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Carmen Quinones recognizes the therapeutic role art can play in people’s lives. As an artist herself, she is able to overlook her anxiety and live a calmer, happier life.

It was this view of art that inspired Carmen, the assistant program director for www.av¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Health Network’s Adult Community Clinical Services program (ACCS), to organize the “This is Me—End the Stigma” art show. Many ACCS program participants use art as a powerful form of self- expression and a way to cope with mental illness, and Carmen wanted to give them an opportunity to offer the world a glimpse of their true selves and use their art to tell people, “This is me, and this is what I can do.”

Michelle Sutton, one of the individuals involved in the art show, uses photography as a form of healing and recovery. After being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and later breast cancer, photography became a way for Michelle to stop and appreciate the small things around her. Her multiple sclerosis prevented her from doing many small, everyday things – “It caused my whole life to come to a stop – I couldn’t function.” Taking photos, however, became a form of therapy for her.

Artist Michael Bruneau, a BHN Adult Community Clinical Services program participant, holds a dream catcher he created.

(Photo submitted)

Several of Michelle’s photos have deeply personal significance, such as a seemingly inconsequential photo of a fence. However, the photo captures the view from her bedroom, a sight that served as a form of hope for Michelle when she was often confined in bed throughout her recovery. It said to her, “This is where you are – you’re going somewhere, and you’re not stuck in this spot.” In Michelle’s experience, her physical and mental illnesses have caused people to treat her differently; but having her photos hung for the public to see was an empowering experience, she says, and made her feel seen and understood.



Michael Bruneau, another ACCS participant, created a piece representative of his increasing ability to cope with his anxiety and limited mobility: three dream catchers hanging from a piece of wood. Creating dream catchers has been a significant part of Michael’s life for the past few years and has helped him through a dark place, he says. Though he’s always loved art, Michael was forced to stop painting and drawing when he developed age-related hand tremors. Largely housebound and without a creative outlet, Michael became socially isolated and his anxiety spiked. However, after BHN helped him move into fully- accessible housing, Michael was introduced to the art of creating dream catchers by one of his neighbors, Angela.

“I didn’t think I would be able to make dream catchers,” Michael says. “But I started working on them, little by little, and once I finally made one, I felt proud of myself. I felt some relief.” Michael says he’s glad he refused to give up on art and found a new art form to pursue despite his physical limitations: “It drives my spirit, and I get joy from it,” he says. “I had goosebumps seeing my art on display, and I couldn’t have done it without other people.”