New York City Voices held a fabulous conference on November 13, 2004 thanks to a grant from the pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb. We used this grant to create an event we called The Arts of Healing and enlisted many volunteers to make it come to life. The combined might of Carl Blumenthal and Teena Brooks, who turned talk into action, made the conference possible.
There were workshops on the arts and alternative healing: dance, drama, humor, poetry, memoir-writing, yoga, video, meditation, crafts, and singing. We had wholesome food, awards, entertainment and door prizes.
In the morning, people from the Fortune Society, a group that fights for mental health consumers in the prison system, supervised the making of a mural themed "You gotta have heART." Completed, the mural had the colors of a sunset, appeared with New York City's skyline in the center and the words Arts of Healing floating about like colored gas. You can see it hanging at the Urban Justice Center whose Mental Health Project involves social workers and lawyers fighting for the civil rights of mental health consumers.
Andy Behrman was flown from Los Angeles to deliver a keynote speech on his ability to manage bipolar disorder and his awesome achievements in the world. His book Electroboy (www.electroboy.com) is based on his harrowing adventures with mania, depression and electroshock treatments. Based on his book, a major motion picture starring Tobey Maguire is set to film in the spring.
Jacob Wolf Shenk, author of The Melancholy of Abraham Lincoln, taught us in his speech that the greatness of this legendary president was shaped by the depth of his sorrow. To suffer is noble. To suffer, enforce the public's faith and lead is astonishing. Voices awarded five great spirits—Rita Seiden, Assemblyman Peter Rivera, Dana Anthony, Kim Strouse, Steve Miccio and the Baltic Street Band—with paintings done by consumer-artists.
Each awardee was photographed with a painting and the artist who painted it. The artists were: Lyndon Dilag, Linda Moses, Paul Stehle, Jennie Ayala, George Peets, Antoinette Bonica and Roberta Rivera who said, "I am a creative person and I love life…My painting Unstill represents life and the abundance of all that God has given us. There is beauty in all of it."
The conference closed with music from the Baltic Street Band, which taught us all how age can mean greater soul when you're willing to let go. And we'll not forget Rachelle Garniez who brought bohemianism by appearance and sweet seduction by voice. She swept us away. I sincerely hope to see you next year.