Naming the Unnamable to shine light on mental health in local youth

 

Winter can be a difficult time for Bree Barton, a local author who moved to Ithaca from Los Angeles two-years-ago. 

The short days, the cold temperatures and gray skies can trigger her depression that first started to show signs when she was 11-years-old.  

During her recent book tour, where she was presenting Zia Erases The World, a novel that explores middle school-age children battling depression, she was struck by how many middle schoolers had a similar experience that she had. 

Barton is now in her 30’s, and when she arrived in Ithaca she decided that she wanted to help some of those youth express what they have been through by giving them an artistic outlet. 

Friday, Jan. 6 a new instillation channeling that work will be available to the community. 

Naming the Unnamable will have its opening night Friday at the Community Art Partnership’s ArtSpace, located at 110 N. Tioga Street in downtown Ithaca. The exhibit features work from 10 young artists, and how they have struggled and survived through mental health challenges, homelessness and COVID-19. The opening begins at 5 p.m. and goes until 8 p.m. 

The exhibit will be available to the public throughout January, every Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Barton said the youngest artist is 10-years-old, while the oldest is in her early 20’s. 

“In talking with kids about mental health, they have so much to say about it, especially in the last three years. Young, people, old people, all-age people who had not struggled with mental health challenges did for the last few years.,” she said. “I gave the artists the prompt of ‘how have the last three years been for you? How has it impacted your mental health? And I love that many expanded further beyond that and telling larger stories about things that happened long before COVID.” 

The types of art are also expansive in the exhibit. One student has composed a podcast with Superhero drawings attached. Another named Rayan will premiere her short film ‘Samir’ which documents her 7-years in a Awbare refuge camp in Ethiopia, there will be sound art about losing a parent to suicide, digital colleagues about being homeless and more. 

Samir is the Somali word for ‘Patience’ and Rayan said in a release from CAP that this project was incredibly personal to her. 

“It has a lot of memory and meaning behind it,” she said. 

Another piece is composed by a high school sophomore named Elise, who lost her father to suicide. She will feature a self-portrait and other art pieces, as well as an essay. 

“Although it’s very difficult to talk about my story and my dad,” she said, “I find it very refreshing to express my own feelings through art and writing. I hope my work can inspire someone to do the same.” 

Barton said the different kinds of expression are what she thinks will make the exhibit impactful to everyone in the community. 

“It couldn’t have worked out better because I went to each artist and said ‘what do you do, what do you create, what do you make? What would you want to create around this question of mental health and your experiences?’ Barton said. “I didn’t have to manage or direct it. It was, tell me how you make art, and this wonderful variety is coming in.” 

Barton worked with the Youth Action Board, an organization comprised of 15-24-year-olds who have lived experience of homelessness. 

One of those members is named Beretta, who composed digital collages and a eulogy she wrote for her best friend. In a release from CAP, she said she hopes her art: “Captures moments in life that often go overlooked, unseen, and under-represented due to the stigmatizing nature of themes such as trauma, substance dependency, mental illness, homelessness and poverty.” 

“There’s certainly an education element, and an entertainment element, we love art,” Barton said. “But there’s also engagement that I hope for where people are saying ‘wow, our youth are incredible, they’re creating work through extreme amounts of pain, isolation, homelessness and depression, trauma, and they’re moving through it, how can I move through it?’” 

This is Barton’s first official partnership with CAP. She received a Community Recovery Grant from the organization to fund the exhibit. 

She said the downtown location at the corner of The Commons gives people the opportunity to come in and be inspired throughout January. She said she knows how difficult the post-holiday, mid-winter time of year can be for people who suffer with mental health, and she believes the art of the youth who have gone through difficult mental health experiences can be uplifting. 

But first, she said she wants to see the CAP ArtSpace packed for the opening of the exhibit Friday. 

“I’d love it to just be full so the youth can feel celebrated and famous, and I think the community is going to be really moved by this and it’ll be really impactful,” she said.  “I want the youth to be heard, seen, celebrated and validated but I also want the community to walk out being changed and inspired by these kids. I’m changed and I’m inspired by these kids. I’m a 30-something-year-old woman and every one of these youth that I talked to, I leave feeling changed and I leave learning something new about my mental health and what I should do for self-care. I think the community is going to feel that too and they’re going to be galvanized to get involved.” 

She said she knows that some of the issues brought up in the exhibit will be difficult to talk and think about, but she hopes people will come and support the artists who have made themselves vulnerable to the darkest part of themselves.  

She’s hoping people can learn something along the way. 

“I think a few parts of this exhibit will be hard,” she said. “I’ll post a trigger warning because it’s hard for some people to sit and talk about suicide and homelessness, but I think people will walk through and out of this saying ‘wow, I had no idea that a 10-year-old is going through this,’ and surviving it, and finding ways to move though it with grace.’’