Mental Fitness is proud to announce an exhibition of new works on paper by Greensboro, North Carolina-based artist Jennifer Helen Meanley at our NOURISH arts space in Spartanburg.
Meditative Acts will open to the public Thursday, July 16 from 5-8 pm in conjunction with the Spartanburg Art Walk at the Chapman Cultural Center. This exhibition marks the first in an ongoing series of exhibitions to take place at NOURISH, curated by Jenny Bonner, NOURISH Program Director.
Meanley is an Associate Professor of Painting at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She holds an MFA from Indiana University, a BFA from the University of New Hampshire, and a BA in English Literature from Mount Holyoke College. Recent exhibitions include Waters Upon the Earth at Beaux-Arts des Amériques in Montreal, Canada and Far Away, The Meadow, at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston- Salem, NC (Curated by Steven Matijicio.)
Stemming from narrative accounts composed over a series of days, Meanley’s text-based collages evade classification as story or poem, presenting us with a visual compilation of words and their fragments. Revisiting and reassembling her own private writings, through omission, repetition, and visual spacing, the product of repeated sessions of free-writing is transformed into a conglomerate of ideas, meanings, and sounds. The result is a striking portrait of the busyness and constant shifting of our own meditations, and an enchanting look at the mind of Meanley herself.
Meditative Acts will be on view at NOURISH in the Chapman Cultural Center July 16-Aug. 14, 2015, with free admission. Gallery hours are Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
About Mental Fitness
Mental Fitness Inc. (“MFI”) is a national nonprofit whose mission is to shape resilience in youth by facilitating educational and interactive programs in order to prevent mental illness and emotional distress. For almost a decade, we have collaborated with researchers in developmental psychology, epidemiology, public health and medicine to bring together (and create new) arts-based programs that improve the seven protective categories of mental fitness: self-esteem and social-emotional skills, media literacy, mindfulness, body image, stressmanagement, nourishing body & mind and community connections.
MFI has designed and implemented evidence-based arts and media programs that have shown to increase confidence in managing mental illness in the school setting, and have effectively informed students and families from all socio-economic backgrounds about the shared risk and protective factors that underlie mental illness, eating disorders, addictions and obesity.
Since inception in 2006, our programs live and online programs have reached at least 700,000 individuals worldwide. Of those, we estimate that a minimum of 2,500 individuals have sought treatment for eating disorders, addictions or other serious mental health complications. MFI’s live programs, films, seminars and Mental Fitness Inc.
About NOURISH, A Program of Mental Fitness
In 2014, Mental Fitness moved its headquarters to Spartanburg, SC at the NOURISH space in the Chapman Cultural Center. NOURISH is a program of Mental Fitness and is where we house our offices, hold some of our workshops, research projects and build community partnerships in Spartanburg. Jenny Bonner was recently appointed as Program Director for NOURISH, after her tenure as one of the 2015 HUB-BUB Artists-in- Residence (AiR). More information about NOURISH is available at NOURISHSpartanburg.com.
About Chapman Cultural Center
Chapman Cultural Center, owned and operated by The Arts Partnership of Greater Spartanburg, is a world-class destination where the people of Spartanburg County and its visitors come together to discover, experience, and celebrate the performing and visual arts, science and history. The 86,000-square foot, three-building facility held its grand opening on October 3, 2007, after an extensive fundraising campaign.
Chapman Cultural Center’s 476-seat theater is home to The Spartanburg Little Theatre, Spartanburg Youth Theatre, and Ballet Spartanburg, as well host to many local and traveling performances. Founded in 1946, Little Theatre presents a live stage production every month during the regular September-May season, including shows by Spartanburg Youth Theatre, the second oldest youth theatre in the state. Ballet Spartanburg, founded in 1966, is recognized as a regional dance company with an exceptional commitment to education and outreach activities throughout the Upstate.
Chapman Cultural Center also houses three museums. Spartanburg Art Museum (SAM) is a regional museum supporting educational programming and diverse exhibitions from international, national and regional artists. Artists’ Guild of Spartanburg, the longest established guild in South Carolina, supports a gallery in the Moseley Building. Spartanburg Regional History Museum and Spartanburg Science Center have hands-on exhibits, developed in accordance with the South Carolina Academic Standards in Social Studies and Science that attract individuals of all ages. Other “partner” agencies associated with Chapman Cultural Center are The Music Foundation of Spartanburg, The Spartanburg Repertory Company, and Carolina Foothills Artisan Center in both Chesnee and Landrum.
The Arts Partnership of Greater Spartanburg, also located in Chapman Cultural Center, provides the major funding for, as well as education through, many of Spartanburg’s arts and cultural organizations. The Arts Partnership’s education programs serve more than 40,000 public and private school students throughout Spartanburg County, with residencies by professional artists in the disciplines of music, dance, visual arts, literature, media, theatre and crafts.
Programs at Chapman Cultural Center are funded in part by the City and County of Spartanburg; the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts; and the John and Susan Bennett Memorial Arts Fund of the Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina.