Middle Way House presents art

Sexual Assault Awareness Month started Thursday, and the Middle Way House is taking advantage by sponsoring a month-long show of community art at the Indiana Memorial Union Gallery throughout April. Middle Way House provides a safe place for women and children who have been victims of domestic and sexual abuse and assault. The presenting of artwork based on sexual assault is a way for Middle Way House to reach out to the community of Bloomington about this "silent epidemic."\nThe artwork is being used to educate the community about sexual assault and how the Bloomington community feels about the sexual assault in general. \n"This is a culmination of a year-long community art project," said Marabai Parsons, a coordinator of the show. "(Co-coordinator) Leila Voyles and I have been coordinating workshops and doing artwork that raises awareness about sexual assault."\nVoyles and Parsons were having a cup of coffee one day when they got their vision: they wanted to ask random people to create artwork representing their thoughts on sexual assault.\n"We held several sessions, both on and off-campus," Voyles said. "We collected about 40 to 50 pieces of art, from people aged 10 or 12 to 55 or 60."\nThe show will feature images, many of them collages, by residents of Bloomington and IU students. \n"We didn't get everyone's names," Parsons said. "Many are anonymous pieces by community members who attended a workshop."\nMany of the pieces in the show are paired with statistics.\n"(The art) brings the statistics to a personal level," Parsons said. "Each piece is very unique. These aren't gross or violent images. They're very powerful."\nAlthough the pieces are unique, Voyles said they all have a central theme. \n"The pieces are about imagining a world without rape and sexual assault," Voyles said. "This art has been collected to say, 'We are taking a stand against sexual assault and envisioning a world that's safe.'"\nThere was an opening reception Thursday in the Indiana Memorial Union Gallery with artists on hand to provide a dialogue on the pieces.\nLara Weaver, a prevention coordinator at Middle Way House, emphasizes the show is to make the Bloomington community aware of the safe havens and support groups for victims of sexual assault. She said sexual assault is a public health crisis and is an issue the community should be open to discuss. \n"One in 10 boys before the age of 18 is sexually assaulted. One in three women is raped. According to the U.N., over half of (the) women in the world have experienced sexual assault," Weaver said. "There are services (in Bloomington) for anyone who thinks they might need to talk to someone."\nMiddle Way House has a crisis line for people who have experienced domestic violence or sexual assault. They can be reached 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 336-0846.\n-- Contact staff writer Jenny Kobiela at jkobiela@indiana.edu.