Kings County Hospital Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., recently began a very unique outreach strategy designed to combat the stigma surrounding mental health and psychiatric hospitals. Through its newest partnership with Dutch arts-residence program Beautiful Distress Foundation, and additional help from New York-based non-profit Residency Unlimited, Dutch artists have taken residency in the hospital’s Behavioral Health Center, where they serve as both mentors and participants in the hospital’s progressive art therapy programs. This program began last year and is currently hosting its second artist-in-residence, Aldo van den Broek, an Amsterdam-native and painter who has spent much of his career based in Berlin.
Article on www.worldpolicy.org by By Alyssa Stein
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Aldo van den Broek was selected to participate in the Beautiful Distress residency project with support from Residency Unlimited. Beautiful Distress is a Dutch initiative that uses art in an attempt to open up the world of psychiatry and battle the stigma attached to mental illness. In 2014, Beautiful Distress expanded to New York in partnership with King's County Hospital Center (Brooklyn) During his 3 months residency Aldo van den Broek will work in the Recovery and Well Being Unit at KCHC as well as benefit from RU's customised support.
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An interview with the photographer, Annaleen Louwes who spent almost three months as an artist in residence in Kings County Hospital Center in Brooklyn, New York at the invitation from Beautiful Distress. Now back in Amsterdam she is exploring how she will present the work she made there and share her reflections about the experience.
By Sjifra Herschberg
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KCHC and Behavioral Health Senior Administration welcomed Annaleen Louwes, Artist in Residence from the Beautiful Distress Foundation on October 3rd.
Article in Behavioral Health
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On Tuesday, October 21, the launch of groundbreaking project Beautiful Distress takes place, from 6 to 9 pm at the Society of Illustrators. Based on a long running project in the Netherlands, The Beautiful Distress Foundation and Het Vijfde Seizoen (the Fifth Season) invite prominent artists to live and work in the Behavioral Health Center of Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, NY, for several months. The first to do so will be artist and photographer Annaleen Louwes.
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Presentation about groundbreaking project Beautiful Distress. Based on a long running project in the Netherlands, 't Vijfde Seizoen, The Beautiful Distress Foundation invites prominent artists to live and work in the Behavioral Health Center of Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, NY, for several months. By absorbing and interpreting the realities of this world in their artwork, the Beautiful Distress Foundation seeks to lessen the stigma of mental illness.
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