IN MY OWN WORLD: The NAEMI Collection

The Art and Culture Center/Hollywood is proud to partner with NAEMI, the National Art Exhibitions of the Mentally Ill, to present In My Own World: The NAEMI Collection. This presentation brings awareness to the issues of mental health and well-being to the South Florida Community. NAEMI is a U.S. non-profit organization whose mission is to discover, study, promote, exhibit, and preserve the art of people recovering from mental illness.

​

 In My Own World will feature more than 50 works of art in a variety of media, including paintings, drawings, sculptures, and photography. These Outsider, or untrained, artists have struggled with mental illness and used their creativity to heal and to communicate. The term Outsider Art was created by French artist Jean Dubuffet in 1964, after he started collecting artworks that he considered to be free from societal constraints. Juan Martin, Executive Director of NAEMI, has supported these artists with this collection and exhibitions that invite conversations about illness and mental healthcare to the forefront of the art world. More than 20 artists from around the globe in the collection will be on view including Candice Avery, Alan Arkley, Misleidys Castillo Pedroso, Jorge A. Hernandez Cadi “El Buzo,” Gloria de la Caridad Garcia, Isaac Crespo, Ramon Losa, Echo McCallister, Mario Mesa, Pablo Morales, Martha Iris Perez Santana, and Damian Valdes.