Join the Southern Vermont Arts Center for the opening reception for More Than Meets the Eye, a suite of exhibitions addressing important and topical issues. This exhibition will be the first winter exhibition offered in Yester House in many years and the first that offers a thematic suite of exhibitions that branches out to include artists beyond the organization’s artist member base.

The I Am More: Facing Stigma photography exhibition, created and sponsored by the Yellow Tulip Project, features black and white portraits of people who are dealing with mental health challenges personally or through the experiences of family or friends. The individuals–musicians, artists, nature lovers, parents, and more–are dedicated to challenging assumptions and stigma around mental illness and what mental illness “looks like.”

The FortySeven Main Street Artists demonstrate the inspirational power of abstract self expression in paint. Renowned photographer Gisela Gamper documents her personal journey of love and mourning. Bennington College Visiting Professor Terry Boddie takes a complex approach to the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade. Nationally recognized photographer Carl Austin Hyatt shows portraits made from two decades of travels in the Andes of Peru. In mixed media portraits, students from area schools present themselves as they want to be seen.

These artists are responding to related but distinct themes: “art that heals,” “personal narrative,” “I am more than meets the eye,” or “art as asocial message.” The exhibition will empower members of our community to speak up about a range of critical issues.

I Am More: Facing Stigma is organized by The Yellow Tulip Project, Portland, Maine. All photographs ©️ Lissy Thomas Photography.