AWAKENING MINDS ART PRESENTS

Artist, Ambz of The Hysteria Company designed and painted this mural specifically for Focus: Wellness & Recovery and the “I am Somebody” project, aimed to de-stigmatize the conversation on mental health, substance use, and trauma.

Hysteria Co. 
Creator/Owner: Ambz 
she/her/hers
@hysteriacompany
www.hysteria.company

Standing on land of the Original Peoples of the Shawnee, Ottawa, Wyandotte, & Mingo Nations. Please visit www.shawneeculture.org for further reading & information. 

Amber Kear, aka Ambz was born in Findlay, OH, graduated from Pandora-Gilboa Highschool in 2004, went to Pittsburgh in 2005 to finish a BA of Science Degree in Graphic Design from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in 2009. Ambz work during those years was centered in humanity. 

Currently Ambz has been fortunate & grateful enough to operate as an artist & business owner to work with communities to create belonging through art & design. 
She moved back to Ohio in the spring of 2019 from Pittsburgh, PA after resigning from her career as a Visual Merchandising Leader with the Giant Eagle Market District stores for 9 1/2 years. The support from friends, family, & both communities in Findlay & Pittsburgh keep perpetuating. 

Ambz is one of 5 Co-Founders & Executive Director of a non- profit group called Gathering of Expanding Minds, under the umbrella of the Black Heritage Library & MultiCultural Center, GEM welcomes meaningful, difficult, & necessary conversations in a safe & respectful environment, working to create stronger communities. @gatheringofexpandingminds 

An active 3 year Board Member, as of 2021, with the Findlay Art League folks. 
@findlayartleague

The “iamsomebody” podcast from FOCUS is what gives me purpose today. I have been lucky enough to be contracted with the FOCUS, partnered with NAMI, LOFT, SPECTRUM LGBTQ+, & my friend & Artner Jennifer Perez-Savage for most of this year. Recently, my friends & I from Pittsburgh attended Walter Jamie Kloc’s funeral. He battled with addiction & lost at the age of 33, so I will say that my drive over the weekend & today, August 31, 2021, was for him & anyone out there that is struggling & battling addiction, trauma, or mental health challenges, & for the refugees who continue to seek asylum in this country. I am deeply saddened by Walter's death & current conditions of the world & with passion, hope, & grace that this mural is a gift everyday for folks. Stand in front of the mural, take a photo, use the #iamsomebody. 
@iamsomebody_podcast

Hysteria Co. & Ambz would like to give gratitude & a huge THANK YOU to Awakening Minds for allowing & providing this opportunity for myself & local artists through the MCPA Marianna Hofer Endowment Grant. 

Thank you to FOCUS Recovery & Wellness Community & Staff for your continued support & generosity of provided wall space for this community project. 

Thank you to everyone for your love & support. 

We got this. 

“Racism & homophobia are real conditions of all of our lives in this place & time. I urge each one of us here to reach down into that deep place of knowledge inside herself (oneself) & touch terror & loathing of any difference that lives there. See whose face it wears. Then the personal as the political can begin to illuminate all of our choices”
-Audre Lorde
“The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House”

What does the hashtag #artmakesmeconnected mean? "Art connects and weaves all the fibers of this life together--for myself; for us--providing opportunities to welcome, belong, educate, communicate, and reflect what stories and experiences we have for one another with intention and purpose. 
"Art is an ongoing revolution for humanity and our earth, illuminating our guides to many different paths we are on, activating all of the senses. Art is essential for my growth and wellbeing in this lifetime." - Ambz

What does the hashtag #artmakesmeconnected mean? "Our mural at Focus: Recovery and Wellness connected our participants and staff by providing an interactive piece that everyone is able to engage with.  A lot of pictures and laughs were had as people gathered to pose in front with the butterfly." - Cayla Fortman, former Executive Director for FOCUS