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There is both an urgent need and a great opportunity for arts organizations to convene community conversations about how the arts can support positive mental health. Mental illness is a topic of primary concern for many of us but it remains a taboo subject. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), mental illnesses account for a larger proportion of disability in developed countries than any other group of illnesses, including cancer and heart disease. An estimated one in four adults in the United States is affected by mental illness. Yet unlike cancer and heart disease, which have finally become comfortable topics of conversation, mental disorders remain hidden behind a wall of secrecy, leading to stigma, misunderstanding, and neglect. A primary goal of Mindful: Exploring Mental Health Through Art is to remove the stigma associated with mental illness and to help increase understanding and grow compassion. The National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI) estimates 60% of individuals

who have experiences with mental illness keep these occurrences secret. By shining a light on this subject, acknowledging that it touches all of us in some way, we hope to motivate the community to come together for open dialogue, sharing of experiences, and conversation about a subject that is difficult to talk about in other settings. Through looking at and responding to art, a product of our shared journeys, we learn that we are more alike than different, and we can celebrate rather than fear our differences. We extend special thanks to our exhibiting artists for their courage in sharing their stories and art for this project. In addition to our main gallery exhibition, Mindful will include several companion shows, and numerous community and education programs over the next seven months. Please visit Community Voices (thru 12.7.15) and Community Minded (12.15.15—3.12.16) shows downstairs in our education center. Make a weaving at our Drop In Studio to experience the meditative flow of working with your hands. Join the conversation by adding your stories to our Thought Cloud (follow the green yarn threads down the first-floor hallway.) Don’t forget to pick up a brochure or check out www.exploremindfulart.com to learn more about other related programs.

Mindful is made possible by the Staunton Farm Foundation, The Fisher Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation, The Fine Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, and media sponsors NEXTpittsburgh, WESA, and WYEP. Additional funding has been provided by the Allegheny Regional Asset District, the Elizabeth R. Raphael Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation, The Heinz Endowments, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the Richard King Mellon Foundation.

Jesse Albrecht Family Tradition 2015 Earthenware

$800

My work is a vessel for information—emotional, historical, and physical. I think of my pieces as multiple free lectures. It can be a refuge from hidden agendas and affiliations, and a chance to hold a mirror to society, or maybe a tale of what is behind the curtain. Here are some questions to think about while looking at my work. Why are there non-profit organizations to help veterans? Why are people making billions of dollars off wars? What happened to courage? Why are poor people killing poor people? What is behind all the fear being sold? Why are so few doing all the fighting? Who was Smedley Butler? What did he expose? Why are we still doing this?

Jesse Albrecht

It’s Your Fault 2015 Earthenware

$800

Jesse Albrecht

The Hammer 2015 Earthenware

$800

Rose Clancy

All for Naught, Forget Me Not 2015 Mixed Media

Price on Request My biographical history is that of a child of a parent with untreated mental illness. My mother suffered with major depression, psychosis, anxiety disorder, and agoraphobic behavior – all of which worsened at an alarming rate as she aged. As an artist I openly present my story for the benefit of others who have been affected by mental illness, and use my personal experience as a way of fostering conversation about social stigmas attached to mental illness. The stigma of being “mentally ill” suppressed my mother’s voice and disengaged her ability to act in defense against her illness. I feel that the time to tear down the walls around mental illness is long past due – its time to build bridges of understanding and compassion instead.

Rose Clancy

A Bright Blue Cotton Dress 2008 Silkscreen on acetate, salvaged materials

$800 She did not know that she was falling apart as her thoughts unraveled and twisted themselves into a tangle of confusion like that of a thousand spools of unwound thread / desperately she cried out for a savior as she was swallowed by the black sea of depression, unable to grasp the hands that reached out to her / paranoia played her like a puppet, depleting her soul of love and trust, leaving only a shell, a hollow void where the stranger that I did not recognize and could not love, came to reside / anxiety was the air in her lungs and it was the only thing with her as she took her last breath / like a bright blue cotton dress washed to an empty gray, she slowly faded and disappeared

Jennifer Ling Datchuk Clean and Bleed 2015 Slip cast and hand built porcelain, vintage pearl buttons, wooden drawer, blood

$2,100

My work explores my experiences with identity, with the sense of being in-between, an imposter, neither fully Chinese nor Caucasian. I have learned to live with the constant question about my appearance: “What are you?” I find people are rarely satisfied with my answer. I explore this conflict through porcelain, which nods to my Chinese heritage but also represents “pure” white – the white desire I find in both cultures. My focus is the emotive power of domestic objects and rituals that fix, organize, soothe, and beautify our lives. Bound by these conditions, I stitch together my individual nature, unravel the pressures of conformity, and forever experience pain in search of perfection.

Jennifer Ling Datchuk Mirror, Mirror 2014 Slip cast and hand built porcelain, casting slip, found jewelry box

$1,100 Jennifer Ling Datchuk “one whiteness can cover three kinds of ugliness” 2014 Slip cast and hand build porcelain, steel wool, found trunk liner

$2,600

Edward Eberle An Open Mind 2013 Porcelain

$400

Edward Eberle #25 Guy(D) 2009 Porcelain

NFS

Edward Eberle Blindfolded 2009 Porcelain

$1,500

Edward Eberle Like a Hole in the Head 2009 Porcelain

$350

Edward Eberle Man in a Lifeboat 2007 Porcelain

$1,200

The structure is given – a bowl, the inside round portion delineated with free form, light painting – the black band adding to the overall structure. The first figure emerges, is seen and the development of the painting proceeds. No preconception, no intention is brought into the painting. No narrative is applied. The tone of the bowl is ‘light’ (as opposed to darkness); there is an awareness of surroundings; the principal figure is protector. Painting for me is like jazz, like free form dance, like imagistic poetry, like stream-of-consciousness writing; the experience of seeing the bowl with all of its elements is just that – experiential, defying a narrative. The piece is encouraging and mindful.

Kaitlyn Evans Of Sinking and Surfacing 2014 Silver, copper, enamel, glass

$600

I am overwhelmed with thoughts of the strange and unfamiliar containing forces that I will not be equipped to handle. Moving to an unfamiliar city that appeared rough and its people unpredictable left me feeling vulnerable. It is difficult to articulate what I am ultimately afraid of, but I long for a sense of security and seek respite from emotions I do not fully understand. These insecurities have led me to make enameled handheld objects that contain my uneasy state. The unfamiliar becomes manageable in my hand, able to be contemplated, clutched, or tucked away.

Kaitlyn Evans To Carry On 2014 Silver, copper, enamel, glass, plastic

$600 Kaitlyn Evans To Let You See 2014 Silver, copper, enamel, glass, plastic

$600

Lyn Godley In Flight 2011 Charcoal, fiber optics and LEDs, digital print on paper

$42,500 $2,200 each

Lighting holds deep meaning for me. In my work light reads as the connection between a constellation far above, and the soul’s energy deep within; as an aura that connects us to something beyond, something that gives hope. I believe art and design has the responsibility to make this world a better place, to relieve suffering. I made things for the 15+ year run of my design company with Lloyd Schwan. I made things after his suicide and while I raised our three sons. I continued to make things while teaching at University. Things which are beautiful, that have a level of interactive capabilities for the user, things that incorporate the magic of light. I make things. It is who I am.

Joan Iversen Goswell Depression 2015 Unique artists book, handcut eraser stamp lettering, handmade paper from Twinrocker Mill, handmade washi, digital images, buckram book cloth, bone clasps

$1,250 There have been times when I have been depressed. I know what depression is like. The text of this book was written by Allie Brosh, creator of the online blog, Hyperbole and a Half. She knows of what she speaks. This is the truest description of depression that I have ever heard — at least in my experience. Please visit Hyperbole and a Half and read her entire post entitled Depression Part Two. It is so true. It will, indeed, give you an insight into what goes on in a depressed person’s mind.

Joan Iversen Goswell The Conversation 2015 Unique artist’s book, digital type, 9mm spent cartridge, 9mm air pistol

NFS

This is a true depiction of conversations and events that led up to my long time friend’s suicide. It was something I never suspected in all the time we were friends until I received the last two communications between us. It was then that I sensed that something was not right. Something was very wrong. My suspicions were confirmed by an email from someone who was a friend to both of us. She only mentioned that our friend had died, but I knew what happened — I just knew it. It was confirmed soon after. Perhaps you know someone in the same circumstances — Someone who is throwing out the same hints. Take them seriously. You may be able to save them.

Meredith Grimsley Same Old Wounds: Family Legacy 2015 Silk organza, dupione and charmuse, muslin, thread, wool yarn, found chair, found coat, wooden blocks, flour slurry, permanent marker

$32,000

Meredith Grimsley Foundress 2014 Hand dyes, discharged rayon, silk organza, muslin, machine quilted, hand embroidered, thread, handmade paper (abaca), water color, acrylic paint

$15,000 Each generation within a family inherits not only genetics, but patterns of behavior. With my use of both unsettling and alluring imagery, I reveal the psychological impact of family dysfunction. This work discusses a balance between beauty and distortion and the endurance of the human spirit. The nest in Foundress is that of a Yellow Jacket. Each year a single queen known as the foundress begins a new nest. Legacy perseveres to rekindle her hostile swarm. Correlating the nature of these creatures with thoughts of dysfunctional family legacies, I see that, within families, significant events, words and behaviors occur and are absorbed into our daily routine without examination. Some happen in a breath while others linger endlessly corroding or correcting our core.

Michael Janis Echoes 2015 Kilnformed glass, glass powder imagery, steel

$8,500 $3,000 each

Often individuals are unaware of how they are acting, feeling and engaging. We live so often in a condition of being obscured from ourselves and others. The things that can isolate can be social conventions, or it can be personal. I use clear glass as a way of “seeing through” actions and intents. Echoes depicts three pairs of overlapped faces in fused glass powder that create a new, third face. I see the interaction of the non-aligned faces as a depiction of the fate of both the inner and outer worlds. The imagery suggests the struggle to balance the different worlds that collide together. One cannot change without leaning a little further into the shared world, and without recognizing that even in one’s solitude, one is always at some point touching someone else.

Michael Janis My Other Self: Sanctuary 2011 Kilnformed glass, glass powder imagery, steel

$3,000

Michael Janis Observations of Signals 2011 Kilnformed glass, glass powder imagery, steel

$3,000

Grace Kubilius Junk Bones 2014 Cotton, canvas, burlap, coffee filters, rope, string, found shoes, Barbie heads, wood

$2,500 Clothing does not need to be pretty and it does not have to flatter the person wearing it. The body and the garment serve as architecture for ideas, memories, and personal histories. My work deals with gender, identity, trauma, self-image, ugliness and objectification. I approach new and found materials with a sense of play and disinhibition to make wearable objects. My process allows me to move with fluidity and urgency, to crudely cut and paste together and rip apart again, to create problems, and solve them. My motions are repetitive, responsive and cathartic.

Grace Kubilius Oh How I Love You 2014 Cotton, canvas, burlap, string, found fabric, found shoes, paint, plaster, wood

$2,500

Sophia JungAm Park you are not going under 2014 Copper, acrylic paint, patina

$7,500 My sculptural pieces are worn on the body in a gestural expression as a metaphor for human patterns of adaptation to difficulties in life. The idea for their appearance is derived from Bonsai trees, which are bound with wire during their growth, to create a particular configuration. These pieces constrain parts of the body in some way and impede its free movement. To further illustrate this concept, I have collaborated with professional dancers who wear these pieces while performing.

Sophia JungAm Park Torment 2009 Copper, silver, acrylic paint, patina, cheese cloth

$8,500 Sophia Park Torment 2014 Performance by Desiree Cuizon 1 minute, 29 seconds Sophia Park you are not going under 2014 Performance by Alex Zavala 1 minute, 25 seconds

Alison Saar

J’Attends 2007 Mixed media

$24,000 J'Attends, features a prone head with hollow eyes. When the viewer peers inside the head they witness a small solitary light bulb surrounded by moths. It is a view into a mind which is anticipating the advent of madness.

Courtesy of L.A. Louver, Venice, CA

Alison Saar Pret-a-Porter 2013 Paper, matte medium, wax, pigment, found suitcases

$30,000 Two suitcases sitting on the floor. One suitcase is set ajar to reveal a pallid skin neatly folded to fit within the case and "Pret-a-Porter", ready to be worn. The fragile withdrawn figure, which is made of paper resembles the vulnerable soft shell of a newly emerging insect. Pearl buttons close the seams at the wrist like the buttons on kid gloves. It is ambiguous as to whether this is an old skin sloughed off or a new skin awaiting to be donned. Courtesy of L.A. Louver, Venice, CA

Swoon Memento Mori 2015 Hand printed blockprint with coffee stain and cutout on mylar

$18,000 I am a classically trained visual artist and printmaker, and for the last 13 years I have been exploring the relationship between people and their built environment. My first interventions in the urban landscape took the form of wheat-pasting portraits to the walls of cities around the world. More recently, I have been working collaboratively through my non-profit organization, the Heliotrope Foundation. Focusing on community revitalization in Braddock, Pennsylvania, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Komye, Haiti, these projects support artists’ place-based interventions that explore how creativity can positively impact communities in times of crisis and change.

Swoon Chopper 2015 Paper cutouts (laser cut), acrylic paint on wood Signed edition of 6

$5,500

Ian Thomas Compensation 2011 Slab built, molded earthenware, slip, mixed media

$2,400 Intimately, I have watched the struggles of mental illness and the years of trial and error finding the right concoction to stabilize this all-consuming issue. The works included in this exhibition are an examination of the relationship between pharmaceutical drugs and their user. These pieces illustrate the daunting regulatory intake of medicines and the deep introspective view one might have contemplating their role in “normality” if indeed there is such a thing.

Ian Thomas Consumption 2015 Porcelain, underglaze, Table

$700 each