View the PRESS RELEASE here.

With the support of a $25,000 Arts in Society grant, administered through Redline Contemporary Art Center, I am facilitating a project with residents at Saint Francis Apartments, creating an artwork that addresses the challenges within Denver’s homeless population.

Heard to Be Seen, Seen to Be Heard (HSSH) is a collaborative art project with Saint Francis Apartments (SFA) residents, who have been formerly homeless. The project addresses emotional, physical and financial barriers people face transitioning out of homelessness. Through community-building and self-expression, the project seeks to re-establish participants’ inherent self-worth and recognize their value within society. Three sessions featuring dialogue and art-making were held at SFA in September 2024. The culminating artwork will be publicly presented at Understudy from March 27 - April 27, 2025. The exhibition’s opening reception is on March 27, 2025 from 4-7pm, which is free and open to the public. A few residents will speak about their experience at the reception on March 27 at 5:30pm. Thanks to Arts in Society, participants are compensated for their contribution to the project.

During the three sessions, residents created a regenerative artwork based on my quilted painting process. Residents collectively created two 13’ abstract paintings on canvas. Then, they cut up the paintings and rearranged the pieces, adhering them together around a 6 foot wire sculpture, which resembles a boulder. Throughout this process, residents discussed the past struggles they have conquered, while addressing current challenges, the emotions associated with those challenges, and determining actions to overcome them. The final artwork represents the barriers they have faced and how reframing difficult experiences can be an opportunity for learning, growth, and healing.