Mental Health Project Seeks Local Feedback in Highlighting Region’s History

FRAMINGHAM - The National Museum of Mental Health Project is seeking feedback from MetroWest residents in their attempt to highlight the region’s contributions to mental health advancements.

The nonprofit group aims to strengthen the understanding of mental health through art and culture. Their goal is to bring resources directly to people as a “distributed museum” without a set location, according to Co-Developer Paul Piwko.

The group refers to the MetroWest and central Massachusetts areas, along with northern Rhode Island, as “America’s Mental Health and Wellness Corridor.” Piwko explained that the contributions and innovation from those in the area over the course of the last few centuries, such as Framingham resident Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller’s research into dementia, Jon Kabat-Zinn’s emphasis on mindfulness, and aspects such as the region’s geography have all combined to create a “unique” story—one that the museum is looking to highlight.

“(It’s) an effort to lift up this history,” Piwko said in an interview with The Frame, “to deepen a culture of mental health in the here and now...Somehow, this geography got good at trying to figure out a way to keep our wits about us from a mental health standpoint.”

Piwko mentioned that these efforts have been supported by the Smithsonian Institution, as their book “Places of Invention” has been referred to as a guide for the project’s efforts across New England.

The team with the National Museum of Mental Health Project are looking to see if there are any other ideas for the area’s name.

“What we’re hoping for is responses to this name survey that will help us understand possibilities of names that might come off the tongue a little bit better than ‘America’s Mental Health and Wellness Corridor,’” Piwko continued.

The Danforth Art Museum is involved with the project, thanks in part to their connection with the Fuller family; the museum displays a wide collection of the art created by Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller, the wife of Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller.

Collections Director for the Danforth Art Museum Rachel Passannante believes that art and other creative outlets are pivotal ways to add to the story of local mental health developments.

“You don’t have to be an art expert, you don’t have to have taken art history during high school or college to really understand when an art piece connects to you or when you have some kind of emotional response to art,” Passannante explained.

Passannante added that the Danforth Museum’s origins as a community-based institution connects with the National Museum of Mental Health Project’s work in the present day towards providing accessible information.

Responses to the National Museum of Mental Health Project’s survey are due by the end of March. The survey can be found by clicking here.