I am participating in a group show, “What’s Inside-Exploring the Potential for Change”, at Mary Lou Zeek Gallery in Salem during February. All sales will benefit the Poyama Treatment Center in Independence, Oregon, a non profit that helps children of abuse and neglect.
Participating artists received a wooden box through the mail and were asked to use this as their starting point . Each 8" x 8" box was sent “as is”, and was not packaged, but rather processed directly by the postal service firsthand. Each artist was asked to involve a young child and ask them one of four questions concerning their feelings of what makes them feel safe. The answers for these questions are inside the finished boxes for the viewer to see and read.
The child I collaborated with said that being with her mother made her feel safe. This sounds simplistic, but it is such a universal need and desire for all of us, that I wanted to honor that. The inside of my box [the image here is of the front] is like a keepsake to my mother, but also, can be a keepsake for any mother. Or maybe a keepsake for the mother one never had. Little surprises are inside the box. The children of Poyama, and many others through out the world, aren't as graced with this mother aura as I or my collaborating child are. So I am glad that my art will help a child in some unknown way down the road.
The exhibit will open on Tuesday, February 6th at 10:00 am pacific time. The public will be able to bid on the box art, with beginning bids at $50.00 and $5.00 increments. This year there is a maximum bid of $200. This week, the entire show will be posted online at www.zeekgallery.com. Calls can be made to the gallery to place bids: 503-581-3229. The bidding ends February 29th, 2008 at 6:00 pm pacific time.
Poyama Day Treatment Center works with children who are caught in the crossfire of abusive and neglectful domestic environments, educational settings ill prepared to meet mental health needs and the bewildering bureaucracies of social service agencies. They are a small not-for-profit psychiatric day program dedicated to serving up to 23 emotionally disturbed children between the ages of 3 and 12. They provide individual and group therapy, grief counseling, social skills and self-awareness, anger management and parent support groups. With a staffing ratio of one adult for every 3 children, they have used art therapy, ceramics, drawing, painting and a variety of individually crafted approaches to help children look more deeply into themselves and their lives and to explore the potential for change and healing that lies within.
Thanks to the ever wonderful Mary Lou for inviting me to participate.
