'Vitality' art show runs through Saturday

Western Washington University’s BRAVE program will host a Vitality Art Show from Feb. 16-20 in the B Gallery inside Western's Fine Arts Building on campus.

Students and the public are welcome to come view the art pieces weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and there will be a reception in the gallery at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 18 with free food to celebrate the winners of the art show.

BRAVE, which stands for Building Resilience and Voicing Empathy, is Western Washington University’s Suicide Prevention program. BRAVE is funded by a 3-year grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Ad-ministration (SAMHSA) from the U.S. Department of Human Services (HHS).

BRAVE focuses on an upstream approach to suicide prevention. The term “upstream” refers to the act of seeking resources before a time of crisis. BRAVE connects services and people around campus and the Bellingham community to reduce the stigma regarding mental health services. BRAVE’s contributions to Western include awareness and educational campaigns, events, peer trainings, and evaluations. Vitality was chosen as a theme for the show because one of the key definitions of vitality is the capacity for survival or the continuation of a meaningful or purposeful existence.

For more information contact Farrah Greene-Palmer, Western’s Suicide Prevention Grant project manager, at Farrah.Greene-Palmer@wwu.edu or brave@wwu.edu (360) 650-7957. 

Photos by Dylan Nelson / WWU Communications and Marketing intern