Art, creativity and mental health advocacy will come together at Sarasota Art Museum on Wednesday.
WUSF's Cathy Carter recently spoke with Colleen Thayer, the CEO of the National Alliance on Mental Illness [NAMI] for Sarasota and Manatee Counties, about the "Arts & Minds" event to support its free, peer-led support programs. It runs from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
The interview below was lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
NAMI is hosting a symposium of sorts. It's called Arts & Minds. Can you tell us a little bit about the objective of this event?
NAMI really tries to break down the stigma that surrounds mental health conditions and events like Arts & Minds, which also benefits NAMI from a fundraising perspective, helps us do that and tell our story, and tell the story of people who live with mental health challenges.
This event is focused on art. We created this event last year and had a really incredible opportunity to share art from individuals who have their own lived experience. And this year we are doing the same thing.
Tell us a little bit about the artist that you're featuring this year.
Sure, the artist's name is Joanna Barnett, and she was a Ringling College of Art graduate, and she passed away back in the 90s.
She lived with severe bipolar disorder, and for her own 40th birthday, she chose to create a series of all different kinds of art every day on how she felt, and she journaled along with that, and it very vividly tells her story.
Some days were very, very low, and some were OK, and a few were good. But it really is a great way to visualize how somebody who lives with a severe mental health challenge — how they feel.
Let's talk a little bit more about how creative expression can be a useful tool to help people with mental health challenges.
Sure, art is just one avenue that individuals who live with mental health challenges find ways to work on their wellness.
And I think that it just works to stimulate that part of the brain that helps somebody better understand themselves and better express themselves.
I read something, and I wonder what you think about this, that trauma affects the brain's speech centers, so this is why art or creative expression can be so effective for folks who have undergone trauma.
I think you're right. I think trauma can impact people in very different ways, and trauma is one of those things that we're learning a lot more about.
I think it is at the heart of a lot of challenges people have, whether that be an anxiety disorder or depression. Learning more about it and how that impacts the brain is something that researchers continue to work on.
I think it's really important to say that for folks who do live with mental health conditions, they very, very much can be well — they can live with their condition and have a very productive life, and if you are going through it, help is out there.
What are NAMI's challenges?
One of the areas that I have really seen grow over the last four to five years is the individual peer support that is one-on-one.
And to do that, we need people.
That can be very challenging, particularly because nonprofit funding tends to not be long-term.
And so, events like this help us broaden our connections with people that may otherwise not know what NAMI is. So, to reach everybody that we need to reach is probably our biggest challenge.
Tickets for the Arts & Minds event are $100. It includes 90 minutes of access to the Sarasota Art Museum prior to the event starting. There will also be live entertainment and refreshments.
Copyright 2026 WUSF 89.7