I Still Matter offers various programs that are all focused on mental and emotional wellness.

Healing Art Groups | Inside Out Art Exhibit | Creative Opportunities for Artists | Speakers Bureau | Art Workshops

Monthly Healing Art Groups

Our Free Healing Art groups are rooted in SAMHSA’s 8-Dimensions of Wellness and provide a strengths-based, peer-supported approach to wellness. Our free community support groups explore issues of stress, anxiety, depression, self-esteem, fear, and self-care. Groups teach and encourage mindfulness and help initiate healing through self-exploration and awareness using expressive art. Groups are offered to both women and men (15 and above) living with mental illness, struggling with issues of grief and loss, and all who need to be reminded that they still matter.

At the beginning and end of each session, individuals complete a “Feeling Flower” which allows participants to identify emotions and practice mindfulness and relaxation throughout the art process. Our Healing Art groups help foster trust and a sense of community. You may view our current group schedule by checking out the Upcoming Events section.

Inside Out Multi-Media Art Exhibit

Inside Out is Jacksonville’s largest multi-media art project created to help minimize the stigma surrounding mental illness. Over 70 individuals in and around Jacksonville have contributed and continue to contribute to the project. Each canvas is 12 x 12 and is a visual representation of each artist’s view of their own diagnosis. Family members who have experienced tragic loss due to their loved one’s mental illness have also contributed.

Creative Opportunities for Artists

We strive to provide unique opportunities for healing in the form of self-expression for individuals living with mental illness. Since 2015 we’ve partnered with organizations in the community to create a healthy dialogue about mental health through art. Telling your story through art can be a powerful and moving experience for the maker and for the viewer!

Organizations with whom we have partnered:

• The 5 & Dime Theatre Company
• Yellow House
• Baptist Health
• Main Library, Downtown Jacksonville
• The Jacksonville Jewish Center
• OCD Jacksonville
• MHA Jacksonville

If you are an artist, creator, maker or creative thinker and would like to be informed of future opportunities email us at [email protected]

I Still Matter “Storytellers” Bureau 

Advocating for mental health through our stories. Contact ISM if interested in bringing a speaker to your school, religious organization, or community.

Multi-Media Art Workshops Our art workshops cater to a variety of audiences and have a flexible curriculum. They are developed to encourage self-reflection, self-expression, and model what it’s like to be in the “present moment”, thus decreasing harmful effects of stress and anxiety. Participants connect with their inner artist by using various art mediums and are coached through the process, thus building creative confidence and pride in their completed works of art. Our art workshops encourage members to find their voice through artful expression.

Who would benefit from an art workshop?

• Employers
• Churches
• Organizational Boards
• Veterans
• Community groups