Breaking down barriers

Birch Tree program helps those with mental illnesses through art.

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Ben Bennett, a member of Birch Tree's Expressive Arts program, stands with one of his paintings.

— Ben Bennett flashes a beaming smile recalling one of the happiest days of his young life: April 30, 2009.

The spring memory contains more than 300 pairs of eyes in the Arkansas Governor's Mansion Grand Hall trained on Bennett and his painting Poles Apart as KATV's Pamela Smith cajoles the live-auction bidders to up the ante on Bennett's portrait of a dark-haired youth depicted in colorful blue, white and yellow swirls and wiggles. Throughout the bidding bedlam, Bennett smiles broadly with pride and awe from the stage, as the painting finally sells for $4,000.

Almost four months after the applause had died the 26-year-old Bennett rearms his face with a cheerful grin and a gentle, disbelieving shake of the head when recalling the event. The painting was the feature piece of the Birch Tree Communities' seventh annual Expressions Art Show, a yearly fulfillment of Birch Tree's Expressive Arts Department. The 20-year-old nonprofit Birch Tree serves approximately 400 Arkansas adults with major mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression and borderline personality disorder.

"I'm an artist myself," Birch Tree expressive arts specialist Jim Tindall said, assisting Bennett with his loss of words over the moment. "If I have a painting sell I know how excited I get."

A Malvern native, Bennett was a student at Henderson State University when his schizophrenia symptoms became apparent. The devastating brain disorder sabotaged Bennett's collegiate ambitions, but for the last three years Bennett has regained a sense of normalcy through painting, one of Birch Tree's eight Expressive Arts Department programs.

"I guess it keeps the focus away from some of the symptoms I have," said Bennett, who favors the works of surrealist Salvador Dali, gonzo illustrator Ralph Steadman and postmodernist Alex Grey as influences. "I have a release to put it down in my paintings."

Beyond painting, Birch Tree's Expressive Arts Department also incorporates sculpting, poetry, photography, dance, music, acting and filmmaking, providing life enrichment to members (called such because they are members of the Birch Tree family). Started 11 years ago under the direction of former Birch Tree CEO Tucker Steinmetz, the program is not intended as treatment, but as an avenue for opening communication, boosting members' self-esteem and as an emotional outlet through artistic expression.

"The arts create a [leveled] playing field for everyone," said Luke Kramer, a former expressive arts specialist at Birch Tree who is now director of development for the nonprofit. "I don't think we understand the true therapeutic value of the arts. The individual doing it is the only person who really knows."

For Leslee Bagley, a 27-year-old Benton resident diagnosed with bipolar disorder, painting serves as a bridge to her pre-diagnosis life.

"I like how it makes me feel normal," said Bagley, who earned a degree in early childhood education from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock before the onset of bipolar symptoms. "Even though I have a mental illness, I'm still able to do this and contribute."

During her high school and college studies, Bagley was exposed to art classes, but for the past three years she has studied with Tindall. Counting Vincent Van Gogh and Michelangelo as artistic influences, Bagley's latest work is the Pablo Picasso-like Chicken and the Egg.

Tindall visits Birch Tree locations throughout Arkansas, teaching Birch Tree members the foundations of painting. Classes are open to any Birch Tree member but are not required. Tindall provides members (most classes range in size from 10 members to 20 members, depending on the size of the facility) with seven colors - magenta, turquoise, blue, red, white, black and yellow - and a fundamental understanding of painting, but allows members to let emotions to guide their work.

"Jim will sometimes give us ideas, but a lot of times we just paint whatever comes to mind," Bagley said. "It's just something that teaches us how to heal. It just brings out the emotions that I feel over the course of that day.

"[Tindall] teaches us the styles and techniques, and we run with it."

Boasting he can teach anyone to paint in less than 12 seconds (pick the brush up, dip it in paint, place brush to canvas), Tindall only has two rules for his classes: Have fun and never paint better than the teacher.

"The art gives a reprieve to the symptoms they have," Tindall said. "You give people an opportunity to be all they can be. We're looking for a way to open the door, and all I try to do is not stand in the way.

"They just go right into it. I follow their agenda, going to where they are at and trying to encourage them. It opens that door to freedom."

There are no mistakes, no bad paintings. Nothing is read into the paintings. Suggestions are made, but mostly Tindall stands back, offering encouragement where needed, but allowing the members to freely express themselves.

"It's outsider art," Kramer said. "It's not about the finished product. The end result is great, but it's secondary to why we are here. People with a mental illness being able to focus to see something to its completion can be a struggle."

The other important aspect of Birch Tree's painting program is its Expressions Art Show, held annually since 2003 and for the last two years at the Arkansas Governor's Mansion, where it will return for its third year April 29, 2010. The artwork of approximately 100 Birch Tree members is sold at the event, with all the proceeds going to the members. (Members pay a discounted framing fee and entry fee, but Birch Tree supports the cost of the event through admission to the general public.)

Members' artwork hangs in homes and businesses across the state, and unsold artwork decorates the halls and walls of the 13 Birch Tree communities throughout the state. (Tindall estimates members generate thousands of works of art throughout the year.) But beyond the importance of money pocketed by members is the bridge building accomplished between Birch Tree members and the community, the breaking down of social barriers and the swiping clean of prejudices the public might have against people with mental illnesses.

"[The public] only sees what's in movies," said Stacey Kuchinski, director of the Expressive Arts Department. "[The Expressions Art Show] gives them a good chance to interact. It does help the members feel as though they have value."

"It's just part of what we do at Birch Tree," Tindall said. "We're servants. We're providing a service, and our members need to have that respect.

"It's really helped at the art show to help with the stigma. I think it breaks down the barriers of talking with people with mental illnesses."

The mission of Birch Tree is assisting each member in reaching a satisfying life in the community and obtaining a full life as much as each members' illness and ability will allow. Bagley's next step is as a peer specialist at Arkansas State Hospital - another stepping stone to a better quality life assisted by the self-confidence acquired through Birch Tree's Expressive Arts Department.

"I just like to be creative," said Bagley, who has also written and illustrated a children's book - A Home for Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird - through the Expressive Arts Department. "It makes me proud of myself, like I've accomplished something. It's nice."

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