View the PRESS RELEASE here.

Heard to Be Seen, Seen to Be Heard (HSSH) is a collaborative project between myself, Artist Emma Balder, and Saint Francis Apartments (SFA) residents, who are formerly homeless. With the support of a $25,000 Arts in Society grant, administered through Redline Contemporary Art Center, I facilitated three collaborative sessions with SFA residents to create artwork and dialogue that address some of the challenges faced when transitioning out of homelessness. Through community-building and self-expression, HSSH aims to re-establish participants’ inherent self-worth and recognize their value in society.

The collaborative sessions brought positive change, newfound hope, and a sense of community to SFA residents. Three sessions featuring dialogue and art-making were held at SFA in September 2024. Discussions aligned with the artistic process to address residents’ challenges and reframe their thinking. During the three sessions, they created a regenerative artwork (a painting-turned-sculpture) based on my quilted painting process. Residents collectively created two 13’ abstract paintings on canvas. They cut up the paintings, rearranged the pieces, and adhered them together in a new configuration around a 5-foot wire sculpture, resembling a boulder. I then took the sculpture back to my studio to hand-sew the pieces together over the course of 6 months.

Throughout the collaboration, residents discussed past struggles they have conquered, while addressing current issues, the emotions associated with them, and determining actions to overcome them. They shared powerful, moving stories around debilitating health issues, addiction, goals toward independence, and offered emotional and physical support to each other during these vulnerable moments. During the discussions, residents scribed their struggles on what I called “Challenge Cards”, allowing the act of writing to serve as an alternative way of processing what they’re going through. The majority of the residents verbally shared the contents of their Challenge Cards to the group. In the second session, I incorporated the blind contour drawing activity that I use regularly in my own practice; residents drew an item and each other without looking at the drawing. They created 3 drawings: the first was a drawing of the Denver Capitol, the second drawing was of an item of they chose, and the third was a drawing of their neighbor. While acting as a fun warm-up and an exercise in letting go, the activity helped build connection, bringing light and laughter to some difficult conversations.

What you see in this exhibition is a culmination of the project: the completed sculpture, the Challenge Cards, residents’ drawings, as well as photographs and video content from the sessions. The exhibiting artwork represents the barriers they have faced and how reframing difficult experiences can be an opportunity for learning, growth, and healing. 

The exhibition, Heard to be Seen, Seen to be Heard, is presented at Understudy from March 27 - April 27, 2025. The opening reception occurred on March 27, 2025, where several residents spoke about their experience. Thanks to Arts in Society, participants were compensated $20/hr for their contribution to the project, as collaborating artists. An additional way to support the participating artists is by purchasing one of their drawings, featured at the exhibit, and available online at emmabalder.com/shop/heard-to-be-seen-drawings. The majority of proceeds from each sale go directly to the individual resident.

While this project aims to address the emotional, physical, and financial barriers people face transitioning out of homelessness, it also seeks to re-establish their value within society. The intention is to help narrow the gap between vulnerable communities and society by letting their voices be heard. As I have grown to know and love these people, I encourage you to do the same. They are people after all, just like you and me.