The Clarke Building at Kentuck is adorned with decorated wooden hearts for the month of April as a way to bring awareness to sexual assault.
The Women’s Resource Center began this program in 2001 in an attempt to help the survivors of sexual abuse express their journey to recovery by decorating the hearts and putting them on display. Kathy Echals, a staff therapist and the Women’s Resource Center, helped to distribute the hearts to survivors.
“They are wooden hearts that we give out to clients, supporters and their allies,” Echals said. “They have decorated the hearts based on their experiences with sexual abuse. Any way they want to express their experience in that moment.”
April is the designated month for this exhibit because it is also sexual assault awareness month. According to the exhibit, one in every three women worldwide has been beaten or sexually assaulted, and one boy in every six is sexually abused before the age of 18.
“[The hearts] offer survivors a space and a medium to share their testimony of their experience, anonymously if they choose,” Echals said.
The artists used all mediums to convey their message to the audience. They’re stitched, painted, sketched and nailed. Some use words and others are more abstract and symbolic. For the exhibit, all the hearts are titled and displayed with a short explanation of the piece. Any other information the artist chooses to share is also displayed with the piece.
Jan Pruitt, the executive director of Kentuck, said this is the third year the Women’s Resource Center had chosen Kentuck to display the “Wounded Hearts” exhibit. She thinks students should all take the time to view this moving exhibit.
“All art, and this exhibit in particular, is a way to a larger worldview,” Pruitt said. “Paradoxically, sometimes there is a concentration on particular studies. You may get so focused on specialization that you lose sight of the larger context that your career and life is taking you.”
The gallery, which is located in downtown Northport, is open Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. and on Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
The Women’s Resource Center provides free services for victims of sexual abuse and harassment, as well as free advocacy. It has a 24-hour crisis call service in case of emergency and will attend to any client in a rape-related hospital visit, in addition to speaking at on-campus events.
If you go…
What: Wounded Hearts Exhibit
Where: Kentuck Clarke Building
When: Tuesday through Friday 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. and on Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. throughout April
