UnMasking: Now We Speak 

2018 UnMasking: Now We Speak

Site: ArtsBuild, 301 East 11th St.

Visual Artists:  Crissy, De’Michael McGee, Megan, R.A, Rachel, R.G., Samicallihan aka Sutaringu Rabu , Teresa Whisenant and Mycal Wingfield.

Actors: Eleanor Aiken, Kyree Brown, Jake Cash, Maureen Davis, Mary Eliza Henricks, Cole McClain, Marcus Price, Trish Ross and Arche Twitty.

Visual Arts Director: Frances McDonaldStorytelling Director: Peggy Douglas

Acting Director: Anne Swedberg

Technical Director: Philip Luckey

Media Director: Miller Blain

House Manager: Jonathan Dean 

Partners: Southern Exposure, the Hamilton County Mental Health Court-Sexual Trauma Track, Silverdale Detention Center and ArtsBuild

Description:UNMASKING: Now We Speak was a visual art, creative writing, and performance project focusing on men and women with addiction and mental health issues who are in the Hamilton County Mental Health Court Sexual Trauma Track program or have been or are now incarcerated at the Silverdale Detention Center. The participants’ visual art and stories are the result of a year-long workshop series in which they worked with storytellers, poets, and artists to tap into dark crevices and access the parts of themselves that house the pain and suffering both endured and committed. 

It was Mark Making’s hope that sharing their stories give participants an opportunity to free themselves from past experiences they see as painful and hopeless so they can create improved future stories—for them and all of us who live in Chattanooga. Art and storytelling gives us the opportunity to connect with one another and recognize that we are all more alike than we are different.