Welcome to VITAL Health

Wreaths that will be created throughout this project. Photo by Alex Maness.

Welcome to VITAL Health, an interdisciplinary interactive art project that helps address mental health in communities throughout North Carolina using performances, installations and workshops.

Stacey L. Kirby and I partnered to create this project to help take the stigma away from discussing mental health and we’re using art to do it. Stacey has been exploring this concept for a while and I’ve worked on projects centered on this topic. With the current COVID-19 pandemic it was time for us to craft something and work with other North Carolinians who may be on their own mental health journeys. No one is alone in this and as a community we can support each other.

In this intro VITAL Health diary entry, we talk about the origins of the project and what you can expect. We’re thankful for our current partners as we begin this project and hope you’ll join in.

Visit the Mission page to learn more about VITAL Health and the connection to Dorothea Dix Park. Take a listen below and follow the hashtag #VITALHealthNC.

The VITAL Health project is affiliated with SEEK Raleigh, a temporary public art program that engages artists to use unique, non-traditional interiors, structures, and outdoor spaces for site-specific, performative, and participatory installations and experiences. Additional partners currently include the National Alliance on Mental Illness-Wake County, Anchorlight and the Durham Art Guild.