#LookBeyond: #BeStigmaFree campaign challenges assumptions through art

With a table at Cougar Kickoff on Sept. 3 and an Art Hop exhibit on Sept. 6, the #LookBeyond campaign is partnering with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion to encourage students, instructors and staff to see all people as human beings, regardless of diagnosis.

#LookBeyond: #BeStigmaFree is a campaign to reduce stigma and increase understanding, support and positive attitudes toward people throughout Kalamazoo County who are living with and/or affected by mental illness, substance use disorders and disabilities. The campaign asks supporters to take a pledge (represented by the acronym LET’S GO) to:
• Listen to people who live with mental health, substance use and/or disability challenges, to gain understanding.
• Educate yourself about these challenges by using community resources (like taking Mental Health First Aid Training).
• Treat every person as a valuable member of our community.
• Speak up for fair and respectful treatment of all people.
• Get others involved with the #LookBeyond campaign.
• Optimize your own wellness.

#LookBeyond invites the Valley community to participate in our 2nd annual Art Hop exhibit, “SEE ME: Looking Beyond Stigma,” on Friday, Sept. 6, from 5−8 p.m. at the Epic Center, Lower Level (359 S. Kalamazoo Mall, downtown Kalamazoo).

The purpose of the exhibit is to urge people to #LookBeyond their assumptions about others. For those who live with mental health challenges, substance use disorders or disabilities, one of the most painful experiences is the stigma of being seen as "other"—as a diagnosis, a moral failure or a problem, instead of a human being.

Whether you personally live with a mental health challenge or another condition, or care for someone who does, SEE ME is an opportunity to share creative expressions about the experience of stigma—and maybe help reduce it.

Anyone in the Kalamazoo area is invited to participate in the exhibit by submitting works of art about stigma, including paintings, drawings, photos, poems, sculptures and spoken word performances.

Artwork will be accepted the week of Aug. 19-Aug. 23 at Kalamazoo Valley Community College's Printing Services (Texas Township Campus, Room 8160); Kalamazoo Valley's Center for New Media, 100 E. Michigan Ave., Kalamazoo, MI 49007 (please drop off at front desk; Contacts are Catalina Gonzalez, Thomas Hamann or Cindy Parks); Kalamazoo Community Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services, 418 W. Kalamazoo Ave., Kalamazoo, 49007 (please drop off items at the 2nd floor reception area); or at ASK Family Services, 445 W. Michigan Ave., Suite 102, Kalamazoo, 49007. Call 269.553.6925 for more information.

#LookBeyond is a project of the Kalamazoo Wraps System of Care and Kalamazoo Community Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services (KCMHSAS). It’s currently funded through a grant from the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

To find out more, visit LookBeyondStigma.org, email the campaign at hello@lookbeyondstigma.org or call Michelle Houtrow at 269.553.7122. #LookBeyond is on Facebook at facebook.com/KazooCMH/.

Photo: Grace, one of the artists who exhibited drawings at the 2018 #LookBeyond Art Hop exhibit, "SEE ME."