Building the Community of Art and Healing in Higher Education

Universities are increasingly called upon to serve as a link between the campus and the surrounding communities. How could university galleries facilitate community engagement and how can that community become stronger socially and creatively? In this presentation, I will introduce the Edges of What I Feel, an exhibition by the Healing Artist Collective (George Mason University School of Art students, staff, and alumni) at the Mason Exhibitions Arlington, to explore the role of a university gallery in helping shape the community. While the exhibit exposes the raw discomfort of the day-to-day struggles, grief, and loss of each artist resulting from the traumatic experience or chronic pain, the viewers, experience the collective's desire to grapple with the complexities of mental health, are eventually, connected to the topic of healing through arts. The artistic responses to trauma offer the viewers access to healing with the life testimony. The show is presented at one of GMU’s galleries, in Arlington, Virginia. Additional programming, including weekly artist talks, performances, and workshops are offered to the public to raise awareness of mental health issues. For future research, the discussion will focus on how to support diverse communities to work collaboratively with the university to build community and experience a sense of belonging through art activities. Furthermore, there are significant opportunities to think about how university galleries and exhibiting spaces in academic libraries could engage the university’s vast range of faculty, staff, and students regardless of their discipline and background.