Inside the Darkness

“Inside the Darkness” Traveling Art Installation
A collaborative effort to raise awareness of suicide prevention statewide

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – “Inside the Darkness,” a collaborative travelling art Installation completed by survivors of suicide in Middle Tennessee, will travel throughout the area in fall of 2015. Hosted by Your Heart on Art and funded by Team Mica Fund, the piece is intended to raise awareness of suicide prevention.

“This is the second year we have collaborated on an art project,” says Erin Holcomb, Founder of the Team Mica Fund. “The goal for this year is to make an impact and have people ask the question, ‘What is suicide?’ and ‘How can I help?’ This piece asks the viewer to take a look ‘Inside the Darkness,’ thus opening the conversation of such a hard subject as suicide.”

In five different classes, survivors of suicide were asked to create a mask that depicts someone they lost to suicide, how they have survived and overcome that loss, where they are now, or their own pain or struggle. A total of 50 masks were then placed in black boxes to create a wall that will travel the state to raise awareness of suicide prevention during the month of September, Suicide Awareness Month.

“Creating a collaborative art project is not only beneficial to the survivors themselves, but also sends a powerful message to the community when it is displayed in exhibitions and publications,” states Eileen Wallach, Founder and Executive Director of Your Heart on Art, Inc. “Art plays a vital role in raising awareness and breaking the silence and shame surrounding suicide.”

The five classes were provided free of charge for participants and hosted by different organizations including Team Mica Fund, American Foundation of Suicide Prevention, Family & Children’s Services, and Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network.

To see this amazing piece, below are the following locations where it will be on display:

Sept. 9 Suicide Prevention Awareness Day – Trevecca Community Church, Nashville 10:30am

Sept. 10 Never Alone – Cumberland University, Lebanon 6:00pm

Sept. 12 AFSP Out of the Darkness Walk – Owen Bradley Park, Nashville 9:00am

Sept. 17 Mid Cumberland Regional Suicide Awareness Event – Sevier Park, Nashville 5:30pm

Oct. 1 On Display – Barnes and Noble Vanderbilt, Nashville

In addition to these locations, Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network will be taking it to their Suicide Awareness Month events throughout the state. For a full list of Suicide Prevention Awareness Month events with TSPN, visit its website www.tspn.org.

Your Heart on Art is a nonprofit that promotes emotional healing through therapeutic art workshops in Nashville and throughout Tennessee. Its mission is to facilitate emotional healing through art and creative expression for those who are living in grief, pain, stress and fear. For more information, visit www.yourheartonart.org.

The Team Mica Fund, a component fund of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and funder of the project, collaborated with Your Heart on Art to create a powerful message and bring awareness to the art tour. To learn more about the fund, visit www.TeamMicaFund.org.

Be sure to share your #InsidetheDarkness stories with us during the month of September for Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.