“Expressions of Hope,” the 2010 Art Calendar featuring paintings by consumers of Pikes Peak Behavioral Health Group, is now on sale online and at local stores.
The artists are participants in the Art Therapy program. All proceeds from the sales will go back to the program. The calendars are $10.
“Sometimes people associate mental illness with crazy ideas; treat it as a negative,” said art therapist Kim Nguyen. “But (the clients) are full of creativity and an abundance of beauty. With the right direction, they can flourish.”
Such was the case with Tisha Gutierrez. For several years, she battled the stigma and denied herself treatment out of fear of retribution and losing her four children. After a nervous breakdown in 2004, Gutierrez started treatment at Pikes Peak Behavioral Health Group and one of her most effective treatments is paint and canvas.
“Once I get it out on the canvas, it’s not trapped,” she says. “It’s put on the wall and not stored away in my mind.”
Gutierrez’s work is featured in the 2010 Calendar. It can be purchased and viewed online at www.ppbhg.org. The calendars also are available at several Downtown Colorado Springs stores, including Poor Richard’s Bookstore and Colorado Co-op along Tejon Ave.
For more information about the art therapy and other Pikes Peak Behavioral Health Group programs, contact Nguyen at (719) 572-6244
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