Open Mic

 Thank you to everyone who came to the

"Open Mic"

"These gatherings (community building) make all the difference."

Our mission is to further educate, raise awareness, and support our charities through a portion of the sales from the artworks.  

If you are interested in purchasing a piece of artwork please contact the gallery.

This is a platform for any individuals living with mental health challenges to share personal stories, poems, and reflections about their experiences.

Moderated by Pamela Schoenberg

"A Library For The Inner Child"

Thank you to everyone who came to the

Artist Reception for "A Library For The Inner Child"

"These gatherings (community building) make all the difference."

Our mission is to further educate, raise awareness, and support our charities through a portion of the sales from the artworks.  

If you are interested in purchasing a piece of artwork please contact the gallery.

In support of NAMI Westside LA's work with children's mental health, this space will feature over 45 unique pieces of illustrated mental health literature for children and grown-ups. They will include a healing sound element at the reception.

Webern Quartet

Thank you to everyone who came to the Webern Quartet concert. 

"These gatherings (community building) make all the difference."

Our mission is to further educate, raise awareness, and support our charities through a portion of the sales from the artworks.  

If you are interested in purchasing a piece of artwork please contact the gallery.

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"Classical music therapy, or music medicine, uses structured, often slow-tempo compositions to reduce stress, anxiety, and pain while improving sleep and mood in patients.” 

Artist-Patient/Medical Conversation

 THANKS to everyone who came to Artist-Patient/Medical Professional Conversation

with dnj Gallery artists- Mila Fejzo and Donna Bernstein

and Didi Hirsch- Kris Eterea, LCSW

Moderated by Ted Meyer

Click here to watch.

Diane Shader Smith & Andrea Sonnenberg

THANKS to everyone who came to

Diane Shader Smith and Andrea Sonnenberg

"The story we’ve been told is that mental health is internal—but what if the real story is everything around us."

An exhibition event for “Unpack Your Mind”
a group show by artists with mental health challenges.

Click here to watch.

"OUTSIDER"

Film Screening and Panel Discussion

THANKS to everyone who came to the "OUTSIDER" Film Screening and Panel Discussion

A 40 minute award-winning documentary about the late Maury Ornest, mental illness, art, and family - followed by a panel discussion: Lyn Morris, LMFT, CEO Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services; Dr. Jonathan Sherin, Clinical Professor, Psychiatry and Bio-behavioral Sciences at UCLA, Adjunct Clinical Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at USC, and former Director at Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health; and, Laura Ornest, mental health advocate, retired KNX radio journalist, sister of Maury Ornest
Moderator: Miles Beller, literature editor of C.G. Jung Institute’s Psychological Perspectives journal.

An exhibition event for “Unpack Your Mind”

a group show by artists with mental health challenges

For those of you who were not able to attend,

the exhibit is open until June 20th.

“Unpack Your Mind” - Opening Reception

THANKS to everyone who came to the opening reception of

“Unpack Your Mind”

a group show by artists with mental health challenges

We do have a complete list events associated with the show on the current page of our website: https://www.dnjgallery.net/current.html

Pamela Schoenberg, owner/director of dnj Gallery, and Ted Meyer, founder of Art and Med, are delighted to present the exhibition, “Unpack your Mind”: a group show by artists with mental health challenges. The Art and Med program, curated by dnj Gallery, includes a ten-week exhibit and corresponding, community-focused events, all highlighting a chronic disease. The Art and Med program is designed to increase awareness, further education, and raise funds for charities.

In the Spring of 2024, Pamela Schoenberg brought the Art and Med program to dnj Gallery. During the pandemic, she studied nutritional science, and then, in 2023, she received her certification as a registered Health Coach. By combining her two passions—art and health—Schoenberg currently displays fine art that calls attention to certain health illnesses. She stresses the current mission to provide a platform for sharing experiences related to these chronic challenges.

The Art and Med curriculum highlights the voice of the artist/patient. Originally, the program was designed by Ted Meyer, artist-in-residence at the USC Keck School of Medicine, for use in medical schools. These visual lessons were used by the schools to illustrate the specific illness and thus emphasize the perspective of the patient. In other words, Meyer reveals a commitment to utilizing art as a tool to support individuals.

This exhibition explores the many ways people experience and navigate their mental well-being. Rather than defining mental health through labels or challenges, this exhibition centers the voices, stories, and creative expressions of those who live with these experiences every day. Through art, the exhibition invites reflection on resilience, vulnerability, care, and the ways individuals make meaning of their journeys. Mental health exists along a spectrum, and every person’s experience is shaped by theirrelationships, communities, and the circumstances they move through. This exhibition seeks to create space for empathy and connection—offering artists an opportunity to share their perspectives and audiences a chance to listen, reflect, and recognize the humanity within these stories.

dnj Gallery will align itself Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services as our community partner for this upcoming exhibition. Didi Hirsch provides compassionate mental health, substance use, and suicide prevention services to individuals and families, especially in communities where discrimination and injustice limit access. They have nine locations throughout the Los Angeles area, offering direct treatment and support, crisis services, and community education and training. The Art and Med program at dnj Gallery is grateful for these participants.

Art is an expressive method used to process emotions, reduce stress, and boost self- awareness. Some might say that it is a means to survival. Similarly, as Mila Fejzo states, “I use the imaginary realm [the paintings] as a way to cope, process, and make sense of intense internal experiences.” No matter the media, it is the development of the art piece that aids in healing. In her artist statement, Kristine Schomaker explains: “[it is] making the invisible visible. Getting it out of my head and onto a surface where I can actually look at it and ask: is this real? Is this concrete? Or, is it made of dots and color and light?” The remaining artists in this group exhibition react to their mental health experiences through art-making as well.