CREATIVE LEAPS:
Journal for the Arts in Leadership and Interdisciplinary Learning

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Rita Project: The Arts and Suicide Prevention

"Art is a wound turned into light" - Georges Braque

Kim Strouse, right, leading a Rita Workshop in May at the Milennium High School  (Photo by Joseph Michael Lopez)

In speaking recently to Kim Strouse, Founder and Director of Rita Project in New York City, I was reminded of the benevolent side of Emily Dickinson: If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain...Sometimes, the heart you have to stop from breaking is your own. And as Strouse so deftly describes it, the healing of a heart's grief is a process nurtured by community, health, and creativity.

Rita Project is a non-profit initiative harnessing creativity to cope with grief and trauma. It is the first program of its kind to focus specifically on suicide prevention and the well-being of suicide survivors. Its two primary vehicles, Rita Studios and Rita Workshops, provide a creative supplement to grief and prevention counseling to participants in New York City and beyond.

Kim Strouse founded Rita Project two years ago after losing her sister Kristin -- a seventeen-year-old artist in her first year at Parsons School of Design -- to suicide. "Immediately, your whole world changes," Strouse remembers. "I was terrified, isolated, and confused. I felt like I was in this new life and body. Food even tasted different. Nothing made sense."

She went through the process of finding support groups, therapists, and survivor groups. But something was missing. "In my isolation I was searching and longing and wondering," she continues. "I was curious about what other survivors saw. I wanted to be with others who shared this experience in a creative way." It was a personal need for creative space and opportunity -- and her disappointment that no such space existed -- that brought Rita Project into being.

Strouse began with the creation of Rita Studios, which give participants access to space, time, and creative materials with which to express their feelings of grief -- and hopefully to also begin finding expressions of hope -- in a supportive environment. Under the supervision of certified art therapy specialists, survivors (those who have lost loved ones to suicide, or have survived their own attempt) are encouraged to create individual works of art over a six-week program cycle.

Rita Workshops, the outreach side of Rita Project, extend the work of the organization to schools, hospitals, and transitional housing programs throughout Manhattan. Working with a large and diverse population, Rita Workshops bring the creative process to prevention education and grief counseling for a wide range of issues, including homelessness, addiction, and bullying. Most recently, Rita Project has been in residence at Park East High School (Harlem) and The Millenium/Tribeca High School, as well as at Recovery Works, a transitional housing program administered through the Mental Health Association of New York City.

As Strouse sees it, the creative process provided by Rita Project combats any of those things that keep us from the joy and fruitfulness of living. The creative act becomes a celebration of life, a positive force in the face of destructive acts. "You're here," Strouse asserts ardently. "You're a person. Embrace that."

Strouse, herself an artist and actor trained at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, speaks deftly and easily about the need for creativity in the midst of grief from firsthand experience. "There's this thing inside that is so overwhelming, you can hardly put words to it. This feeling of loss, or anger, or why, or missing. You may not even know how you think, or how you feel. What happens [when you're creating art] is you really see how you're feeling, and it's so deep. It's powerful."

Strouse and her colleagues collaborate often with students who have been affected by homelessness, drug abuse, and suicide in their own lives, and who aren't normally given the chance to respond to it in a positive way. Rita Workshops presented in New York's public schools fall directly under city health curriculum guidelines; Strouse is currently drafting curriculum components that will also allow Rita Project to offer after-school events and full-day workshops, as well as programming geared specifically toward middle school students.

In Rita Project Studios and Workshops, a strong emphasis is always placed upon exhibition of the artwork that has been created. The exhibitions, Strouse explains, provide an important opportunity for witnessing, reflection, and discussion. The artwork offers a path into conversations around otherwise difficult (if not altogether taboo) subjects, strengthening the self-worth of the participants and raising awareness among their communities, friends, and loved ones.

The ultimate goal for Rita Project? Permanent space that is accessible 24 hours a day for survivors and those dealing with grief. But space, like time, is money; and as with any non-profit organization, the Rita Project's biggest need is funding. "People don't die of suicide from 9 to 5 pm," Strouse points out wryly.

"In the face of tragedy...truly you can do whatever you want." Strouse's voice becomes a gentle but convincing reminder across the telephone static. "It's a matter of opening up to the possibility."

The next Rita Project Open Studios will be held Oct 2-Nov 6 at Greenwich House Pottery in Manhattan. For more information, call (212) 414-0773 or visit www.ritaproject.org.