SEYMOUR, Ind. – The Arts for Youth Project, launched in September at the Healthy Jackson County Mental Health Fest in Seymour, is an ongoing collaboration with Indiana University’s Center for Rural Engagement, the School of Social Work, and several Healthy Jackson County Coalition partner organizations.
The project aims to develop an art-based kit to promote adolescent mental health across Indiana and expand access to evidence-based art therapy activities and tangible art supplies to middle school youth in Jackson County, and surrounding areas to address the youth mental health crisis.
The Arts for Youth Book is available in Spanish and English and is designed as a therapeutic guidebook to improve well-being through arts-based exercises infused with education, art, and play therapy practices, and other wellness resources.
The art kit and book, valued at over $100 each, is being provided free to roughly 2,000 youth in Jackson County and nearby areas over the coming months through Healthy Jackson County coalition partners like local schools, pediatric clinics, after-school providers, and faith communities. The book is designed for ages 11-14 and can be used individually or with support from adult family members, counselors, clinicians, or teachers.
The project was inspired by the Indiana University Center for Rural Engagement’s Creative Arts for Vets (CAV) initiative, a collaboration with the Eskenazi Museum of Art and IU School of Social Work, which distributes therapeutic workbooks of art to veterans nationwide. Todd Burkhardt, the center’s director of campus partnerships, led the development of the CAV Book and provided guidance and support for the Arts for Youth Book.
Developed with input from IU School of Social Work associate professor John Keesler, the book aims to address the emotional impact of challenges teens face, including social media pressure, bullying, body image, gender identity and sexuality, relationships, and mental health.
The Arts for Youth and Mental Health Fest were made possible through generous funding from the Jackson County Health Department, Schneck Medical Center, Schneck Foundation, Su Casa Indiana, Dickson’s Printing, the former Mental Health America Jackson County suicide prevention initiative, Jackson County Community Foundation, IN Department of Health, Indiana Arts Commission Region 9 and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Anyone interested in learning more about this project or how to obtain a copy can contact HealthyJacksonCounty@
