By
Jonel Aleccia, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
Apr. 14--To tell the truth, Robby Kelley doesn't
remember what he meant when he splashed bright paint
across a white page and then topped it with a splotch of
black.
He knows it was a painting project last summer for
kids with â€" and without â€" mental
illness.
But the 14-year-old Bonners Ferry boy has been too
busy with school and family and hobbies â€"
basketball, video games â€" to dwell on the ways
a diagnosis makes him different.
Score one for "Art from the Heart."
Robby's abstract artwork was among pieces submitted
by about 300 children across Idaho as part of a
statewide program aimed at decreasing stigma about
severe emotional disorders, organizers said.
The point of the program â€" which produced a
traveling art exhibit titled "The World Through Our
Eyes" â€" is the very normalcy of youngsters like
Robby. Diagnosed at age 7, Robby takes medication to
control attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and
some symptoms of bipolar disorder.
"Robby is basically just a typical kid," said his
mother, Debbie Kelley.
Emphasizing the commonality of all children was the
goal of the effort co-sponsored by the Idaho Department
of Health and Welfare and the Idaho Federation of
Families.
"The main thing is when we look at stigma, when
people are stigmatized, they are labeled and isolated,"
said Chandra Story, a spokeswoman for the health and
welfare department.
Creating a 42-by-18-foot display crowded with
paintings and poetry of children with mental disorders
and those without was a way to integrate the experiences
of everyone, Story said.
"The display does exactly what anti-stigma does," she
said.
"The World Through Our Eyes" debuted in January at
the state capitol in Boise. Since then, the display has
traveled north, leaving awareness in its wake. In Idaho,
more than 17,000 children are affected by mental health
disorders, Story said.
"We've had phenomenal experiences happen," said
Cynthia McCurdy of Rexburg, who was recently named
Idaho's Mother of the Year. She helped bring the display
to her community.
"There was over a four-hour wait of people in line,"
McCurdy said. "More than 5,000 people â€" college
kids, professors, community members came."
The exhibit helped spark positive responses,
including an offer by a community member to sponsor
spaces in sports programs and other activities for
emotionally disturbed kids.
McCurdy has been a vocal advocate for the rights of
mentally ill children since the birth of her daughter,
Karissa, 14. She believes awareness starts in the family
and extends through the larger community.
Too few people understand the challenges faced by
children with emotional disturbances â€" and
those confronted by their families. It's often a fight
to fit in at school, in social settings and in society
at large.
"It's important to decrease stigma because none of us
likes labels," she said. "Most kids can overcome mental
illness and even if they don't, it's OK being who they
are."
McCurdy said she was moved by the artwork, including
many that illustrate the difficulties some children
face.
"A lot of these kids have dark lives, they perceive
it as being dark," she said.
A drawing by Karissa is included in the show.
"She drew a heart where her lips are because she told
me, 'I always want to speak kind words about others,' "
McCurdy said. "She drew colors where her heart is and
she said, 'These are my feelings.' "
For children with mental and emotional challenges,
artwork can be a powerful tool, said Joe Fleck, a state
mental health clinician in Bonners Ferry. He praised
Gov. Dirk Kempthorne's work to provide targeted local
services for children with mental illness. Part of that
plan requires the kind of community education and
awareness exemplified by the artwork of Robby Kelley and
the others.
"They don't always have a voice," Fleck said. "This
creates that voice."
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Copyright (c) 2006, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane,
Wash.
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