NC Museum of Art -Brushes With Life

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BRUSHES WITH LIFE: ART, ARTISTS AND MENTAL ILLNESS
Through August 15, 2004

About the Exhibition

Brushes with Life, an exhibition featuring works by artists with mental illnesses, is on view at the North Carolina Museum of Art through August 15, 2004.

Brushes with Life displays artworks that were created in art classes organized by the Museum and the UNC Department of Psychiatry’s Schizophrenia Treatment and Evaluation Program (STEP). The art classes provide patients with a creative outlet and a healthy way to cope with their illness.

“Art has the power to heal, and the works in Brushes with Life are compelling evidence of that idea,” said the Museum’s assistant director of education Deborah Reid Murphy. “I’m glad the Museum is able to display these works and make them available to a wider audience.”

Brushes with Life includes about 35 works diverse in subject matter, size, and media. The exhibition includes photographs, paintings, and mixed media.

The project that made Brushes with Life possible started in May 2003, when the Museum and the UNC Department of Psychiatry initiated a yearlong series of programs to provide structured, creative opportunities for psychiatric outpatients. At UNC a pilot series of workshops was created. In the workshops patients painted, drew with pencil and oil pastels, and worked with clay. The workshops continued through early 2004, and the Museum hosted the final session in March. Brushes with Life features artworks made during these sessions and will travel throughout North Carolina, visiting arts councils and other venues.

“We hope to highlight the talent of our artists and demonstrate that artists dealing with mental illness can be creative and productive,” said Dr. Nancy Clayton, UNC Department of Psychiatry assistant professor and chair of the STEP Art Committee. “The exhibition at NCMA will bring our artist’s work to a larger public audience and hopefully target stigma associated with chronic mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.”

The exhibition and subsequent tour to arts councils throughout the state are sponsored by the Medical Foundation of N.C. Inc., UNC Healthcare, and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals.

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