FFOYA House hosts DVAM17 Art+Lit+Music event Oct. 13 to benefit BRASS

Contact: ffoyahouse@gmail.com or 602-615-0465

    FFOYA House will showcase the art and writing of domestic violence survivors as well as the work of local artists, writers and musicians for its second-annual Domestic Violence Awareness Month show to benefit the Barren River Area Safe Space shelter on Friday, Oct. 13.
    The show kicks off at 5 p.m. with the BG Gallery Hop art show, followed by a poetry/prose reading at 6:30 p.m. Two bands, Wet-Eyed Liars from Bowling Green and Chew from Atlanta, will perform on the FFOYA House porch at 8 p.m. The event is open to all ages and free to attend with donations of non-perishable food and personal care items for BRASS collected at the door.
    The show is part of a joint project between FFOYA House, BRASS and Hope Harbor Inc. to raise awareness about both domestic violence and sexual assault and provide artistic outlets to survivors. The project, funded by an Art Meets Activism grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women, includes a series of art and writing workshops provided by FFOYA House for clients of both organizations. Self-portraits, murals, poetry and prose produced during the workshops will be shared in the gallery, during the literature reading and in a printed zine that will be distributed at the show.
    "Continuing our partnership with the FFOYA House is an exciting venture for BRASS that can lead down a path for more alternative therapy styles,” Tori Henninger, the executive director of BRASS, said about the workshops that will continue into 2018. “Creating opportunities for artistic style therapy for the victims of domestic violence that we serve allows our agency to assist in coping styles that help people heal in different ways."
   FFOYA House co-founder and Western Kentucky University Professor Amanda J. Crawford is the lead artist on the project and taught joint writing-art workshops this fall with well-known local visual artists Courtney Davis, of Ingen Art Studio, and Chloe Lee. Crawford, a creative nonfiction writer, is also a survivor herself.
    “Artistic expression is empowering both for survivors and the community,” Crawford said. “Through the arts, we can learn from each others’ experiences while coming together to raise awareness about an issue that impacts too many of our neighbors.”
 
About FFOYA House: FFOYA House is a non-profit community arts venue and social justice collective located in a century-old Victorian across from the Warren County Jail in Bowling Green, Kentucky. FFOYA House believes in “art as a voice” and aims to connect working class artists and creative people with community causes and sustainable living practices. Learn more at www.ffoyahouse.com.
 
About BRASS: The Barren River Area Safe Space, Inc. is a regional domestic violence 26-bed shelter and program founded in 1980 to serve the community’s need to provide emergency shelter and support services to victims of domestic violence and their children. BRASS provides services to residents of the 10-county Barren River Area Development District: Allen, Barren, Butler, Edmonson, Hart, Logan, Metcalfe, Monroe, Simpson and Warren. For more information, visit:  www.barrenriverareasafespace.com or www.facebook.com/barrenriverareasafespaceinc.

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