The Art That Gets Us Through Opening Reception

ClearStory Arts and the Chattanooga Depression Care Collective are partnering for The Art That Gets Us Through — a fall exhibition exploring the relationship between creativity and mental health, expression and healing, the personal and the communal.

This show creates space for dialogue around mental health while celebrating the power of art to carry us through. It brings together artists, healers, and the wider community in a shared space of connection, support, and reflection.

At the heart of this show is the belief that creativity serves the life within us. It is part of what brings us back to life. Through expression, we can come to understand ourselves more deeply — and glimpse the truth, struggle, or strength in others as well. Creativity connects inner and outer worlds, the invisible to the visible.

We use "the pit" as a metaphor for the lived experience of depression — whether it's acute or chronic, clinical or circumstantial. Use the word that best fits for you, whether or not “depression” is the right word - it could be anxiety, the spiral, disconnection, among a host of other names. The pit can be the place where we lose our sense of direction, identity, or worth. It might be a quiet numbness, a loud chaos, or a long stretch of survival. For some, it's a recurring descent. For others, it's a single, defining collapse. However it shows up, this exhibition honors the creative work that emerges in relationship to those moments — not to glamorize suffering, but to give space to the wisdom, beauty, or truth that can grow from it.

📆 Exhibition Dates: October 3rd - November 1st, 2025
Opening Reception: Friday, October 3, 2025 | 6:00 – 8:00 PM ET
Artist Workshop Day: Saturday, October 4, 2025 | 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM ET
Reconnection Series Workshops: Saturday, October 18, 2025 | 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM ET
Closing Reception: Saturday, November 1, 2025 | 4:00-6:00 PM
Join us in celebrating the way creativity brings us back to life.