An exhibition inspired and steered by Greg Poschman
Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Thursday, 10am – 4pm & by appointment
Red Brick Center for the Arts is pleased to present Resilience, a multidisciplinary exhibit that speaks to the moment. The works presented examine resilience and the characteristics that help us endure and even thrive in the face of seemingly unsurmountable challenges. The works ask, how do we grow in the midst of hardship? At the core of this one-of-a-kind exhibit is the mystery and power of our deepest human capacity to transform ourselves and embrace the meaning of life. Viewers are asked to take a journey alongside various artistic mediums including painting, sculpture, poetry, and music examining the concept of resiliency. As we face immense challenges on a global scale, art can sooth and question how we deal and overcome with so much uncertainty. Read More ›
Contributing Artists
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Exhibition Overview
Resilience is one of the most powerful characteristics of human nature. It allows people to overcome immense adversities and rise from the experiences with a renewed sense of life. While anxiety, grief, and failure cannot be avoided in life; we can control our response to those incidents. Psychologists, social scientists, writers and others study resilience seeking to define its traits. At first identified to be innate in some humans, resilience is now understood to be a mentality that anyone can learn and adopt.
Some factors identified to improve a person’s resilience are levelheadedness, grit, ingenuity, optimism, and the ability to find meaning in the face of challenges. In Harvard Business Review, Diane Coutu outlined resilience theories and identified three predominate themes. Coutu found that resilient people “possess three characteristics: a staunch acceptance of reality; a deep belief, often buttressed by strongly held values, that life is meaningful; and an uncanny ability to improvise.”
In addition to a developed inner mindset, Christina King, founder of Aspen Strong, points out that connecting with others is essential to building resilience. King states that “relationships help us build the capacity for self-regulation and empathy. When we are challenged by adversity, it is our connections to others that allow stress to become tolerable and manageable. Otherwise stress might become toxic and affect our mental and physical health. We rely on our connections with others just as Aspen trees rely on their root system connections which create one of the most incredible ecosystems on our planet.”
Developing and practicing emotional intelligence benefits not just oneself but also strengthens the binds between us. As individuals and as a community, we can accept that there will be challenges and know that we have the ability to thrive.
Pitkin County Commissioner Greg Poschman helped steer the concept for this exhibition. He has been an advocate for mental health in the community, advocating and instigating programs for resilience training, mental health first aid, and expanded mental health facilities, all designed to improve the mental health of the Roaring Fork Valley populace. Poschman states, “I believe in the power of art to effect cultural change. I also believe that art, at its best, reflects the sentiments of the community in which it is produced. I’d like to see this art exhibit contribute to the awareness of mental health issues in our community and provide us with some of the tools for healing and building resilience. Art works. So, let’s put it to work! Make beautiful, powerful art!”