Screen shot from John Bauer’s Kickstarter video raising money for his “What’s Left” project to open dialogue about mental health and suicide in our community.
If you recall my column of Nov. 23, 2014, “What’s Left Unsaid,” I shared the personal story of my uncle’s suicide in order to explain my friend John Bauer’s “What’s Left” project. John lost his daughter Megan to depression last year and has found a way to channel his emotions into something hopeful. This multimedia art and interview traveling exhibit will open Sept. 4, 2015 at the MacRostie Art Center in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, touring after that. The mission: share the voices of survivors and those in recovery to remind all that there is treatment and hope for those facing mental illness. John is recording interviews, taking photos and working with several artists and fellow survivors to make this happen.
Bauer needs to raise $50,000 in a Kickstarter campaign to finish the project and he is extremely close to reaching that goal. Please, if you are at all affected by John’s story or one of your own, view his pitch and consider making a pledge of any amount.
Spring 2010, John Bauer and Heidi Holtan produced a photo/audio art exhibit for Hibbing Community College Library “Art Among the Stacks”. The exhibit, entitle “Reveal”, presented an intimate exhibition into the lives of people touched by spousal abuse, child abuse, teen pregnancy, abandonment, and isolation. The stories revealed the impact of labels and identities. The stark black and white photography of individuals from our region coupled with audio recordings demonstrated a “reveal” of life as lived daily.
Thus, I look forward to this new exhibit. It will be another very human reveal.