‘My Name is Strong’ exhibit Oct. 3

Student-organized art show confronts gender-based violence

“Threads” by JoAnne McFarland


In 2013, three Brown School students from Washington University in St. Louis — Caroline Fish, Jay Celin, and Ambar Plasencia — launched My Name is Strong, a community anti-violence initiative and anti-violence campaign.

The effort was quickly endorsed by Clinton Global Initiative University, which took place at Washington U. that year. Within months, the group had organized an exhibition featuring more than 60 works by artists — from both on- and off-campus — who had experienced gender-based violence, as well as by their allies: friends, family and loved ones.

Now two more Brown School students, Kyle Brandt-Lubart and Reena Chesla, are building on that good work with the second annual “My Name Is Strong” exhibition.

The un-juried show — which accepts and displays all submissions as a way of honoring and validating the power of each individual’s experience — is free and open to the public and takes place from 6-9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3, at the Yeyo Arts Collective, 2907 S. Jefferson.

“Community Hand Painting” by Scarlett Rivera.

The exhibit is sponsored by the Gephardt Institute for Public Service, in partnership with the YWCA Regional Sexual Assault Center, Safe Connections, Alternatives to Living In Violent Environments (ALIVE), Lydia’s House and St. Louis Arc.

For more information, contact Brandt-Lubart at mynameisstrongproject@gmail.com or visit the group on Facebook.

“Assault” by Andrea