Painting by Artist BZTAT

The artwork for the Okey’s Promise: Celebrating the Human – Animal Bond Project has been complete for some time now, but we were waiting for the right time to begin sharing it with the public.

I have been working with the Domestic Violence Project, Inc. to plan some events in conjunction with their 35th Anniversary year celebrations, and we are looking forward to making a strong impact on the community.

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Our first event will be tomorrow, May 3, 2013 during the First Friday celebrations in downtown Canton, OH’s Arts District. We are also planning exhibits at the Massillon Museum, Malone University, and other locations throughout the Stark County Community. Stay tuned!

If you are in Canton tomorrow, I hope you will join us. The weather is predicted to be fabulous! Here are the particulars:

Okey’s Promise: Celebrating the Human – Animal Bond

First Friday Event

An artistic celebration of animal rescue volunteers and domestic violence advocates coming together for mutual benefit of the community.

Painting by BZTAT

Time: 6:00pm until 9:00pm
Location: At the “Safe Animals Safe Kids” mural, hanging on the side of the Imperial Room at 4th St. NW and Court Ave. in Downtown Canton.

Artist BZTAT will exhibit her latest Okey’s Promise public art project, an exhibit of 9 artworks highlighting the connections between animal abuse, child abuse and domestic violence, with guests from the Domestic Violence Project, Inc. and local animal rescue groups. The artworks are positive and uplifting, showing the faces of children and companion pets who have triumphed over adversity. At risk youth and women affected by domestic violence contributed to the backgrounds of the artworks. The project was funded by a grant from ArtsInStark and private donations through crowdfunding efforts.

Painting by BZTAT

Rescue groups include: Peace for Pets, Friends of Stark Pound, Second Chance for Animals, Rose’s Rescue, and others. Pets available for adoption will be present!

Want to know more about the Okey’s Promise: Celebrating the Human – Animal Bond Project? Read more here, and watch the video below that was created for the fundraising campaign.

I hadn’t given my current public art project a name, nor had I created a video to promote it. Both sort of evolved with each other this past weekend. As I was putting images together for the video, and as I was reviewing research and other articles, a thought kept going through my mind.

The writing is on the wall.

We use this phrase as an ominous warning that, if we do not pay attention to the obvious, we will face dire consequences.

We need to pay attention to the fact that many children and animals in our world are facing dire consequences. We need to look at both and find ways to help them to safety, and we need to aid children affected by domestic violence in dealing with the emotional turmoil in their lives.

Since the images to be employed for the latest mural are of children drawing on a wall, it occurred to me that there was a parallel meaning there.

The video is done, and the title reflects the importance of the the Okey’s Promise mission.

The Writing, and the Drawing, is on the Wall.

Please feel free to share the video and embed it on your website if you like. Please link back to this site if you. Thanks!

BZTAT

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Artwork by BZTAT

Since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012, our collective senses have been rattled. Not only with the telling of the story of what happened, but also with the images that have been thrust into our view of frightened children, grief stricken parents, and other signs of intense pain.

And guns. Everywhere you turn – newspapers, TV news, online magazines – you see pictures of assault weapons. It is as if seeing the image of these machines that are designed to kill will somehow motivate us to some kind of action.

As we are gripped with the pain of this one tragedy, however, we tend to ignore the daily tragedy of harm that befalls other children daily.  An average of 5 children die every day as a result of child abuse in the United States. Nearly 6 million children are harmed in some way by domestic abuse each year according to reports, which likely underestimate the true number of abuses cases.

We have ugly pictures to go along with that too. Photos of sad, morose children wth dirty faces and black eyes evoke pity and implore us to do something. Again, it seems that the only way to motivate people to action is to assault them with images of awful things.

Another area of activism that tries to motivate with horrifying imagry is the pet rescue community. Images of bloody and emaciated animals creep their way into my Facebook newsfeed every day. Activists think that sharing these awful pictures of abused and neglected animals will motivate us to do something to stop animal abuse.

Artists often buy into this myth that scare tactics motivate people to action. They fill their artworks with macabre images that thrill the arts intelligencia, who analyze their expressiveness with egoistic verbosity.

But looking at the statistics on mass shootings, child abuse and animal abuse, these motivation tactics do not seem to be working. Children are still being harmed. Animals are still being harmed.  The two phenomena are deeply intertwined in their occurrence in our society.  And shocking us with imagry is not making a dent in creating change.

As an artist, I do not enjoy creating ugly things. I deplore violence towards children and animals, and I want to use my art to educate people about how these two issues are connected. I want to inspire and lead people towards meaningful change. But I cannot, and will not do it by perpetuating the ugliness.

All of my artwork has a positive and joyful quality. It is not by accident. I choose color and other artistic elements that bring about those qualities on purpose. It is not to ignore the less positive realities in life, but to articulate the more positive outcomes that we seek.

With my Okey’s Promise projects, I more purposefully challenge people to initiate a dialogue about the links between animal abuse, child abuse and domestic violence – a particularly ugly reality of human society. But even so, I do this by intriguing people with images of hope instead of creating images that make them want to turn away.

I don’t know if I will make a dent any more than those who resort to sensationalism tactics. I can’t go wrong with hope, though. What have I got to lose?

BZTAT

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What happened to that town is not exactly in keeping with the purposes of this blog, but it is related. Addressing violence that happens to children IS an important component of this site’s mission, even if it is not directly linked to animal abuse.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson—coveredincathair.com

There was, however, an interesting link between animals and kids for me with the Sandy Hook story.

I suspect all Americans have grown a bit cynical and desensitized to hearing about gun violence in schools anymore. We have heard about it so much, it doesn’t make us jump as much anymore. So when my iPhone alerted me with an AP breaking news alert early THAT morning, I turned over in bed and went back to sleep.

When I awakened later, and checked my Facebook, again on my iPhone, a status update from a friend brought me to reality.

A shooting at our local elementary school??? THIS IS NOT RIGHT!!! OMG!!!!!

This was not happening in just any town. It was happening in a friend’s town.

I have read a lot about school shootings, but I never have known someone directly affected by one. Seeing my friend’s raw emotion spilling out on Facebook really shook me.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson—coveredincathair.com

My Friend was Robin Olsen who writes the Covered in Cat Hair blog and runs a cat rescue called Kitten Associates. We have met in person at Blog Paws, but mostly we know each other through social media.

Robin lives in Sandy Hook, CT. Her home is down the street from the shooter, Adam Lanza’s home.

It is so close, in fact, members of the press were camped out near her yard.

Initially, no one knew how bad the incident was. When we realized that 20 small children and 6 adults had been murdered at the school, and that the shooter and his mother had also perished, it suddenly became one of those defining moments for everyone, where you remember every detail of your life on that day – at that moment. Kind of like 9/11.

For me, the detail I will remember the most was Robin’s anguish and pain, not just that children had died, but that her community had been irreparably assaulted and changed in an instant. The next day, she posted these words on Facebook:

I’m still in shock. Just want to sit here and cry. I need my community to be ok again. When I see images from all over the US mourning our loss it means it really happened, but it can’t have happened. It just can’t.

Robin does not have children at the school. But it was her town, riveted into international headlines by a tragic event that was beyond comprehension for any of us, especially for someone so close to the whole thing. I felt it much more deeply myself, just knowing someone there. This was not a town defined by the tragedy like Columbine or Aurora were to me. This was Robin’s bucolic little New England town where she rescued kitties. And now, that bucolic town was in SOOOO much pain.

Being the person she is, it did not take Robin long to jump into rescue mode. You see, Robin has cats, and kittens. LOTS of them. Her life is dedicated to rescuing hurt cats and kittens. And those cats and kittens are pretty good at reciprocating by bringing joy and humor and hope to the most dire of circumstances.

In a few hours, Kitties for Kids was born – to help kids, first responders, and anyone else in the Newtown/Sandy Hook area “find their smile again” by playing with cheerful kitties.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson—coveredincathair.com

People from all over the country donated plush stuffed cats so that each person who visited received a huggable gift. My contribution was to provide Robin with some resources about dealing with children affected by trauma, in case she encountered some who were overwhelmed with pain.

So far, a number of children and other people affected by the Sandy Hook shooting have visited Robin’ kitties. There have been a number of recovered smiles. And the kitties are having a ball playing with their new friends!

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson—coveredincathair.com

There is no way to fix what happened to Sandy Hook. But there is nothing better than kittens to help people start the healing process when they are so suddenly pulled into a whirlwind of grief and trauma.

Okey’s Promise was created to bring awareness to the links between violence to animals and violence towards women and children. But I think that there is a place for linking children and animals through healing too. And there is a place for remembering that, no matter what kind of horrendous things some people may do, there are many, many more people like Robin doing wonderful and good things to make our world a better place.

Thank you Robin, for reminding me of that.

God bless the town of Sandy Hook and all it’s good and wonderful people. May your hearts heal and may you return to some semblance of normalcy someday.

And may your kitties and kids have a great time playing and smiling and enjoying childhood and kittenhood again in your bucolic little town. Because that’s the way it should be, and can be again.

BZTAT

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“Okey” Drawing by BZTAT

On my main website, I create a blogpost every year at New Year’s that is a vision board. My first priority for this year’s vision board post is to, “Create my third Okey’s Promise project – a mural on a building in Barberton, OH, that educates and inspires people around the world to take action against animal abuse, child abuse and domestic violence.”

In order to create the mural, I need to raise money for the costs involved. I have been lucky to have Okey’s Promise Keepers to assist with the funding of my previous projects, and I have had some very special Promise Keepers contributing to the current project as well. I have also done some special promotional auctions where people can bid on artworks and the winning bids go towards the campaign.

I am going to, again, do auctions throughout January to aid the campaign. You can follow the auctions at BZTAT Studios or on the Okey’s Promise Facebook page. Watch for art auctions all month, starting with a kick-off auction tomorrow.

Some artworks will be new, and some will be works from previous auctions that did not sell. Like the drawing above of Okey. Watch for postings tomorrow about the first auction. You might get some great art for a steal!

If you would like to contribute to the campaign regardless of the auctions, you can do so by clicking on the donate button below. Thanks for any support that you can offer!

Please support the latest Okey’s Promise project. Become an Okey’s Promise Keeper today!

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I have never met Lisa Long either. She is the courageous parent who wrote the I am Adam Lanza’s Mother article that has gone viral in cyberspace since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

I have known many women and men like them, however. They are decent parents and foster parents who have children with emotional disturbances. They do everything they can to get mental health and educational services to meet the needs of their kids, and yet it is never enough.

Some live in fear of their own children, or those with whom they are charged to care, because their children’s behaviors often spiral out of control. Irrevocable violence is always a heartbeat away with these families.

I have sat in emergency rooms with these parents following emotional meltdowns from their progenies. When a child has a psychiatric episode in Ohio, they are directed to an emergency room for evaluation. After about 5-6 hours, the child is either sent home because he or she has fallen asleep, or they get admitted to a psychiatric unit.

Often, an ambulance ride and full court press attention in an ER is just the ticket to make the raging beast settle down and look like an adorably cute cherub. The doctors say, “doesn’t look suicidal or homicidal to me,” and they act condescending towards the parents as if THEY are the problem.

If a child does get admitted to a hospital psychiatric ward, they are usually discharged in a few days after being placed on high doses of psychiatric medications that have not yet had time to take effect.

And then the parent and family counselor get back on the roller coaster.

Too many visits to the hospital in a short amount of time leads to the ER doctors telling you to call the juvenile justice authorities. To them, it is a behavior problem, not a medical or psychiatric issue.

Never mind that showing dysregulated behavior is how a child often manifests emotional distress.

In the wake of Sandy Hook and the long list of previous mass shootings, you hear the cry, “Why didn’t someone see the signs and do something?” I can tell you that I have seen the signs with some very volatile youth. I have tried to do something. And I have been chastised and bitterly rebuked for trying to go around the usual barriers to getting kids help.

Thankfully, none of my clients ever got to the point that Adam Lanza did. But I have seen some close calls.

Our mental health system is broken. We must do something about how we deal with individuals with emotional disorders if we ever want to see things improve. But fixing the mental health system alone is not sufficient in ending senseless violence with our children.

• We must do everything possible to get high powered weaponry out of the reach of those with no need for it, especially those likely to demonstrate instability. As long as assault weapons are available to the masses, troubled people will get their hands on them and use them.
• We must find a way to reduce the amount of violent stimuli in our culture, including virulent music, violent movies and TV shows, and video games.
• We must sufficiently fund daycare and after school programs so that youth are properly supervised.
• We must provide trauma based interventions to every youth affected by domestic violence, community violence, abuse, neglect, disaster, or other types of trauma.
• We must start responding in a way that meets individuals and communities’ needs, instead of simply responding in the cheapest method possible.
• We must get off of our political high horses and acknowledge that social programs, such as those most at risk in the fiscal cliff debate are the very things that we need to keep our kids safe. 

I left the mental health profession a year ago because I no longer felt effective. After spending 20 years working with high risk youth and families, I was no longer able to make the personal sacrifices and risks to my own well-being that it took to go to work each day. It is sad to me that it happened, but I had to stop.

The saddest part is that it does not have to be this way.

The majority of people experiencing emotional disorders are non-violent and low risk. They are no harm to anyone, and yet they too suffer from the complete inadequacy of our mental health treatment system.

If you ask me, that is just wrong.

Will we really do something to change it all?

As they say, it takes a village. It is up to all of us to change priorities and purposes. I am hopeful, but wary.

Please, surprise me world.

BZTAT

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Digital drawing by BZTAT

We can all agree on the problem – too many innocent lives cut down needlessly in mass shootings with unprovoked displays of violence.

Coming to a consensus solution to the problem, however, seems farther away than ever.

My Facebook newsfeed has become an all out verbal war of opinions and admonitions since the story of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre first broke.

Some cry out for gun control. Others cry out for improved mental healthcare. Others decry the prevalence of virtual violence in games, movies and TV. Some just want us to shut up and grieve.

Who am I to argue with any of them? I feel as helpless as anyone in this.

As a counselor who worked with troubled youth for 20 years, I have more knowledge, expertise and relevant experience to bring forth in the conversation. Yet my skilled thoughts seem unwanted in this stream of impassioned discourse.

Certainly my political views come into play as I form my own clinically-based solutions. I could also argue that my expertise and experiences have guided my political perspective.

We cannot avoid a political discussion of the issues. Politics guide the formation of laws and public policy to address such concerns, and something has to be done. We can, however, be reasonable and sensible in our approach.

My suggestion is that we voice our concerns to our law and policy makers instead of admonishing our Facebook friends. Write or call your senators, representatives, governors, etc. Let THEM know what recourse YOU want them to take.

Violence against children is a pervasive problem in our society. Although it is not usually 20 cut down in a single incident in a matter of minutes, children die DAILY in sprays of bullets. Survivors live in terror, yet they rarely get their intense mental health needs addressed. Often they reenact their trauma through video games with realistic visual imagery.

Young survivors of trauma are at much greater risk of becoming violent offenders as they grow older.

Something needs to change in our society’s approach to children and violence. Will we take action and find true solutions to ALL the factors that come into play? Or will we succumb to blather and useless noisy rhetoric?

Time will tell. I hope we do right by our children. They are counting on us.

BZTAT

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Okey’s Promise mural sketch by BZTAT

I spent 20 years working as a professional clinical counselor. In that time, I met a number of children who had been abused or exposed to domestic violence. The trauma was profound and the emotional effects were deep for these children.

Most of these children are now adults. Some have recovered from their painful experiences and have gone on to be successful in their endeavors. Others still struggle, but are working towards recovery.

And there are a few who have ended up in prison for violent crimes. That is the reality of recovery – some do not get to the place where we want them to be.

I met up with a young woman recently with whom I had worked towards a healing journey from her painful history. This young woman continues to struggle. She has a support network that stands by her, though, and a family that she has accrued through the years. She knows how important that is to her.

I had not seen her in probably 5 years. The reunion was emotional for both of us.

I was completely disarmed by her genuine gratitude for my past efforts on her behalf. As a child, she had many moments of reacting angrily against me, so I was surprised that she had recognized that I was helping her. One by one, she recounted incidents where I had stood by her despite her ingratitude at the time.

And she thanked me.

Not just for standing by her, but for understanding her pain.

This young lady loved animals, but when she experienced her emotional torment, that love turned to hate. She did not understand why, and she hated herself for it, but when her pain became too great, she attempted to harm the very pets whom she loved.

Luckily, she had foster parents and a treatment team that understood this. Plans were in place to protect the child and the animals from the dangers of her pain.

As we walked down memory lane recalling this, she was profuse in her gratitude about my help in keeping her from hurting the animals who were her best friends.

Anthropologist Margaret Mead has said, “One of the most dangerous things that can happen to a child is to kill or torture an animal and get away with it.” My young friend told me in so many words that she believed it to be true.

She rekindled my belief in the necessity of educating the public about this important issue.

Okey’s Promise is not just about animals. It is not just about children. It is not just about abuse and domestic violence.

Okey’s Promise is about bringing widespread awareness to the connections of animal abuse, child abuse and domestic violence through public art, so that we can help animals AND people be safe in our world.

I cannot do it alone. Will you help me?

My young friend, and many others out there deeply appreciate your understanding and willingness to share it with the world.

BZTAT

Please support the latest Okey’s Promise project. Become an Okey’s Promise Keeper today!

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As the major media outlets have been focused on the Olympics, the latest political news, and the traumatic shooting in Aurora, CO, a tragedy in upstate New York seemed to slip by us virtually unnoticed this past week.

According to the New York Daily News, one of the few news sites that did notice the tragedy, an 11-year old girl was arrested for senselessly beating her foster parent’s Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy to death.

According to the news report, the girl’s actions were surprisingly callous and provoked simply by being told “no” by her foster parent. The implication was that the child’s superficial needs being thwarted prompted the attack.

We know virtually nothing about the girl, other than the fact that she was in foster care, and that her placement in the home where the tragedy took place was temporary.

Knowing that the girl was in foster care, we can surmise that she had encountered some sort of turbulence in her young life, but we can only speculate on what experiences may have led up to her horrible actions against an innocent creature.

We do know this, however. Children are not born with malice. It is put in them.

When children harm animals, it is likely that they have been harmed themselves. Their actions are typically the only way they know how to release the pain and psychological torment that has interrupted their experience of childhood.

Although the girl’s actions resulted from a seemingly superficial disappointment, I feel confident in guessing that there was much more to it than that.

The tragedy here is that many lives have been deeply hurt by the girl’s actions. The puppy lost its life, and the foster parent’s family lost a treasured pet. The girl now is not only a likely victim herself, she is a perpetrator, leaving her with legal consequences and deeper psychological trauma.

“One of the most dangerous things that can happen to a child is to kill or torture an animal and get away with it.” -Anthropologist Margaret Mead

We cannot, and should not let this girl escape consequences for her actions. Yet consequences alone will not be sufficient treatment for her. She needs a combination of specialized trauma therapy, close supervision and monitoring, education regarding effective problem-solving, and unconditional support.

Will she get it?

I have my doubts. Our system of care for troubled youth is underfunded and not well-designed. Sadly, it often fails. Even if this girl does get the right mix of services, there are so many others who need it and will not get it.

That is why it is so important to watch for signs of trouble before it reaches this level of tragic outcome. We need to be aware that children in troubled situations need help, and they often show signs of their distress well before it gets this bad.

What can you do?

1. Report known or suspected incidents of child abuse to authorities IMMEDIATELY. Failing to report because you do not want to get involved is a tragedy in and of itself.
2. Be alert to the behaviors of children and adolescents with whom you are regularly in contact, and report incidents of aggressive behavior towards animals to caregivers or authorities.
3. Combine efforts to rescue animals with advocacy for children. If you have rescued an animal from a bad situation, see if any children may be in that same bad situation.
4. Volunteer as a mentor for children with Big Brother’s Big Sisters or other mentoring groups and involve youth in compassionate programming for animals.
5. Check out our Resource Page to learn more.
6. Spread the message of Okey’s Promise so that others will be aware to watch for signs of animals and children in need.

Actual intervention and involvement with children is so needed in our communities. Combining that intervention and involvement with animal causes is a win-win on many levels.

Advocacy is important too. We can all spread the word.

Will you help us do that?

BZTAT

Learn about how you can get involved with the latest Okey’s Promise: Art for a Cause project!

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I am still working on the “Okey’s Promise: Celebrating the Human – Animal Bond” project, and plan to finish in October. After that project is completed, I want to be ready to start immediately on the next project!

In order to do that, I need to start the fund raising for the project now. So, drum roll…

The new project is now launched!

With this project, I plan to focus on the needs of homeless pets who often fall victim to abuse and neglect in our communities. Rather than focus on the ugliness of abuse and neglect, however, the art, as is my style, will focus on hopeful outcomes.

This is my 3rd Okey’s Promise Project (see the other 2 projects here), and it promises to be the most creative yet! I plan to creatively transform the facade of a building with images of cats and dogs, and possibly some other companion animals.

I intend to take a nondescript building in the hub of a town in Ohio (to be revealed later) and turn it into a creative masterpiece that opens eyes, hearts and minds.

I will create murals on wood that will be attached to the exterior of the building.  A business owner has agreed to allow me to use her building as a canvas, and she is very excited to have the next Okey’s Promise project grace her property!

The exact location of the property will be revealed after all the logistics and official schtuff that is required is complete. It is in the business district of a city in Ohio. The property owner is a very committed arts and animal enthusiast and will be a very solid partner for the project.

Funding for the project is needed to assist with the purchase of art materials, studio rent, costs of hanging the mural, and creative time spent painting the mural. The goal may seem large, but it is very costly to create public art.

All money raised will go towards supplies for the project, studio rent, utilities and other expenses, and a small salary to compensate me as the artist for my work. This will be my “job” during the time I work on the project, and I will need to be compensated so that my needs and my pets’ needs are not neglected.

Would you like to participate in the Okey’s Promise: Art for a Cause movement? Would you like to be one of Okey’s Promise Keepers?

Previous projects have all been crowd-funded with some grant assistance. We hope that you will join this project and be a part of the movement. You can contribute here or you can go to the fund raising page.

Thanks for your support!

BZTAT