Elizabeth Castiglione

Elizabeth will create an art book, entitled Stretched: Art, Motherhood, and Mental Illness, which will explore the struggle to integrate her different identities as artist, mother, and person with mental illness. Elizabeth will self-publish the book and host book-talks and speak-outs, where others may share their stories, creating a social space for a topic too-often shrouded in shame and secrecy. The book, as well as the speak-outs, will challenge society’s narrow and discriminatory attitudes toward people with mental illness. Through greater understanding and sharing, Elizabeth’s project works toward dispelling the perception that people with mental illness are defined by their illness, and fosters the idea that those with diagnosable illness still share the same “normal” struggles as the rest of us.