AMP: Artists' Meeting Place and Resource Collective

from Franklin Furnace

Call for Submissions
Finding Paradise: A Black Mental Health Anthology
Issued April 1, 2022
Submissions due May 1, 2022
Send materials to paige.phillips@muralarts.org.

About the Black Paradise Project
The Black Paradise Project is a collaboration between Mural Arts Philadelphia and the city's Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services. The mission of the project is to help mitigate the racial trauma and mental health issues that Black people often develop as the result of racism by providing opportunities for Black people to engage in joy-based activities and self-care. To learn more about the Black Paradise Project, including our upcoming joy-based events, please visit
www.blackparadiseproject.com.

Call for Art & Writing Submissions
In an effort to combat stigma about mental illness within Black communities and to provide visibility to the mental health experiences of Black people, the Black Paradise Project invites Black-identifying individuals to submit visual art and writing that explores issues and experiences related to Black mental health.

We welcome submissions of all mediums, including visual art, essays, poetry, short stories, and other creative mediums. Submissions may be published in Finding Paradise: A Black Mental Health Anthology or used as inspiration for a mural in Philadelphia. Finding Paradise: A Black Mental Health Anthology may be published in print and digital forms. Both established and emerging artists are encouraged to apply.

Offering Prompts
Below are several prompts for applicants to consider. These prompts are offerings and applicants are not required to address all or any of these questions. However, we provide these prompts to support applicants in considering avenues through which they can reflect on the theme of Black mental health.
How has mental health and mental illness been present in your life, the lives of your loved ones, and/or the lives of your community members?
What lessons or forms of truth have you encountered as a result of experiencing a challenge related to mental health?
What does it feel like to be Black and to identify as a person with depression, anxiety, or another mental health condition?
What has your path to healing looked like?
What words or messages would you want other Black people who struggle with mental health challenges to hear?
What does freedom look like for Black people who experience mental health challenges?
Submissions
Submitted work can include visual art – paintings, drawings, photography, mixed media, digital, printmaking, installations, ceramics, fabric, jewelry, sculpture, and other 2- and 3-dimensional media – and written art – poetry, essays, short stories, and other written explorations (up to 2,500 words).
Visual art submissions should be sent in .jpg, .png, or .pdf format.
All submissions must be original creations made by the applicant.
Applicants have the option of having their work published anonymously in the collection, if their submission is chosen.
If an applicant’s submission is chosen to be featured in the collection, we will not request proprietary ownership. Therefore, applicants are free to submit their submission to other publications.
Approximately 15 total submissions will be chosen for the collection.
When sending your submission, please provide the following:
Contact information
Name, address, email address and phone number
Caption information for submitted images, including:
Artist name, title, year, medium
A short bio that is 150 words or less
Applicants who would like to publish anonymously need not provide a bio Compensation
$50 compensation for chosen submissions
Please send submissions by May 1, 2022 to paige.phillips@muralarts.org