Childhood Revealed: Art Expressing Pain, Discovery & Hope On View at 80 Washington Square East Galleries

Think of eight children you know. At least one of them is dealing with depression anxiety, a learning problem, ADHD, abuse, an eating disorder, autism or psychosis, and only one-fifth of those are receiving treatment. To raise awareness of the issues faced by these children, Childhood Revealed: Art Expressing Pain, Discovery & Hope, a touring exhibition of more than 100 artworks created by children with psychiatric, learning, family, psychological, and physical challenges, has been touring the U.S. since November 1999. The exhibit was created by the New York University Child Study Center to put a face on the mental health problems faced by millions of children in this country and help eliminate the stigma surrounding mental illness.

Childhood Revealed gives us a glimpse into the world of the more than 10 million American children who endure mental health problems. The paintings, drawings and sculptures on display are accompanied by the artists’ own commentaries and descriptions of the disorders. The works reflect the children’s struggles with problems such as suicide, anorexia, sexual abuse, manic-depressive illness, and divorce. The striking and colorful images and commentaries encourage us to take a new look at how we view mental illness. “In the same way that the AIDS quilt (exhibit) put a human face on the disastrous epidemic of AIDS, we hope this will raise the profile of childhood mental disorders,” says Harold S. Koplewicz, M.D.

The exhibition, which opened at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, November 1999, is touring through October 2002. It has been seen coast to coast in 15 major cities and is scheduled to continue to five more cities, including Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Childhood Revealed: Art Expressing Pain, Discovery & Hope, the exhibit and companion book, containing color reproductions of the artwork, as well as the award-winning website www.AboutOurKids.org, form the centerpiece of the National Child Mental Health Initiative, a public awareness campaign launched by the New York University Child Study Center and its founder and director Dr. Harold S. Koplewicz. Consistent with the magnitude of the problem, the initiative brings together the nation’s major child mental health professional and advocacy groups as partners. The exhibit hopes to improve the understanding and treatment of child mental illness as identified in the Surgeon General’s National Action Agenda for Children’s Mental Health.

For the exhibition and the book, edited by Dr. Koplewicz and Dr. Robin F. Goodman, the Child Study Center invited clinicians and educators nationwide to submit artworks made by children ages 4 to 18. A prominent jury of scholars, artists, and educators, including the internationally known artist Jennifer Bartlett and Paul Goldberger, a writer for The New Yorker and former culture editor of The New York Times, made the final selection of 103 works featured in the exhibition and book..

For more information, contact the NYU Child Study Center at (212) 263-6622 or visit www.AboutOurKids.org.#

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