I’m Not Crazy…An Exhibit, Not an Affirmation…

This is how busy I’ve been…I announced this on Facebook a week ago and haven’t had time to come over here and give what details I have. SAQA has a curator-in-training program that I tried to get into last year with my idea of an exhibit called Uncovered, focusing on the nude in textile art. The exhibit travels with the Mancuso quilt shows; in fact, the No Place to Call Home exhibit I was in last year that caused such a ruckus in Virginia was the first of these training exhibits. They were leery of the nudity and suggested I find a gallery venue (gee, I have those just lined up!) for the exhibit, and maybe someday I will. I applied again this year and was excited to learn last week that I was accepted into the program with this year’s attempt, I’m Not Crazy.

I can’t give full details yet, except that I’m the curator, not the juror (still working on that). The call for entries will officially go out in early January and entries will be due in the month of May, juried in June. The show will travel with all the Mancuso quilt shows for a year, which is very cool. Pieces need to be at least 20″ in width or height, no more than 50″ in width, and no more than 65″ in height. You do have to be a SAQA member to participate, but you don’t have to be in the United States.

Here is what I was thinking for the theme, based on some experiences with family members, friends, and friends’ family members who are all dealing with mental issues or the fallout from those issues…it’s pervasive.

Mental illness carries with it a stigma;  many of us have experience with disorders, temporary or permanent, curable or not, that in the past and in some cultures even today would be labeled as crazy.

The stigma of mental illness can make it difficult to admit its effect on our loved ones or ourselves. Disorders as common as anxiety or depression, or less common, like schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder, can have a devastating effect on families and friends, and on ourselves. It might be temporary or even curable, or it might not be either. Negativity towards those who have these disorders often causes many people to keep the diagnosis hidden from friends and family.

• What does “crazy” look like?
• What does it feel like?
• How does the world look through the eyes of someone experiencing a panic attack or depression or other mental disorder?
• How does loving or caring for someone with a mental disorder look and feel?

I’m looking for work that covers these experiences: from the eyes of the caregiver, the friend, the family member, and, of course, those who have experienced any of these disorders themselves. It doesn’t have to be depressing…in my family, we deal with death and illness and crazy by making fun, laughing, finding other ways to get through it. Sometimes all you can do is make jokes, because you’ve spent too much time worrying.

Anyway, think about it. I’ll post links as the prospectus is ready to post.

I have to say that while I was coming up with this idea (it crept up on me), this song kept going through my head…

And it still is…