THE YES GALLERY (YOUTH EMPOWERMENT SERIES)
The Arts and Integrative Medicine Program (AIM) at Montefiore Einstein sponsors and facilitates the Youth Empowerment Series (YES) in the Child Outpatient Psychiatry Department. AIM and YES were founded by and are directed by psychologist and professional dancer, Dr. Jenny Seham, whose mission of community arts engagement aligns with that of the Montefiore Einstein Fine Art Program and Collection. YES Art and the YES Gallery are collaborations between AIM and the Fine Art Program and Collection
The YES Gallery is dedicated to providing arts access in our community and to sharing the art of our community with the world.
If you wish to help our work with out-patient psychiatry patients and art please consider donating below:
CURRENT EXHIBITION
VR Youth Art Exhibition: The Feasibility and Acceptability of VR Art for Youth in Psychiatry Outpatient Treatment
Imagine being teleported to a space station where you can sit at the edge of the world and paint the sky!
Or, landing in a friendly dog park, strolling around eating virtual ice cream, petting a four-legged friend and creating artwork inspired by your virtual adventure. Eight teens did all that and more, coming together for nine weeks in the first Montefiore Virtual Reality Art experience at the Child Outpatient Psychiatry Division.
These 8 pioneers created virtual art and participated in a research study designed to test the safety and feasibility of VR art for our teen community. Experimenting with different brush strokes, new environments, and the complexities of virtual art making, our teen artists were asked to report on their VR experiences, including whether the headsets and virtual world engagement caused any discomfort or illness.
Our clinical research team was joined by professional, abstract artist, Vicky Barranguet and technical consultants at The Glimpse Group to provide the highest level of support for artistic expression and technology learning and experience.
We are excited to deliver our YES Gallery VR Art exhibition and the first report on this collaborative project. We invite you to join us in the experience as we consider our next steps in developing programming and applications of technology to benefit the mental health of our community.
Directors of the AIM VR Art Project
Olivia Davis, Curator, Fine Art Program and Collection at Montefiore/Einstein
Jenny Seham, PhD, Director, Arts and Integrative Medicine (AIM) in Psychiatry at Montefiore/Einstein
What Kids Are Saying
“...A lot of... kids obviously, (are not) able to have these experiences that improve their mental health... It showed me that it really helped with my mental health. And if that helped my mental health with the little time I spent in it, I feel like that could help a lot of people with their mental health even more.”
— Child Participant
I definitely feel like other people would benefit from doing it too. It was a break from anxiety and depression. It was like a whole other world to just play around in.”
— Child Participant
“I think it's something that could definitely be done again with more groups. I found this just a lot of fun and good for me.
— Child Participant
"I feel like it definitely improved my mental health - or at least helped me manage it better.
— Child Participant
