Porch Light spotlights Mental Health Awareness Month in May
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and we wanted to showcase some of the work happening in Porch Light, Mural Arts’ mental health-focused department, as well as share some resources on taking care of yourself.
Porch Light, an 18-year partnership with the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services (DBHIDS), focuses on creating a pathway for mental and behavioral health through artmaking.
This summer and fall, the department is focusing on suicide awareness, working in the intellectual disability and neurodiverse communities, and presenting a gun violence project.
Embracing the Light
For more than a decade, artist James Burns has been working in the community with those impacted by suicide, whether it is survivors affected by a loved one’s loss or those with ideation. The current iteration of this project was developed through mindful writing workshops and a performance with support from First Person Arts. In that performance, those affected by suicide were able to share personal stories of their mental health journeys. The project also follows input from a dedicated steering committee and has now had the hands of hundreds of participants involved in several paint days at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, the home to a mural that will be installed this Fall.
The goal of the project has always been to provide a space for dialogue, reduce stigma, and share resources and support for those who are looking for mental health outlets. The project specifically focuses on art as a release. At the paint days, some of the conversations were tough because family members and friends who had lost someone remembered the pain of those who had gone. But the discussions also included hope and camaraderie—and that’s what art allows—a singular project that everyone can pour their feelings into.
If you or a loved one are in crisis, call or text 988. The resource line can provide outlets for emergency care as well as resources for finding a therapist and other support groups.
Improv Showcase
This year, the Porch Light Department is also focusing efforts specifically on the intellectual disability and neurodiverse communities through improv workshops. The project, created by lead artist Daralyse Lyons and supported by improv instructors Benjamin Lloyd, Bobbi Block, and Loren Groenendaal, includes a series of 10-week workshops that pull out skills of active listening, collaboration, and releasing inhibitions. One of the goals of the project is to also help build skills for employment, which will be one of the arenas for a mural by artist Phillip Adams coming from this engagement. Porch Light projects often focus on building self-esteem through artmaking.
A free final performance by the workshop attendees will take place on Saturday, May 10 at 11:00 am at ComedySportz, 2030 Sansom Street. Sign up for tickets through Eventbrite. Anyone interested in trying out improv for themselves is also welcome to sign up for a free workshop on Wednesday, May 7 at 2:00 pm.
A Better World is Possible
With partners Shane Claiborne of RAWtools and artist Jacob C. Hammes, Porch Light is also turning attention to the effects of gun violence in Philadelphia. Claiborne and RAWtools focus on decommissioned guns and turning them into artmaking. That transformational process can provide hope to those who have been affected by gun violence. The group also focuses on providing welding skills to anyone interested so that they can be part of the process for reconstructing gun parts and bullets.
This project will culminate this summer in a memorial constructed out of decommissioned guns at the Simple Way, a partner with a community garden in Kensington. Hammes has been constructing planters, benches and a central memorial piece out of concrete, and the piece will serve as a respite for those who may need a moment to remember and a reminder of what can be at stake if gun violence isn’t addressed at its roots.
Find out more about Porch Light here.
