Printmaking class joins in spreading positive mental health message

A student sketch of a poster design for You Are Not Alone, from Becca Gurney’s recent printmaking class. (All photos by Patrick Bohan)

Professor Becca Gurney’s printmaking class in the Fine Arts/Design program is doing a spring semester project designed to bring awareness and spark conversations around mental health. The class is silkscreen-printing posters with the phrase “You Are Not Alone” to be put up around campus.

The project is an iteration of the You Are Not Alone Murals, a public art project started in the New York City area by mural painter Annica Lydenberg and mental health advocate Samatha Schultz.

“I became aware of that project during the pandemic,” Gurney said. “The artists were painting murals with that phrase, ‘you are not alone’ for mental health month, which is May, to try to connect with people and just have that message be out there. I thought that was interesting and nice and thought it was more fun for a class to do screen printing because it allows each artist to express it their own way.”

Before the actual printmaking began, Bridgette Akins from the Bergeron Wellness Center came to talk to the class about Mental Health.

While they are screen-printing posters instead of creating murals, the class is otherwise following the You Are Not Alone guidelines. The students designed posters that will be black, white, gray, and yellow, and must include the phrase “You are not alone” in any language.

Professor Becca Gurney shows students how to make prints for their posters.

Silkscreen printing is a combination of painting or drawing and graphic design and has a focus on color and shape. The first step in of the screen-printing process is the creation of a stencil. Many different methods and materials, including vinyl cutting, card stock, and photo emulsion, can be used to create the stencils. The stencils then help the designers create the shapes on the posters and print different colors. Once the stencil is in place, the artist pushes the ink through the screen and onto the poster with a squeegee.

Screen-printing is process-heavy. The artist only can print one color at a time, and the ink must dry after each application. The long process, however, can be a good thing, “It takes patience. You have to slow down with it,” Gurney said. “There is no way for it to be instant. A piece of taking care of your mental health is slowing down and being in the moment. Screen printing allows you to do that.”

Art and mental health have many intersections. Art is both an outlet for expression and engagement, the professor said, and whether it is writing, drawing, or painting, art can provide a path to express and communicate emotion “Art is really meditation for me,” Gurney said.

Celia Durgin ’24, an art & design and psychology double major, said, “For a lot of people, it is an expression. You can create whatever you want, and someone can relate to it. I think a lot of times people think art has to be sad, but I don’t think that is always true. I think a lot of people who create art share happiness, and in that sense, it is really good to uplift other people.”

A student uses a computer as a design tool during the poster project.

As a form of engagement, art can be a powerful tool. Whenever art or any creative piece is out in the world, it can spark engagement and conversations in a community, students and their professor agree. The goal of the posters is to open up conversations about mental health.

“I thought it was a nice way to engage with the community and open that phrase up to work the idea that you are not alone on campus and in general. Just a way to start those conversations,” Gurney said.

Magnolia Sinisi ’24, art and design major said she believes that having the posters created by students is another important element of the project, “as students we see so many posters every day that are made by faculty or other programs and businesses so seeing posters from fellow students about mental health will have a greater impact.”

Look for the You Are Not Alone posters starting to appear on campus.

Two students in Gurney’s classes work together during the poster project.