Inside Our Minds works to elevate the voices of people with lived experience of mental illness and madness in Pittsburgh.
06/14/2021
For our Summer Mental Health Cafe, we are moving to a biweekly (every other week) schedule, to let our amazing facilitators rest after going hard the past year+. Join us every other Tuesday via Zoom, same time of 5:00 - 7:00pm. 🥳
[ID: Advertisement for Summer Mental Health Cafe featuring a cup of coffee surrounded by paint splashes of various colors. "Tuesdays. June 15th, 29th. July 12th, 27th. August 10th, 24th. 5:00 - 7:00pm EST. Virtual via Zoom. AI-generated closed captioning is available at each Cafe. Message Inside Our Minds for Zoom access or with any questions."]
06/09/2021
Thank you all for a great MAD May! We are currently getting ready to take a long overdue break here at Inside Our Minds, but in the immediacy we have some awesome art opportunities coming up on the horizon, as well as the continuation of our virtual mutual aid support group, Mental Health Cafe (summer schedule coming later this week).
We are now accepting submissions for the third issue of our zine, Yinz Mad? Radical Mental Health in Pittsburgh! We will be taking submissions in conjunction with our digital collage website, The Jacket, which features writing and artwork from people with lived experience. You can submit to both or either projects here: https://insideourminds.art/submit/. The Jacket will be an ongoing project without a deadline, but zine submissions are rolling, based on limited capacity, until Sunday, June 20th at 11:59pm EST.
Submit To submit to The Jacket, please fill out the embedded form below or visit our Google Form in your web browser. Skip back to main navigation
05/19/2021
Save the date for the upcoming “Show+Tell” event on May 31st, hosted by activist/artist/storyteller Nicole Gallagher of !
[Image description: Post-it note stuck on the community flyerboard. Text reads “Save the date! Show & Tell: story-sharing, community care, MAD May Grand Finale. Reflect and Process. May 31st at 7pm est.”]
How time does fly! 🦆
MAD May is already half over, but we’ve got so much more radical programing to come in the next two week, AND a final culminating “Show+Tell” event on May 31st.
Hosted by activist/artist/storyteller Nicole Gallagher of , the workshop with provide an opportunity to discuss the month, process, and look forward with some of our artists and community members like you! More info TBA very very soon…
[Image description: Post-it note stuck on the community flyerboard. Text reads “Save the date! Show & Tell: story-sharing, community care, MAD May Grand Finale. Reflect and Process. May 31st at 7pm est.”]
05/10/2021
This coming Saturday the 15th from 2:00-3:30pm - “Radical Mental Health and Pathology: Many Paths, Many Voices, Holding Our Truths" with Sara Tang!
Pathology smathology! It’s time to rethink and restructure our relationship to the medical aspects of mental health through MAD May’s Pathology Week, aka even more radical and educational content, culminating in “Radical Mental Health and Pathology: Many Paths, Many Voices, Holding Our Truths.”
Join artist-educator Sara Tang(she/they) of the as together we push back on the medical industrial complex’s definition of mental health and mental illness and discover some of the oppressive roots of pathology. We will offer alternatives to pathologizing mental health experiences and engage with some art-making and poetry-writing prompts to practice a new ritual of pathology alchemy.
Expect optional interactive opportunities for art-making and discussion, but no pressure to participate. There may be content about mental health issues and experiences sensitive for some, content warnings will be provided.
*register at folklab.net/madmay
[Image description: Text reads: “Radical Mental Health and Pathology: Many Paths, Many Voices, Holding Our Truths. Excavating, decolonizing, and transfiguring our understanding of pathologies through discussion, art, and poetry. Workshop with Sara Tang of the . May 15th at 2PM EST. Free! Register at folklab.net/madmay”]
Pathology smathology!
It’s time to rethink and restructure our relationship to the medical aspects of mental health through MAD May’s Pathology Week, aka even more radical and educational content, culminating in “Radical Mental Health and Pathology: Many Paths, Many Voices, Holding Our Truths.”
Join artist-educator Sara Tang(she/they) of the as together we push back on the medical industrial complex’s definition of mental health and mental illness and discover some of the oppressive roots of pathology. We will offer alternatives to pathologizing mental health experiences and engage with some art-making and poetry-writing prompts to practice a new ritual of pathology alchemy.
Expect optional interactive opportunities for art-making and discussion, but no pressure to participate. There may be content about mental health issues and experiences sensitive for some, content warnings will be provided.
*register at folklab.net/madmay
[Image description: Text reads: “Radical Mental Health and Pathology: Many Paths, Many Voices, Holding Our Truths. Excavating, decolonizing, and transfiguring our understanding of pathologies through discussion, art, and poetry. Workshop with Sara Tang of the . May 15th at 2PM EST. Free! Register at folklab.net/madmay”]
🎨:
🤝: @ notwhitecollective
04/17/2021
Super excited to share more information about this collab soon!
As we move from April showers to May flowers, folkLAB is blooming a new project… We are excited to announce MAD May, a full month of free programming and digital content centering radical mental health. All through the month of May folkLAB is partnering with Inside Our Minds to meld mental health, individual and community care, and creativity through a radical lens.
We are creating and curating interactive artmaking and education opportunities that will explore a different mental health theme each week.
Join us every Saturday in May for free workshops led by exciting special guests from the Pittsburgh community.
We’re just MAD for radical mental health! Check out our website https://www.folklab.net/madmay and stay tuned here for more information and upcoming announcements.
, workshop registration opens Monday, April 19th.
[image description in comments]
04/14/2021
OPEN CALL FOR ART! Folklab and Inside Our Minds are teaming up on a series of artmaking and exhibition opportunities for May 2021!
We are looking for works of art that can be displayed digitally and explore one or more of the following themes related to mental health:
Radical/Anti-Oppressive Mental Health
Mental Health History
Mental Health Pathology
Mental Health Care
Mental Health Identity
Open to visual art, photography, video and film, poetry and prose, music, dance, new media and any artists who think they can translate their work to the digital space (we can probably help with that, if needed!).
We are committed to prioritizing underrepresented artists and narratives, and especially encourage Black, Indigenous, POC, q***r, trans, GNC, disabled, neurodivergent, mad, and low-income artists to apply.
Stipends available.
Submit a short proposal for a new piece you want to create or tell us about something you’ve already made that you think fits the bill by e-mailing folklab.series@gmail.com with the subject line “Art Submission May 2021”
[image description: a turquoise backdrop with dark green text that reads “CALL FOR ART inspired by radical & anti-oppressive mental health... stipends available”]
OPEN CALL FOR ART! folkLAB and Inside Our Minds are teaming up on a series of artmaking and exhibition opportunities for May 2021!
We are looking for works of art that can be displayed digitally and explore one or more of the following themes related to mental health:
Radical/Anti-Oppressive Mental Health
Mental Health History
Mental Health Pathology
Mental Health Care
Mental Health Identity
Open to visual art, photography, video and film, poetry and prose, music, dance, new media and any artists who think they can translate their work to the digital space (we can probably help with that, if needed!).
We are committed to prioritizing underrepresented artists and narratives, and especially encourage Black, Indigenous, POC, q***r, trans, GNC, disabled, neurodivergent, mad, and low-income artists to apply
Stipends available.
Submit a short proposal for a new piece you want to create or tell us about something you’ve already made that you think fits the bill by e-mailing folklab.series@gmail.com with the subject line “Art Submission May 2021”
[image description: a turquoise backdrop with dark green text that reads “CALL FOR ART inspired by radical & anti-oppressive mental health... stipends available”]
03/05/2021
Sadapalooza is this Saturday! (Or is it this Sadurday...?) A huge thanks to Folklab for supporting our free to the community radical mental health programming with this event! Tickets still available at https://givebutter.com/sadapalooza2021
By Nick Eustis Pittsburgh Current Contributing Writer info@pittsburghcurrent.com The COVID-19 pandemic has made clear many...
02/02/2021
If you miss seeing us in-person at zine fairs, there is still a way to get our most recent issue of Yinz Mad? - by mail! We have a limited amount of funding to send out free copies to those in the Southwestern PA area.
Thank you for your interest in a print version of our zine, Yinz Mad? Radical Mental Health in Pittsburgh. We are now able to mail out copies of our zine twice a month to Southwestern PA area individuals. If you are outside of this area, send us a message at insidemindspgh@gmail.com. We have a limit...
12/08/2020
[Image from the Abolitionist Law Center, featuring two photographs of an individual holding up an affidavit, obscuring their face. Black text on a yellow background: “Last Thursday, community members incarcerated at Allegheny County Jail did not receive their morning medication, as required by law to support their mental and physical conditions. Thirteen community members have signed this affidavit and asked us to publish this, calling attention to the ongoing constitutional violations of prisoners’ rights to adequate medical and mental healthcare. To learn more about ALC’s movement work to support survivors of state violence in PGH + recent lawsuits filed against ACJ visit: alcenter.org/blog”]
[PICTURED: Incarcerated community member holds up affidavit signed by 13 people confined at ACJ. They were not given their morning medication last Thurs, Dec 3 2020.] Since April, we've filed three major lawsuits against : a living nightmare where 'ers, pregnant women, elders, people living w/ chronic illness, psychiatric and more are subjected to incredible risk of COVID-19, endure brutal forms of torture in the form of solitary confinement, stun guns, stun shields, restrain chairs, and denied food, H2O, medication. To learn more about our ongoing organizing and litigation re: ACJ, visit: alcenter.org/blog and check out Court Watch ALC.
12/05/2020
New York City receives 200,000 mental health-related 911 calls each year. In addition to the Emergency Medical Technicians who respond ...
Collective member Micah Shelton recently wrote a blog reviewing Lauren's book of poetry, What’s Hanging on the Hush, which you can read here: http://insideourminds.org/lauren-russell-poetry/
Workshop with poet and author Lauren Russell on how poetry can be used as a tool for creating your own mental health narrative.
11/03/2020
Disability Rights Pennsylvania’s hotlines will be open today for calls.
Important numbers to protect your vote:
For disability-related voting issues or questions, call DRP at 1-800-692-7443.
Election Protection: 1-866-687-8683.
We won't lie to you: many people are frightened about the election tomorrow. If you would like assistance throughout the day, our phone lines will be open from 7 AM EST until 8 PM EST. Call: 1.800.692.7443. You can also call election protection at 1.866.OURVOTE.
ID: Illustration of a smiling young Black man with shoulder-length dreadlocks. Text says “Walter Wallace Jr.” and “Black Disabled Lives Matter”
10/19/2020
Today is the last day to register to vote in the general election!
You can register to vote at Register.VotesPA.com or check your registration status at VotesPA.com/Status
🚨TODAY is the last day to register to vote in Pennsylvania! Today is the deadline! Make sure you have everything arranged to have your voice heard!
Visit VotesPA.com now!
[image: register to vote in Red, White and Blue. Graphic by VotersWithDisabilities.org]
09/28/2020
Monday, October 5th on Zoom. Join Court Watch ALC • Dannielle Brown, Mother of Marquis Jaylen Brown • Dr. Raymond Logan (Logan Consulting Associates) • Alyssa Cypher (Inside Our Minds) • Julius Boatwright (Steel Smiling) for "Community Care Without Cops: Peer to Peer Mental Health Support + Alternatives to Calling the Police"
More details in FB event + Registration Form: bit.ly/CommunityCareWithoutCops
ONE WEEK OUT! facebook.com/events/798274567380264
REGISTRATION: bit.ly/CommunityCareWithoutCops
OCT 5 - 6PM - LIVE ON ZOOM. JOIN Court Watch ALC • Dannielle Brown, Mother of Marquis Jaylen Brown • Dr. Raymond Logan (Logan Consulting Associates) • Alyssa Cypher (Inside Our Minds) • Julius Boatwright (Steel Smiling) for "Community Care Without Cops: Peer to Peer Mental Health Support + Alternatives to Calling the Police"
More details in FB event + Registration Form: bit.ly/CommunityCareWithoutCops
09/15/2020
Class action lawsuit filed against Allegheny County regarding the failed mental health care system at the Allegheny County Jail
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Inside Our Minds is a peer-controlled, radical mental health organization that works to elevate the voices of people with lived experience of mental illness, madness, and other conceptualizations of mental health. We define radical mental health as a dynamic and innovative term that describes how individuals and groups are finding new ways to understand and conceptualize mental health. Radical mental health supports more inclusive and social justice-driven perspectives on mental health, prioritizing the voices of people with lived experience as educators and experts. Inside Our Minds serves the Pittsburgh region through subsidized, community-based radical mental health programming at no cost to participants:
The Radical Mental Health Series, recurring educational workshops that focus on a social justice perspective of mental illness. Radical mental health supports more inclusive and diverse perspectives of mental health, prioritizing the voices of local activists and advocates with lived experience as educators and experts. The Radical Mental Health Series works to educate the public and provide a space for the open discussion of radical mental health topics to promote shared understanding and anti-oppressive practices in mental health. This series is made possible through funding from the Opportunity Fund.
Anonymous Open Mic, an expressive storytelling project working to build a community narrative around mental health in Pittsburgh. Community members are invited to submit a poem, spoken word piece, or short story about mental health, mental illness, madness, substance use / addiction, trauma, or a similar experience to perform at the event. Community members also have the option to submit their piece anonymously and have a volunteer perform the piece live on their behalf. This series is made possible through funding from the Sprout Fund and Staunton Farm Foundation.
Yinz Mad? Radical Mental Health in Pittsburgh, a biannual zine featuring writing, artwork, and photography from community members.
Mental Health Cafe, a monthly community conversation on mental health, mental illness, and madness over coffee and treats. Mental Health Cafe focuses on informal discussions and friendly mutual aid in a welcoming space for all.
The Radical Mental Health Reading Group, a monthly informal discussion on different texts in radical mental health, for people of all educational and professional backgrounds (no experience in academia, professional mental health settings, or similar positions is required).
