ADVOCACY

The David Byrd Estate works to preserve and promote the legacy of artist David Byrd. We organize events that provoke, challenge and explore perceptions of mental illness and art.

One in five adults live with a mental health condition, yet this common illness often remains hidden behind a wall of secrecy and isolation. By sharing Byrd’s profound artwork, we hope to engage individuals and communities, break down societal stigmas, and offer an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of mental illness.

EVENTS

Painted Brain held an event in conjunction with David Byrd’s exhibition at Matthew Brown gallery in Los Angeles on March 23, 2024. Painted Brain is a peer-run mental health organization in Los Angeles, CA that specializes in providing population-centered training, programming, and events to meet the specific needs of the people they serve. A gallery tour of the show (paintings and book) included a discussion, insights, and perspectives from Painted Brain and the public. This was an immersive experience, looking at the work through the lens of someone who may have experienced some of what Byrd painted. Further, questions were asked about mental health care today. What has changed and stayed the same? What do passages from Byrd's book tell us about Byrd, the patients, and the system of care when David worked in the psych ward (1958-1988)? Further, what does the future hold for mental health care and support?

Reflections on collaboration with Painted Brain and David Byrd at Matthew Brown Gallery March 23,2024

As I write this, I am haunted by the images David Byrd created. I spent over four years institutionalized in Patton State Hospital, one of the few remaining state hospitals for people with serious mental illness in California. I also spent about ten years in the forensic mental health system, living in hospitals, halfway houses, and board and care homes in Los Angeles and San Bernardino County. The images that David Byrd created remind me very much of those difficult years of my life. The psychic pain, torment, and deplorable conditions that Byrd captures are still happening today. Also, Byrd's writings and reflections on mental illness and the treatment of those inside the mental health system offer an alternative vantage point that serves to hold up a mirror that shows many of the flaws in our current system.

As I participated in the gallery opening and the Painted Brain immersive art event at the Matthew Brown Gallery, I was visited by many memories and realities that still trouble me today. Why is it that people are still warehoused and confined for years and decades? Why are the institutions where people with mental illness find themselves not compassionate places of healing? Why is there still so much stigma and shame around mental illness?

During the immersive event, many conversations and sharing of experiences happened. I was a part of some of these conversations. The lived experience in the room was such that most of the twenty or thirty people who attended knew or had lived through the conditions that David Byrd painted about.

I read poetry inspired by my experiences at Patton State Hospital, a place that is not too different from Montrose VA Hospital, where Byrd drew his inspiration. The poems I read were meant to do two things. One is to let people know that they are not forgotten. Their lives have meaning and value, even if they are trapped in an institution. And two, there is lots of life, love, and beauty inside these institutions. Some of the most sensitive, creative, and wonderful people I have ever met are people in the mental health system. And many of them face some of the most regressive and repressive environments I have ever experienced.

Also, during the immersive event, a gallery tour allowed the attendees to enter the work of David Byrd. This clear entryway was further developed by Painted Brain printing out and isolating figures from Byrd’s paintings for the participants to fill in with words and color. Painted Brain also offered art materials for folks to create artistic responses to Byrd's work. Folks were invited to take their creations home, continue to keep the spirit of the event alive, and post or share the work they created. In the end, the event was a true collaboration. Both drawing on work, reflecting on themes, and engaging and magnifying the experience.

For these and many more reasons, I love David Byrd’s work and look forward to future viewings and collaborations.

In solidarity,
Tristan Scremin, CMPSS, JD, MFA

WIOX Interview 2015

Join host Maggie Cullen for a discussion about how David Byrd’s paintings & book inspired a Mental Health Conference in 2015. Featuring guests – Jessica Farrell (David Byrd Estate); Rina Riba (president National Alliance on Mental Illness of Delaware/Otsego Counties); Drue Brenner (NY Connects). Click here for transcript of discussion.

David Byrd: VOICES, A Multi-Media Performance Exploring the Life and Work of David Byrd
Morris Conference Center, SUNY Oneonta, NY, April 21, 2016

Keynote Speaker Jessica Farrell

Veterans, Art and Mental Health Symposium
Edgewood College, Madison, WI, September 18, 2015

Short Clip of Keynote Speaker Walter Putrycz

Full Keynote Address by Walter Putrycz

Hope & Healing: Perspectives on Mental Illness
Roxbury Arts Center, Roxbury, NY,  January 31, 2015

Roxbury Arts Group, the National Alliance on Mental Illness chapters of Otsego County & Delaware County, NY Connects and the David Byrd Estate will partner for a community conversation about mental illness. Connect with mental health advocates for an in-depth, round table discussion! Keynote speaker Jason Paden will share his inspiring story of recovery – managing a major and chronic mental health condition. Together, let’s work to reduce the stigma of mental illness!

Keynote speaker Jason Paden and Jessica Farrell

Jason Paden, keynote speaker and Mary Sheppard, singer/songwriter

VOICES Press: