The HeART of the Matter
The Avera Behavioral Health Center has proven to be a haven of dignity for those with mental health conditions and their families. Striving to break the stigma of fear, shame and hopelessness, Avera Behavioral Health Center offers many services and programs in an effort to care for the WHOLE person; body, mind and spirit.
The assessment center at Avera Behavioral Health has provided over 6,600 face-to-face consultations, free of charge. Urgent care services also provide those without means to pay with transportation services, much needed medications and lodging for families if their loved one should require hospitalization.
Caring for the whole person often involves integrative therapies. The Arts in Healing program is an innovative treatment that uses creative processes to help patients increase insight, develop coping skills and learn to effectively communicate their emotions and inner conflicts. Arts in Healing has brought music, movement and receptive therapies to patients, offering them a tranquil environment in which to heal.
Funds raised through HeARTS in Healing will go to support urgent care services and the Arts in Healing program at Avera Behavioral Health.
Auction Art Pieces and Artist Details
Specific art pieces will be auctioned at the fundraiser event. View a partial list of art below.
Red Mesa
Dale Lamphere
Dimension: 6' tall
In his 41-year career as a sculptor, Dale Lamphere has created 70 major works, including the sculpture on the Avera McKennan campus, titled “Song of Creation”. The internationally renowned sculptor believes that there are universal elements, visual elements that, if used properly, can speak to everyone. Because of those elements, Lamphere pulls from the landscape, which is what inspires his work. He grew up on a ranch just a few miles east of the Black Hills, and currently lives right on the eastern slope of the Black Hills itself. He says the contours of the land, the rocks, the flora of the environment are a great resource and so much of his work comes from that.
"Red Mesa evokes the spirit of the many flat-topped mesas that are scattered throughout the West, with a bouquet of grasses clinging precariously to its sloped sides." The remarkable striated character of the stone inspired this sculpture.
Sunburst Suspended
Michael Bruce
Dimensions: 13.25" (w) x 14.5" (h)
These pieces represent moments in time that we wish to preserve in the form of a tangible memory. A glimpse of sunshine through an otherwise cloudy day, or a trickle of water from a heavy rain. We all encounter these glimpses of the wonder of our own earth and we all try to remember these memories to the best of our ability. The cool feel of the air, the smell after the rain, how a sight or landmark makes us feel. What we are trying to capture visually is the trigger of our olfactory senses at the time these memories are made. Sunburst Suspended represents the dawn of a new day, and the promise of the unknown.
Motion Frozen
Robert Bruce
Dimensions: 10" (w) x 22.5" (h)
Motion Frozen represents a moment in time when we wish we could capture the feeling of serenity or belonging forever, but alas frozen water will melt and flow again.
Untitled Painting (2)
Chad Lubbers
Dimensions: 16" (w) x 20" (h) each
I want my paintings to evoke emotion through the texture and transparent layers of the paint. The techniques I use in this piece allow me to convey emotion in a variety of ways that I can’t necessarily convey verbally. I think a lot of people feel they can express themselves through artistic expression. I want people to get up close to see the multiple variations of color in the layers and want to touch it.
Stormy Path
Paul Schiller
Dimensions: 40" (w) x 24" (h)
Nothing captures your attention like an approaching massive thunderstorm crossing the vast prairie of South Dakota. In most cases it is pure luck to come across something this dynamic. But, when you ride with the KELO storm-chasing team, the occurrences happen more often than not. This image was captured in June of 2009 just south of Murdo and the storm then raced across the entire state that night.
My ultimate goal with my photography is to dispel the myth that South Dakota is dull, flat, boring, and unappealing. Images such as “Stormy Path” are helping the cause.
Avera Chapel Stained Glass section
Unknown Artisan
Dimensions: 24" (w) x 28" (h) freestanding
This unique piece might very well be the only opportunity for someone to acquire a piece of the original art from the McKennan Chapel. The stained glass is from the original McKennan chapel, built in 1931. The chapel was torn down in 1973 to make room for a hospital expansion, which is currently the Emergency Department. Today the stained glass from that chapel is used in the Prairie Center and in the Sioux Falls Catholic Diocese office.
Untitled Painting
Amanda Vaiu
Dimensions: 48" (w) x 36" (h)
This piece was inspired by the way the heart and head work so differently but in the end it can create a beautiful and inspiring outcome. Often times our minds over-analyze a very simple situation while our hearts often bring in feelings we would like to have rather than what may actually be; to combine the two is what happened here in this painting. Rolling hills can be challenges we meet and overcome while seeing light with our heart and seeing the light with our minds creates a very different outcome. When you step back you see there has to be balance to make everything work.
Patiently Waiting
Jo Vanderwoude
Dimensions: 20" (w) x 16" (h)
I enjoy layers...in the mediums I choose and in the thought process behind the painting. Layers of paint and color add texture and interest. In addition, I enjoy the stories the painting brings to mind. In Patiently Waiting, a young ballerina patiently waits her turn to dance. As the artist-in-residence at the Prairie Center on the Avera McKennan campus, I see another layer or story in the Patiently Waiting painting. How much time is spent by patients waiting...waiting to see a doctor, waiting for tests to be performed and for their results, waiting for treatment and waiting to see if the treatment works.
Take a Bow
Jo Vanderwoude
Dimensions: 20" (w) x 16" (h)
In Take a Bow, we find young dancers taking a bow after performing. It reminds me of a patient’s reaction to a diagnosis of cancer or any other serious illness. Most patients find a grace and courage they didn’t realize they posess. Their bow is more like the karate participant who bows to his or her opponent before the battle begins.
Untitled
Tom Dempster
Dimensions: 44" (w) x 20" (h)
Tom Dempster, a freelance writer and photographer, has been published in the International Herald Tribune, Sailing Magazine, South Dakota Magazine, and in both “South Dakota Photographed” and “South Dakota’s Best Stories”. Dempster has had gallery shows in the SD Art Musuem in Brookings, S.D., the Eide-Dalrymple Gallery at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D., and the W.H. Over Museum at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, S.D.
Industry and Technology
Cory Knedler
Dimensions: 24" (w) x 18" (h)
My fascination with combining different print processes provides a constant evolution of visual imagery that never seems to lose my interest. In most work, I am interested in examining the social, satirical or educational aspects which shape our society. We are psychologically complex people, each with individual opinions and feelings. I enjoy getting to know about how situations drive us to become who we are.
