January 21, 2017
Sowing Seeds – Art as a journey toward transformation and rehabilitation.
The Eastern Shore Hospital Center (ESHC) is a mental health facility under the jurisdiction of Maryland’s Behavioral Health Administration, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. ESHC houses 3 psychiatric units for a total of 60 beds. Its mission is to provide the highest quality inpatient mental health services on the Eastern Shore for adults age 18 and older.
I am fortunate to have the opportunity to work with a small group comprised mostly of forensic patients. I am both inspired and fulfilled by the energy and creative level of these artists.
A note sent out to staff members a week ago last Friday … “Today, the atmosphere was more on the positive note. Wednesday and Today, Chris Carter, guest instructional artist through a grant from the Dorchester Center for the Arts, has been working with select patients to create a triptych using specific words, e.g. joy, strength, hope, sad, etc. in which they will paint the three canvases using only three primary colors. Any additional colors they wish to use they must mix to create the desired color. These pieces will be displayed at 7 different venues, in 2017, as part of a community education outreach to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness.”
We had only four, forty-five minute sessions to meet the challenge of creating an exhibit of triptychs using acrylic paint. That’s a total of only three hours to present the concept of a triptych, to explain the goal of expressing words through color and marks, to explain how to mix yellow, red and blue to create every other color in the spectrum and to end up with at least nine completed triptychs. How could all this be accomplished AND provide a positive, calm and reassuring atmosphere for the patients? By the end of the first session, my concerns vanished, replaced by the overwhelming commitment and focus the patients had for creating an amazing exhibit that was theirs alone. By the end of the last session, sixteen completed triptychs and one single-canvas piece were ready for hanging!
Here is their work and the stories that go along with the triptychs:
Painting by J
Painting by J
Painting by KI
Painting by KI
Transformation through art!
Painting by KS
Painting by KS
Painting by NF
Painting by HK
Painting by NJ
Painting by NJ
Painting by S
Painting by S
Painting by S
Painting by TA
Painting by TA “Frog Eyes”
Paintings by C
Thank you C, KI, S, NF, J, KS, HK, TA an NJ. You created a powerful body of work. Thank you for your cooperation, your enthusiasm and your dedication to this project.