William Stoehr
Art for Hope/Stigma and Survival/Victims Witnesses Survivors
My art is influenced by the ideas of the seminal Cubists and by my interest in the visual brain. My mission is to confront substance use disorder (SUD) and the stigma that shadows it.
My sister died of an opioid overdose. She might still be alive if it were not for prescription opioids and the stigma which suffocates discussion, blocks action and causes pain.
My sister OD’d but, maybe to the millions affected, I can be part of a solution. I want to use my art to normalize the discussion and to help erase the stigma. Come for the art but stay for the message.
I create a forum for not only the victims, witnesses and survivors of SUD and mental health related issues but also for medical practitioners, government administrators, legal professionals and elected officials. My exhibits bring together individuals and ideas at the intersection of art, science, and medicine.
They Have Faces
It is never just one person that is impacted, and so the faces in the exhibit reflect the faces of all those affected.
I listen to the stories - families and communities devastated. It is all there - terror, intolerance, guilt, shame and helplessness as well as resilience, resolve, forgiveness, love and hope.
I want people to start talking, to share stories, begin to cope and to carry the message beyond the gallery.
People respond and promise action. Some thank me simply for acknowledging them - I exist. I am not alone. Others talk of finally starting that intervention.
I want these exhibitions, along with presentations, panel discussions, handouts and participation by kindred organizations, to cut through the wall of stigma, to confront the mental health issues, to start conversations, to cause people to respond and feel the emotion and ultimately to take action before it is too late.
The Physical Exhibit
While my work is most often exhibited at universities, museums, art centers, and galleries, I’m always ready to explore alternative options when a conventional space becomes unexpectedly available—or when the opportunity arises to collaborate and partner with relevant organizations and traditional venues aren’t available.
I’ve successfully shown my work in a variety of unconventional settings such as, temporary pop-up galleries, a vacant storefront on a busy pedestrian mall, an industrial warehouse, hospital/clinics, an airport, government buildings, churches, lobbies, hallways, and even a movie theater. I’ve suspended paintings from ceilings, propped them on cinder blocks, hung them 20 feet high on the wall, set them flat on the floor, mounted them on wheeled dollies, shown them on a full-size theater screen, hung them as banners and displayed them on large HD monitors.
My current exhibit, Art for Hope, is designed to be flexible. It can scale to suit the space and has been presented in more than 12 different locations to date. The flexibility of my work allows me to collaborate with you to design an exhibition tailored to your space, community and goals.
Examples of past installations include:
University of Wisconsin–Stout: 230 feet of wall space with 14 seven-foot paintings and 10 digital monitors.
University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma: 250 linear feet with 30 paintings.
Lowe Gallery, Atlanta: 400+ linear feet with 50 paintings.
Foothills Art Center: 200 linear feet with 20 paintings, 12 digital/hybrid paintings on aluminum and video presentation.
University of Colorado: 120 linear feet with 12 seven-foot paintings and video presentation.
Boulder Creative Collective: 200+ linear feet with 30 large paintings, including 16 suspended from the ceiling rafters.
University of Michigan: Digital art shown on a full-size theater screen.
Denver Space: 2,500 sq. ft. with 25 paintings and 8 monitors.
Pine Street Church, Boulder: 14 seven-foot paintings displayed on movable trolleys.
Natl Institute on Drug Abuse: Halls and visitor areas with 20 large paintings and 15 digital hybrid paintings on aluminum.
I can adjust the number of paintings, prints, banners, monitors and projectors to fill a wide range of spaces. I have also done large concurrent exhibitions.
Installation time, depending on the size of the exhibit, is usually two days or less. Exhibits are typically displayed for three to six weeks. Here is a sampling of exhibit photos.
About the Art
I paint large-scale acrylic on canvas and I also create hybrid-digital paintings which are shown on HD monitors, as projections as large as theater screens and as HD prints.
My art has been exhibited worldwide at universities, art centers, museums, and galleries. Follow this link for a list of exhibitions, awards and more.
These exhibitions and related activities have received considerable national and international media coverage including NPR Morning Edition, NPR Atlanta City Lights, BBC, ABC/Scripps and the Associated Press plus many more publications, TV broadcasts, podcasts and interviews. A sample of media coverage can be seen here.
Recent Collaborations
My recent exhibit at Space Gallery - Denver was included in the programing for the College on Problems of Drug Dependence CPDD annual conference and the exhibit featured remarks by the National Institute on Drug Abuse's Deputy Director.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse's Director and I participated in a panel discussion along with professionals from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus at the opening of my University of Colorado exhibition.
The Foothills Art Center exhibition included a panel with pertinent participants from Kaiser Permanente and a presentation from the Colorado School of Mines on the neuroscience of addiction.
I co-created a public service video with the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Recently I presented a lecture as part of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Intramural Research Program. I have been a guest speaker specifically addressing the issue of Substance Use Disorder and stigma at the University of Wisconsin - Stout, the Washington DC Hospital Association, the State `of Colorado Department of Human Services, the University of Colorado Center for Bioethics and Humanities, Case Western Reserve University and at the National Institute on Drug Abuse's annual Director's Awards Ceremony. I was the featured speaker at the University of Colorado Conference for Interdisciplinary Drug and Alcohol Research. I presented to the Johns Hopkins Brain Science Institute and I created a three-part series for the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art regarding the brain and art. You can see a complete list here.
Two of my paintings are prominently featured in the opening credits in the two-part documentary Listen to the Silence: Women Trapped In The Opioid Epidemic which aired on ABC and PBS stations nationwide. These were produced by the six-time Emmy Award winning Diva Communications with whom I collaborate.
