The artist, who struggles with bipolar disorder, is promoting the exhibition to benefit the National Alliance on Mental Illness

Sarasota, Fla. – The National Alliance on Mental Illness is highlighting the struggle of mental health through 40 self-portraits at the Sarasota Art Museum.

Background Story:

As Alison Bushman stopped by the Sarasota and Manatee Counties Department of Mental Illness (NAMI) headquarters, she had a dilemma about where Joanna Barnett’s work should be displayed.

“Of course it had to be NAMI. The NAMI journal in California was the first to publish her work a year after her death.” Bushman explained.

Barnett was her mother’s first cousin who died in 1994 at the age of 49. Her work remained with her family. Bushman became its patron in 2006. Her work included art and journalism.

“It was really important to me to make sure I protected it,” Bushman said. “When she was alive, it was very important for her to keep her work together.”

This work is a collection called “Self-portraits in 40 days”.

“The whole premise of the project is 40 self-portraits in 40 days of the life of an individual struggling with bipolar disorder,” Bushman explained.

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The collection has been shared with the public many times. After moving from Cincinnati to Sarasota, Bushman realized that Barnett’s work was now at home. Barnett grew up in Orlando and attended the Ringling School of the Arts. This was the first step to finding a permanent home for the collection.

Bushman contacted NAMI last year. One of her requests, before donating, was to keep the entire collection together.

“It can really help them,” Bushman said. “If it helps them raise money, raise awareness, increase empathy, then it seems like a perfect fit.”

That’s exactly what the collection will be doing at NAMI’s launch of their second annual Arts and Minds fundraising event on March 25 at the Sarasota Art Museum.

“This will be an opportunity to share this collection, a little more about what NAMI does and the programs we offer. All of the programs we offer in the community are free to participants,” said Colleen Thayer, CEO of NAMI Sarasota & Manatee Counties.

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Dig deeper:

NAMI’s programs include meals, art classes, exercise and other programs designed to help combat mental health issues.

“Living with a severe and persistent mental illness can be very isolating, and our goal is to really expose people to a lot of different things in the community,” Thayer said.

What they say:

Both Thayer and Bushman say the biggest impact of the collection is painting a picture of what the struggle with mental illness looks like.

“The most important thing that Joanna has done with this collection is to show you how one day you can be full of optimism and pride in your work, and the next day you can be in complete despair,” Bushman said. “When those of us who haven’t fought that war ourselves can get a glimpse of what that must feel like, I think we all become more sympathetic.”

Bushman hoped Barnett could see the impact of her art.

“I guess I’ll just start by saying, I hope you’re proud. I hope you feel good knowing how much your work has affected other people, knowing that you’ve left this work to live on for years and years,” Bushman said. “I mean, really, it’s not like we can all ask for that time when we’re gone.”

What’s next:

Tickets for the Art and Mind event are $100. This includes 90 minutes of access to the Sarasota Art Museum before the event begins. There will also be ballet and musical performances.

Sarasota Mental Health