Mission

The “Art of Daybreak” Multi-Arts Outreach Program is an innovative arts outreach program dedicated and designed to meet the specific needs and reveal the creative potential of men, women and young adults with mental illness. Through the process of creativity our program provides the opportunity to gain self esteem, experience joy, and a sense of empowerment through self-expression and a positive access to the imagination. Our mission is to eliminate stigma and encourage hope and goals through hands on involvement and exposure to all the arts. ‘The Art of Daybreak” reaches out to the underserved and unserved, homeless and /or formerly homeless men and women with mental illness.

 

Program Background

 

 

“The Art of Daybreak” began as an Artist in Residence/Outreach program which was initiated in September 1996. It was created and developed by artists/educators Joella March and Mannig Gurekian, from Side Street Projects to provide hands-on fine arts workshops to the clients of the W.I.N.D. program, previously located at the Daybreak Shelter/Center for Women in Santa Monica. (A project of OPCC, Daybreak Shelter is a residential and day program for women suffering mental illness, and who may also be homeless). Over the past eleven years many women/clients have benefited from our multi-arts outreach program.

“The Art of Daybreak” multi-arts outreach program has been extremely successful in receiving on-going community support, inkind services and donations. In 1997 and 1998, we were awarded a CO-ARTS GRANT for T.A.O.D. program from the city of Santa Monica department of cultural affairs. In 2005, we received a grant from L.A. County Dept. of Mental Health for our multi-arts program held at Daybreak Shelter. Currently (2007-08), the L.A. Dept. of Mental Health has awarded us a new grant to introduce a pilot multi-arts program at two direct run mental health centers in Hawthorne and San Pedro.

In 1997, 1999 and 2005 The Community Focus Gallery, located in Santa Monica Place, sponsored three, 3 month long exhibitions of artwork created by the participants in the “Art of Daybreak” workshops. The experience of creating and displaying their artwork in public was a new and extremely empowering event in the lives of the clients. We look forward to exhibiting at The Community Focus Gallery again in 2008.

In 1998 “The Art of Daybreak” instituted a visiting artist lecture series held at the Daybreak site. The series has been a success and provided the Daybreak clients the opportunity to experience the lives and works of an ethnically diverse group of artists, who serve as inspirational role models from the community.

In 2001 “The Art of Daybreak” expanded the visiting artist lecture series to include a concert series (involving musicians from the Los Angeles area) also held at the Daybreak site. In fall 2003 we began a partnership with UCLA World Arts and Culture Department, by adding a student internship to our program. Our interns, including Cal State Domingus Hills receive full course credit for assisting in the teaching of “Art of Daybreak” workshops.

In 2005 we expanded our resources to become a full-service arts program adding the following workshops to our curriculum: creative writing , drama / improve and dance / movement all held at the Daybreak site. These new workshops were facilitated by professionals in the fields of writing, acting, dance and choreography.

In 2007, T.A.O.D. adds a visiting poet series and music workshops to our lecture series and expands our services to Safe Haven Shelter in Santa Monica and mental health day centers in Hawthorne and San Pedro. (Safe Haven, also a project of OPCC, is a shelter for homeless men and women suffering mental illness. Hawthorne and San Pedro Mental Health Centers are DMH direct run day centers for men and women suffering mental illness). We find our multi-arts program has proven itself extremely important and vital to the population it serves.

 

Program Objectives

 

 

This outreach program meets these objectives:

• Serving the homeless, uninsured, underserved, unserved multi-racial ethnicities.

• Providing meaningful use of time and capabilities.

• Creating a network of supportive relationship through arts programming, performance /presentations and participation.

• Reduction in incarceration, increased self esteem, self awareness to progress to wellness and recovery.

• Collaboration with community to reduce stigma through public art exhibitions of client artwork.

• Cultural Competence: Facilitators, clients and programs reflect different cultural groups.

• Wellness focus, …recovery and resilience: The Arts; fine art, writing, music, theatre arts, and dance raises self esteem, problem solving, learning how to cope with living and participating in the community.

• Partnership for funds: Arts partnership with businesses, corporations, other agencies, art galleries and local newspapers, etc.

• On site classes, workshops and presentations/performances at Daybreak and Safe Haven. With future expansion to other facilities, with full data base personnel, to provide arts presenters as needed and/or requested.

Program Sites

Our past and current program site is the Cloverfield Services Center, located at 1751 Cloverfield Blvd in Santa Monica. This center houses both Daybreak Shelter and Safe Haven Shelter, projects of OPCC which exist to integrate women and men who are mentally ill into the community and addresses the basic human needs of these men and women while they are facing the crisis of homelessness and poverty. In addition, we are currently beginning pilot multi-arts programs at South Bay and San Pedro Mental Health Centers Located in L.A. County.

These Shelters and Day Centers provide a safe, accepting environment where women and men can find dignity, support and access to information they need to make decisions about their life. In addition to the clients living at Daybreak and Safe Haven, any woman in the community suffering from mental illness is eligible to become a member of the Daybreak Shelter day program, and participate in the workshops offered.

Our continuing exhibition site is the Community Focus Gallery, located in Santa Monica Place. It will provide the clients of the Daybreak and Safe Haven a public voice and presence where they can create how and what they want to express about themselves to the community. Over 2,000 people a day pass through this exhibition space.

Program Summary

The “Art of Daybreak” program offers hands on multi-arts workshops to the clients of our outreach sites. Workshops provide a rich variety of genres and multi-media, facilitating both traditional and non-traditional art forms in the visual, written and performing arts. Visits to museums and galleries will be scheduled monthly.

Continuing as a full-service multi-arts program, hands-on weekly workshops will include: Fine art, creative writing, drama / improve, dance / movement and music including songwriting and percussion. These workshops will be facilitated by educators who are also professional fine artists / writers / actors / dancer / choreographers and musicians.

Our program is designed to meet the specific needs and reveal the exceptional creative potential of our outreach clients. The curriculum will progress in a gradual non-intrusive sequence. The process of creativity gives the clients the opportunity to gain self esteem, experience joy, and a sense of empowerment through a positive access to their imagination.

The workshops will culminate in a private exhibition at the outreach site. This experience will help in preparing the clients to meet the new challenge of a public forum. They will be provided the opportunity to have a public voice by designing and creating an exhibition at a public art gallery in their community. Through this presentation of their work (public or private) the women and men will be able to share their experience and to express their personal vision as women and men, artists, and members of the community.

In addition to our Artists in Residence program, we will continue our visiting artist lecture series and concert series at the outreach sites. It will include a diverse group of fine artists from the community who will give a personal slide presentation/lecture about their artwork. Our concert series will continue to present local musicians in concert performances and our new visiting poet lecture series will feature local poets/writers in ‘spoken word’ performance. Our outreach clients, composed of women and men with many ethnic backgrounds will benefit greatly from this series, providing a personable and interactive format with creative and positive examples of women and men with multi-cultural backgrounds similar to their own.

Anti-Stigma and the Audiences Served by the Program

( Past, Present and Future )

“The Art of Daybreak” multi- arts program is designed especially for our outreach clients and will serve as an opportunity to enrich their lives. Many mentally ill women and men are facing the crisis of homelessness and poverty and would not otherwise have the chance to express themselves through the arts.

“The Art of Daybreak” client art exhibitions will create an anti-stigma message. This message will positively affect the clients/artists of our outreach sites, other individuals with mental illness, in turn their family members, and the community at large.

The community in general is an underserved audience in regards to the creative potential of those suffering mental illness and homelessness. (Ex.) Thousands of viewers pass through the exhibition at the Community Focus Gallery. It exposes the community to the artwork of these creative under spoken individuals and their particular struggle and sensibility in an honest and positive way. Also, the population of women and men that have faced, or still are facing the same struggles as the clients of Daybreak and Safe Haven and other outreach sites, will benefit from the cultural awareness strengthened by this exhibition.

Friends and family members of clients, and staff members of our various outreach sites will as well have the opportunity to share in the experience of seeing the clients involved and improving their quality of life through the benefits of creativity.

The outreach participants, artists in residence and visiting artists provide our program with a unique and rich multi-cultural heritage. (Ex.) The population of the Daybreak and Safe Haven program itself has vast multi-cultural demographic. Over 54% of the Daybreak and Safe Haven population are women and men of color. Of the remaining 46%, one-quarter are first generation immigrants from European countries.

Our visiting lecture series, held monthly will include artists and performers from throughout the Santa Monica and Los Angeles community whose cultural backgrounds reflect diversity and facilitate positive and creative role models for the shelter clients. This symbiotic relationship will also provide the visiting artists with new perspectives and real insights concerning those who have mental illness.

How to Help

The “Art of Daybreak” Multi-Arts Outreach Program has been in existence for over 11 years. With the support of the Los ANgeles County Department of Mental Health we are currently expanding our outreach program to day centers and shelters for people with mental illness through out LA County and southern California.

We are in the process of seeking financial contributions and donations to subsidize this expansion of our services. If you wish to make a tax deductible donation to “The Art of Daybreak” Multi-Arts Outreach Program, Please make all checks payable to:

Side Street Projects (SSP is our 501c3 non-profit fiscal receiver/mentor agency)

Please write in the memo section of your check:
Re: “The Art of Daybreak” Multi-Arts Outreach Program.

You can mail your donation to:
Side Street Projects
P.O. Box 90432
Pasadena, CA 91109

You can contact Side Street Projects at:
(626) 798-7774