ANCHOR MICHELLE WRIGHT, RIGHT. SHOWS US THAT PROJECT HERE AT THE MANSION OYSTER CRAFTSMAN’S GUILD. THIS WALL OF ART IS UNMASKING THE STIGMA AROUND MENTAL ILLNESS. MAKING THAT MASK YOU CAN ENTER INTO THIS YOUR OWN CONVERSATION, BUT A COMMUNITY CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH. THE DISPLAY IS PART OF THE I’M FINE PROJECT COKE CURATORS CARRIE BRESSIE AND MAUREEN JOYCE ARE THE ARTISTS BEHIND IT. WE GIVE THEM A PROMPT, AND THAT PROMPT IS WHAT MASK DO YOU WEAR IN ORDER TO PORTRAY, HIDE OR MINIMIZE? MAYBE YOUR OWN MENTAL HEALTH STRUGGLES? AND IT’S ABOUT BEING ABLE TO ARTICULATE THAT THROUGH THE PROCESS OF ART. YOU KNOW, MANY TIMES WHEN YOU’RE IN ADOLESCENCE, YOU KNOW, YOU’RE STRUGGLING WITH EXPRESSION, YOU’RE STRUGGLING WITH HOW TO TALK ABOUT THESE THINGS. AND ART GIVES YOU A WAY TO TALK ABOUT IT. AND AND MAYBE ON CONVENTIONAL WAY SOMETHING THAT YOU’RE NOT USED TO. FOR THEM, THE MISSION IS DEEPLY PERSONAL. I’M FINE. BEGAN IN 2019, AFTER I LOST MY SON. HE COMPLETED HIS LIFE. AND IN THE SADNESS OF, AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, I WASN’T ABLE TO FUNCTION AS A TEACHER, AN ARTIST AND A FRIEND. I TOOK ME A LONG TIME, BUT FINALLY I WENT OUT TO MY STUDIO AND I STARTED WORKING WITH THE CLAY. AND IN THAT PROCESS, I REALIZED HOW HELPFUL THAT WAS TO ME. JOYCE AND BRESHEARS SAY AT FIRST IT WAS JUST GOING TO BE ONE WORKSHOP, BUT THAT QUICKLY CHANGED. THAT ONE WORKSHOP HAS NOW TURNED INTO FOUR YEARS OF ABOUT 70 WORKSHOPS AND WE REALIZED HOW MUCH THIS WORLD NEEDS THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH AND MENTAL ILLNESS AND HOW MUCH TEENS REALLY NEED TO TALK ABOUT IT. THESE MASS ACTS WERE MADE DURING RESIDENCIES AT BRASHEAR HIGH SCHOOL AND UNIVERSITY PREP NEXT SPRING. THEIR WORK WILL TRAVEL ACROSS THE STATE TO JOIN MORE THAN 1500 OTHER MASKS IN ONE BIG EXHIBIT. I THINK IT’S REALLY EMPOWERING FOR THE ARTISTS TO COME TO THOSE EXHIBITS AND SEE THEIR MASK AND SHARE THEIR MASK WITH THEIR FAMILIES, THEIR FAMILIES, MANY OF THEM HAD NO IDEA THAT THEY WERE WORKING ON SUCH PROJECTS, JOYCE SAYS. I’M FINE. HAYES LET HER SHARE HER SON’S STORY WHILE HELPING OTHER PEOPLE HEAL, TOO. YOU NEVER KNOW WHO’S STRUGGLING, AND PAT HAS HELPED US REALIZE THAT IF WE JUST REACH OUT AND HELP ONE PERSON AND WE’RE SUCCEEDING IN OUR PROJECT. MICHELLE RIGHT. PITTSBURGH’S ACTION NEWS 4 WHAT A GREAT PROJECT. AND TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MENTAL HEALTH CONVERSATIONS HAPPENING IN OUR AREA, YOU CAN HEAD TO OUR WEBSITE TO WATCH SUNDAY’S EPISODE OF ALISON’S. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS GO TO WTAE AND CLICK THE WTAE LESSONS TAB. THERE YOU’LL FIND ALL OF OUR