Your story matters. Your voice matters. Your experience matters. Your autonomy matters. I Want You to 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 distorted and amplifies the voices of those who have been silenced. This narrative performance removes the layers of lenses that are often used to fuel disconnection and drive false narratives in order to truly highlight human dignity. I Want You to See Me invites the audience to acknowledge the personal and societal barriers that prevent us from truly seeing one another and facilitates participants to obtain a deeper level of understanding and connection across communities. I Want You to See Me gives platform to individuals who have been oppressed, marginalized, or exploited and gives them the reigns on how they want to be seen, heard, understood, and remembered.

Performance Objectives:

· Provide attendees with education and awareness regarding oppression, trauma, and exploitation

· Provide hands on materials regarding advocacy, mental health, and recovery

· Provide elements of narrative therapy to those sharing their stories as way for them to reclaim autonomy over their personal narratives and to counteract against stigma.

Performance Showtimes:

· Wednesday, September 23rd @ 11:30 am EST

· Wednesday, Setpember 23rd @ 7:00 pm EST

· Thursday, September 24th @ 11:30 am EST

· Thursday, September 24th @ 9:00 pm EST

· Friday, September 25th @ 11:30 am EST

· Friday, September 25th @ 7:00 pm EST

Purchase Tickets Online HERE.

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This exhibit is intended for education, relaxation, and therapeutic interactions. We understand the topics discussed throughout this conference are vital but can also be draining. Should you feel as though you need a mental health break, find yourself with a gap between sessions, or if you just love art and are interested in how it can be used for coping and relief, come explore this interactive exhibit!

Exhibit Objectives:

· Use art as a coping mechanism to deescalate attendees who may be in distress

· Create a space where attendees can feel safe

· Provide attendees with accurate information about the benefits of art on the body and mind

· Provide hands on materials for attendees to interact with and learn from

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Young adult artists and writers from Toledo-area high schools share their experiences and perspectives on societal stigmas, stereotypes, and mental health. This art experience aims to highlight the individuality of the artists, celebrate their resiliency, and fuel connection across generations. This exhibit provides a space for attendees to explore and learn about the concepts of narrative, biases, traumas and struggles, relationships, and the use of art as a therapeutic process. Most importantly, this exhibit hopes that attendees will utilize the ability to see the individuals that are often hidden behind generational stereotypes.

Exhibit Objectives:

· Highlight the use of art as coping skill and therapeutic intervention

· Provide space for teens and young artists to share their stories and shape the narrative of their generation

· Celebrate resiliency

· Understand mental health, stereotypes, social stigma, and trauma from the perspective of young adults

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This art experience provides attendees a space to learn from, connect with, and understand the stories of those who are living with mental illnesses. This exhibit aims to highlight the ways in which art can be a coping skill, form of expression, and/or a therapeutic intervention. The theme "Seeing Me" focuses on the need to value the individual, their resilience, their artistic process, and their talent – above their mental health struggles. Art is a form of language and expression, and through the art in this exhibit, it is the goal to create a space where the topic of mental health can be explored, but furthermore, that the individual’s abilities and experiences can be celebrated.

Exhibit Objectives:

· Highlight the use of art as a coping skill and therapeutic intervention for mental illnesses

· Express lived experiences of individuals living with mental illnesses

· Provide a safe space for exploration, conversation, and celebration of mental health

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Young adult artists and writers from Toledo-area high schools share their experiences and perspectives on societal Sarah Demerath is a survivor of childhood trauma and sex trafficking. Throughout her life, Sarah has turned to art as an emotional outlet, coping mechanism, and as an avenue for self-expression and escape. Her life experience has led her to become a peer-to-peer counselor & case manager at Convergence Resource Center (CRC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and she has assisted the CRC in creating the first transitional housing center specifically for survivors of sex trafficking in the state of Wisconsin.

Sarah’s physical artwork is heavily entwined with her love for music, through which she finds a source of inspiration and motivation. Sarah hopes that by telling her story through art, she can inspire others to connect with their own resiliency, creativity, and self-worth.

Exhibit Objectives:

· Share a survivor’s life experience through art

· Inspire resiliency and highlight creativity

· Spread the message of art as therapy

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