2024 Virtual Art Exhibits and Performances

Wed, September 18 | 9:00 AM EDT– 5:00 PM EDT
Topic: Art | Knowledge Level: All levels

ART EXHIBITS

Arts-Based Research Exhibit: TBD

Mental Health Exhibit: This exhibit will highlight the work of artists who are also mental health consumers. These artists explore the power of creative expression to healing. Individuals with mental illness are marginalized in communities based on stigma and stereotypes firmly held in U.S. culture. Visual art is a way for the marginalized to take back their narrative and create a new story as artists.

Thriver Artist Exhibit: TBD

Youth Art Exhibit: This exhibit will feature the poetry-informed research of the Fearless Writers (FW) and collaboration between Rogers High School and UToledo social work program.

VIRTUAL PERFORMANCES & EVENTS

“Youth Response: SONS OF TOLEDO”: Youth participants in a social justice creative writing community (Fearless Writers) expand on the short-film SONS OF TOLEDO. The film follows a day in the life of a barber who has lost his adolescent brother to gun violence. This presentation will share the youth perspective that is silenced in the original film by gun death. Three youth (involved in Fearless Writers) discuss their experiences with gun violence in Toledo, Ohio and highlight the importance of better understanding trauma, adversity, protective factors, resilience, and advocacy to changing the raising rate of youth death to gun violence in Toledo. This short-film response was possible through funding from the IHTSJ Conference and Lucas County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board. Participants will have an opportunity to watch the youth film response and talk with experts and film makers about the experience of developing the film and curriculum to accompany the film.

*Performance Times:

Wednesday, September 18th @ 7:00-8:00 pm Eastern Time:https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89940037987

Thursday, September 19th @ 7:00-8:00 pm Eastern Time: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88630726722

Friday, September 20th @ 7:00-8:00 pm Eastern Time: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82025649477

“I Want You to See Me: Healing Through Storytelling (5th edition)”: Stories matter. Voices matter. Experiences matter. Autonomy matters. In a time where our stories and our voices can be so quickly shared, widely accessed, and just as easily distorted, the I Want You to See Me Project, is a platform for individuals who have been oppressed, marginalized, or exploited and gives them the reigns on how they want to be seen, heard, understood, and supported. The I Want You to See Me Project (“See Me”) is a creative, collaborative piece with the intention of shining a light on the stories and experiences that are often ignored, forgotten – or altered – and amplifies the voices of those who have been silenced by society or among their community. Audience members will hear from this year's “See Me” storytellers, and will explore the intersection of theatre and therapy, the concept of storytelling through a digital era, and will obtain a deeper level of understanding and connection across communities and populations. Audience members will walk away with tools that they can use to create spaces to amplify the voices of others, instead of telling the stories of others.

Performance Times: TBD

“What The Constitution Means to Me” by Heidi Schreck: Issue Box Theatre is proud to present “What the Constitution Means to Me” by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. This simple, yet thought provoking piece considers women’s rights, immigration, domestic abuse and the history of the United States in the space of just one and a half hours. Playwright Heidi Schreck’s boundary-breaking play breathes new life into our Constitution and imagines how it will shape the next generation of Americans. Fifteen-year-old Heidi earned her college tuition by winning Constitutional debate competitions across the United States. In this hilarious, hopeful, and achingly human new play, she resurrects her teenage self in order to trace the profound relationship between four generations of women and the founding document that shaped their lives.

*Performance Times: Friday, September 20th @ 7:30 pm Eastern Time & Saturday, September 21st @ 2:30 pm Eastern Time. Both performances will be held at The University of Toledo's Law Center.

Spirit of Sierah Color Run: This event is designed to honor the life and legacy of Sierah Joughin. Sierah was a University of Toledo student who was tragically taken from our community in 2016 by a repeat violent offender. This year, Justice for Sierah is excited to be back at The University of Toledo as they provide a splash of color to celebrate Sierah's life at this family-friendly event.

Event Day & Time: Saturday, September 28th @ 9 am, Centennial Mall-University of Toledo Main Campus

Link to learn more and sign up: https://runsignup.com/Race/OH/Toledo/JFSColorRun2024


Presentation Objectives
  • Raise awareness of the power of art to connect an audience to the lived experience of injustice
  • Combine research, program, and narrative methods as an important way to better understand social injustice
  • Provide inspiration for creativity as a possibility for healing