conversation About Mental Illness Prompted through Art - April 2016
Issaquah leaders join artists to address the impact of mental illness on youth and community.
[ISSAQUAH, WA] The nationally acclaimed exhibit, The Incredible Intensity of Just Being Human, arrives in Issaquah Friday, April 22, and celebrates with an opening reception on Friday, April 29, thanks to generous sponsorship and encouragement from Issaquah Schools Foundation and artEAST. Art will be on display in three Issaquah locations including artEAST Art Center, Issaquah Highlands Blakely Hall Community Center, and Swedish Medical Center Issaquah with the goal of beginning new conversations about mental illness stigma.
“We believe it is past time for our community to open our hearts to the crisis that is facing our youth, to talk openly about mental illness, and begin to understand it,” says Issaquah Schools Foundation Director Robin Callahan. “When students experience mental illness—and it is happening at all ages in unprecedented numbers — many families wall themselves off, for fear of stigmatizing their child.”
In fact, one in four people suffer from some form of mental illness. Up to 70-percent of adolescents who suffer with mental illness do not receive care. And, suicide, often related to mental illness, is the second leading cause of death among youth in Washington State.
“We believe the Incredible Intensity of Just Being Human Project gives our community an invaluable opportunity to learn from those who experience mental illness—both personally and from a parent’s point of view,“ says artEAST Director, Carla Villar. “Our goal is to prompt a very important conversation, with the goal to provide a sense of community and hope to people who are affected by mental illness.”
The Incredible Intensity of Just Being Human is a provocative art exhibit designed to explore the stigma of mental illness. The artwork itself is displayed slightly off kilter — a little too high, a little too low and not quite level — to convey the idea that people living with mental illness inhabit the world differently from those better able to observe socially constructed norms.
The Incredible Intensity of Just Being Human was conceptualized and curated by three award-winning artists living in the Pacific Northwest. In the exhibit, twenty-six Pacific Northwest artists mix media to express how mental illness affects their loved ones, or themselves. In addition to the visual displays, The Incredible Intensity of Just Being Human, includes an on-going series of talks and performances about mental illness and its effects.
“By talking about mental illness, we reduce the shame surrounding it, and create a space where the prejudices and the fears we all have can give way to the compassion and the humanity we all have,” said Kate Vrijmoet, The Incredible Intensity of Just Being Human Curator and Contributing Artist.
The stigma surrounding mental illness is powerful and pervasive. Shame and silence often hinders people from getting help and sharing their struggle with friends and family. Yet, people with mental health problems can get better and many recover completely.
For a full event schedule see sidebar-right
Exhibit Highlights include the following:
Part performance and part activism, Ezra Dickinson‘s Mother for you I made this is a film aimed at activating a conversation about the failed mental health care system in America – through memories of Dickinson’s childhood and his experience unknowingly caring for his schizophrenic mother.
Artist John William Keedy’s work confronts the idea of “normal” from the viewpoint of anxiety.
Martz’ ongoing series Crooked Thoughts is an attempt to come to terms with her daughter's diagnosis as bipolar and the subsequent grief. “It is my hope that with open discussion we can begin to dispense of the stigma surrounding mental disorders.”
Lynn Schirmer’s work focuses on combating the stigma surrounding responses to trauma such as dissociative conditions.
Sekiguchi's work references the shattered reality faced daily by families with loved ones suffering from mental illness. "The structure is broken and though we have to strive for healing, it will never be the same reality it was. We have to find resources and support that leads us towards finding a new balance and a new 'normal'."
Poetry curator Ann Teplick, who has written poetry with youth for 20 years in public schools, juvenile detention, hospitals, psychiatric wards and hospice centers will be curating a poetry reading in Blakely Hall Community Center and an ekphrastic poetry workshop in artEAST Art Center.
Social engagement artist Michelle de la Vega is interested in creating immersive environments that connect communities, illuminate unheard voices and explore concepts that are personally and collectively relevant to the human experience. Her work explores the dialogue between subjective emotional experience and objective conditions. Her process draws meaningful connections through thorough research, community engagement and innovative artistic vision, weaving image and story into holistic, genuine artwork. At its best art is a relational, experiential, transformative endeavor.
The central idea of Vrijmoet’s Non-ordinary Reality painting series is to give voice to the unscreamed scream, to what has been silent and demands to be heard — so that her point of departure is one highly charged with anxiety but also with the promise of breaking through. The scream is cloaked by society and everyday life. Water is a metaphor, both for keeping afloat and for a tide of change.
And featuring the work of incoming artists: Jennifer Ament, Jackie Barnett, Patti Bowman, Monique Catino, Chris Crites, Emily Dunkelberger, Rebekah Tenbroek Hansen, Larissa Herbert, Melissa Herzog, Bonnie Johnson, Jody Jolderosma, Becky Kaufman, Kristi Kincheloe, Elsie Mahler-Scharff, Leslie Nan Moon, Victoria Raymond, Juliette Ripley-Dunkelberger, Carol Ross, Nicki Sucec, Ann Teplick, Michelle de la Vega, Season Yoshida
Our social media campaign is in full swing. We promote daily on facebook, instagram and twitter. Follow us, like us and share our posts. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EndThisStigma/
Twitter: @end_stigma Instagram: @The_Incredible_Intensity
In The Incredible Intensity of Just Being Human, artists and mental health professionals team up to co-lead tours of the exhibit. It brings together citizens, community leaders, and organizations to launch a dialogue about the losses to individuals and society that stigma involves. Amid fear and loss and disorientation, the artists, are signaling wildly: this could be a time for making new connections and building new strengths.
New Conversation About Mental Illness Prompted through Art - February 2016
Issaquah leaders join artists to address the impact of mental illness on youth and community.
[ISSAQUAH, WA] The nationally acclaimed exhibit, The Incredible Intensity of Just Being Human, arrives in Issaquah Friday, April 22, and celebrates with an opening reception on Friday, April 29, thanks to generous sponsorship and encouragement from Issaquah Schools Foundation and artEAST. Art will be on display in three Issaquah locations including artEAST Art Center, Issaquah Highlands Blakely Hall Community Center, and Swedish Medical Center Issaquah with the goal of beginning new conversations about mental illness stigma.
“We believe it is past time for our community to open our hearts to the crisis that is facing our youth, to talk openly about mental illness, and begin to understand it,” says Issaquah Schools Foundation Director Robin Callahan. “When students experience mental illness—and it is happening at all ages in unprecedented numbers — many families wall themselves off, for fear of stigmatizing their child.”
In fact, one in four people suffer from some form of mental illness. Up to 70-percent of adolescents who suffer with mental illness do not receive care. And, suicide, often related to mental illness, is the second leading cause of death among youth in Washington State.
“We believe the Incredible Intensity of Just Being Human Project gives our community an invaluable opportunity to learn from those who experience mental illness—both personally and from a parent’s point of view,“ says artEAST Director, Carla Villar. “Our goal is to prompt a very important conversation, with the goal to provide a sense of community and hope to people who are affected by mental illness.”
The Incredible Intensity of Just Being Human is a provocative art exhibit designed to explore the stigma of mental illness. The artwork itself is displayed slightly off kilter — a little too high, a little too low and not quite level — to convey the idea that people living with mental illness inhabit the world differently from those better able to observe socially constructed norms.
The Incredible Intensity of Just Being Human was conceptualized and curated by three award-winning artists living in the Pacific Northwest. In the exhibit, twenty-eight Pacific Northwest artists mix media to express how mental illness affects their loved ones, or themselves. In addition to the visual displays, The Incredible Intensity of Just Being Human, includes an on-going series of talks and performances about mental illness and its effects.
“By talking about mental illness, we reduce the shame surrounding it, and create a space where the prejudices and the fears we all have can give way to the compassion and the humanity we all have,” said Kate Vrijmoet, The Incredible Intensity of Just Being Human Curator and Contributing Artist.
The stigma surrounding mental illness is powerful and pervasive. Shame and silence often hinders people from getting help and sharing their struggle with friends and family. Yet, people with mental health problems can get better and many recover completely.
An opening reception will be held Friday April 29, 2016 in the Issaquah Senior Center followed by a reception at artEAST Art Center. Speakers: Ellen Forney, author of Marbles; Issaquah’s Mayor Butler; Robin Callahan, Director of Issaquah School Foundation, and Kate Vrijmoet, exhibit curator. Ellen will be signing copies of her best-selling book at the reception following at artEAST Art Center, food and drinks. Live music by Issaquah School District Evergreen Orchestra String Quartet includes a selection from composers with known mental illness.
For additional information please visit: www.arteast.org
Art and Social Change: Seattle City Hall like us on facebook: follow us on twitter
We had a very successful opening reception with nearly 200 people in attendance. Key note speaker Randy Revelle, former king county executive couldn't have been received better. Special guest of honor Mayor Ed Murray spoke about the need to end the stigma of mental illness. Representatives Tina Orwall and Brady Walkinshaw gave wonderful talks on the subject and relayed personal experiences. Director of Department of Neighborhoods, Bernie Agor Matsuno, kicked us off with a description of the granting program and Director of the Office of Arts and Culture, Randy Engstrom, spoke about the breath of the project, how art connects us, and the social practice art form.
The second week kicked off the first of our series of lunch hour artist's talks, starting with June Sekiguchi, her son Quin, and Eli Hastings, LMFTA.
Randy Revelle's speech:
Randy_Revelle_OVERCOMING_THE_STIGMA-final.docx
Opening reception images:
Artist Tour: June Sekiguchi, Quin Breeland, Eli Hastings. Double Trouble, dual diagnosis of drug addiction and mental illness
VOLUNTEER: Visit our Sign Up page for details: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040b45a8a7292-theincredible
A provocative exhibit showcasing art work exploring the stigma of mental illness is scheduled to hang in Seattle City Hall, Anne Focke Gallery, 600 4th Avenue, Jan. 7, 2015In The Incredible Intensity of Just Being Human, curator and artist Kate Vrijmoet, along with artists June Sekiguchi, Holly Ballard Martz, Ezra Dickinson, Valaree Cox, Ann Teplick, John William Keedy, and Lynn Schirmer shed light on the effect mental illness has on individuals, and their loved ones. Innovation and surprise are their methods, for they intend viewers to see the subject – from the personal to the societal -- anew. This exhibit creates a space where the prejudices and the fears we all have can reach the compassion and the humanity we all have, so that we engage with one another to eliminate the shame surrounding mental illness.
Because of our cultural messages many people see those with mental illness in a derogatory way. Of all communication modalities, the arts are uniquely suited to expose stigma and, ultimately, create social integration, (Lamb, 2009). The public benefit of this exhibit is that it facilitates conversation among private citizens, civic leaders and organizations to address issues associated with mental illness and neutralize stereotypes. This is a complicated issue with no clear path to any one solution. But by talking about mental illness, we take strides to reduce the shame and stigma surrounding it, thus making it possible to create a safe community for those affected.
One in four people suffers from mental illness. The CDC estimates the cost of depression-related workforce absenteeism, and the cost of lost productivity on the part of those who come to work ill, to be $200 billion per year. It’s evident that everybody is impacted by mental illness, and yet the stigma surrounding it is so powerful and persistent that most people not only don’t talk about it, they don’t seek help.
The artwork itself will be displayed slightly off kilter — a little too high, a little too low and not quite level — to covey the idea that people living with mental illness experience in the world differently from that of the mainstream. Artists and mental health professionals team up to co-lead tours of the exhibit. This exhibit brings together a variety of citizens, community leaders and organizations and provides a powerful platform from which to launch a dialog about mental-illness stigma and the effects on our society and on individuals.
Part performance and part activism, Ezra Dickinson‘s Mother for you I made this is aimed at activating a conversation about the failed mental health care system in America through memories of Dickinson’s childhood and his experience unknowingly caring for his schizophrenic mother.
Martz’ ongoing series Crooked Thoughts is an attempt to come to terms with her daughter's diagnosis as bipolar and the subsequent grief. “It is my hope that with open discussion we can begin to dispense of the stigma surrounding mental disorders.”
Sekiguchi's work references the shattered reality faced daily by families with loved ones suffering from mental illness. "The structure is broken and though we have to strive for healing, it will never be the same reality it was. We have to find resources and support that leads us towards finding a new balance and a new 'normal'."
Cox’s mixed media abstract paintings tell the story of a family living with mental illness, expressing the emotional upheaval and pitfalls they encounter on an unpredictable basis as they raise their child with a mental disability.
The central idea of Vrijmoet’s Non-ordinary Reality painting series is to give voice to the unscreamed scream, to what has been silent and demands to be heard — so that her point of departure is one highly charged with anxiety but also with the promise of breaking through. The scream is cloaked by society and everyday life. Water is a metaphor, both for keeping afloat and for a tide of change.
Poetry curator Ann Teplick, who has written poetry with youth for 20 years in public schools, juvenile detention, hospitals, psychiatric wards and hospice centers will be curating a series of poetry readings in the lobby and a workshop on February 5 in conference room 370 (3rd fl.) in Seattle City Hall.
We are pleased to announce the inclusion of guest artists John William Keedy and Lynn Schirmer. Both artists are vocal advocates for change as is reflected in their respective work. Keedy’s photographic work confronts the idea of “normal” from the viewpoint of anxiety while Schirmer’s work focuses on combating “the stigma and ignorance surrounding responses to trauma such as dissociative conditions, but more specifically, to challenge the negatively sensationalized caricature of Dissociative Identity Disorder popularized by Hollywood and the media.”
In The Incredible Intensity of Just Being Human, artists and mental health professionals team up to co-lead tours of the exhibit. It brings together citizens, community leaders, and organizations to launch a dialogue about the losses to individuals and society that stigma involves. Amid fear and loss and disorientation, we, the artists, are signaling wildly: this could be a time for making new connections and building new strengths.
We invite you to join us for our opening reception Friday, January 9, 2015 4-6 p.m. and return for our scheduled events, artists and mental health professional team up to co-lead tours of the exhibit, poetry readings and workshop, Cuts for Compassion on February 2 with Coven Salon, and a panel discussion Wednesday February 18, 2015 4:30-6 p.m. in the Boards and Commissions conference room L280.
This project is funded in part by a Neighborhood Matching Fund award from the City of Seattle, Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. Creation of this work was made possible in part by Artist Trust Grants for Artist Projects award.
For additional information please visit: www.theincredibleintensity.com