By way of her Creative Minds Center of the Arts in Oak Park’s Southtown District, visual artist and actress Teala Stampley created a space where mental health and art collide.
“It’s a space for healing from being human and adulting and all the things,” said Stampley, 34. “It’s an opportunity to get out of your head.”
Stampley has occupied her live/work space for approximately a year and half.
Some of the events that take place at Creative Minds include The Painted Tongue: Open Mic and Art Exhibition every third Thursday at 7 p.m. Let’s Talk About It Paint and Conversation takes place every fourth Saturday. It’s BYOB with light hors d’oeuvres. Stampley leads the art work part of the event, a licensed therapist leads the conversation.
There’s no pressure for deep conversation during the event, Stampley said. Rather, it’s an opportunity for creating community and allowing for other ways for growth and healing. Contacts for professional resources are available.
“We have a lot of resources for the Black and Brown community because representation in mental health is important, ” she said. “Therapy is big but we need tools outside of that as well. Tapping into something like art, or even if you write something down, paint something or draw something, you don’t have to show it to anybody. Once you get it out, if you want to you can toss it. I have some paintings that are just in my
A breezy morning in July found the talented artist setting up her work space at 803 Van Buren St., for a viewing party for her co-starring role (Season 7, episode 9) as a nurse in the popular Chicago-based television drama series The Chi. The series, created by Emmy Award winner, Lena Waithe, chronicles life in a Chicago South Side neighborhood.
“I’ve always wanted to be an actress and I’ve always loved films,” said Stampley, whose struggles with self-doubt and life occurrences initially kept her dream of acting at bay. “When I turned 30, I said, ‘Something’s got to change.’ I auditioned for The Chi four or five times and then the last time it hit.”
Stampley’s acting credits also include a starring role in The Burden of Guilt currently streaming on Tubi about a struggling couple seeking counseling following their son’s passing.
Her acting talents are also seen through her portrayal of the character Brenda, in writer/director Muhammad Bilal’s, Perdido, which centers on an African-American man who reluctantly seeks therapy after suppressed memories from a past run-in with police are triggered.
Background work in Chicago PD, an American police procedural television series broadcast by NBC) is also part of her acting portfolio.
“I started doing background work on Chicago PD from 2001 and 2002,” Stampley said. “I stepped on set doing background; three months later I had an agent because I knew what I wanted to do.”
A great support system of people surrounds her, she said, including her family and actors such LaRoyce Hawkins who plays Kevin Atwater on Chicago PD.
“It’s really good to know that people in Chicago can look out for each other,” she said.
Painting, poetry, art exhibitions and healing activities
Multifaceted in her artistic expression, along with acting, painting, writing poetry, makeup artistry, sketch artistry and seamstress skills are all part of her arsenal of creative talents.
Like others with undiscovered hidden talents, Stampley wasn’t aware of her painting ability.
“I started painting about a year and a half ago as a form of healing because I suffer from anxiety and major depression,” she said. “I was going through a little bit of a dark episode. My uncle is also a painter and he used painting to kind of help heal himself so I just grabbed the paint brush and said I want to put some paintings in here.”
Stampley describes her genre as mixed media three dimensional.
“I do portraits and abstract art work,” Stampley said. “I mix portraits and abstract together. It’s just kind of my style.”
Several of her mixed-media, three-dimensional creations are on display as part of her “Anxiety Project” exhibition. Anxiety, she said, is thinking too far into the future and depression is focusing too much on the past.
The exhibition was her way of letting people know they don’t have to struggle with their mental illness.
“Painting became so therapeutic and I would tell my stories,” Stampley explained. “I was literally creating them to tell my story. Now people see it and it’s really kind of vulnerable because I wasn’t creating them for anybody to see but if I can help somebody else…”
According to the Mayo Clinic, feeling anxious from time to time, especially if your life is stressful, is normal. However, excessive, ongoing anxiety and worry that are difficult to control and interfere with day-to-day activities may be a sign of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). .
GAD affects 6.8 million adults or 3.1% of the U.S. population with women twice as likely to be affected as men. GAD often co-occurs with major depression, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.
An ongoing theme in Stampley’s painted work on canvas are the clocks you’ll see reflected in them.
“The clocks are a reminder to keep you present,” the artist said. “The best remedy for anxiety is to just try and be present and in the moment. You may not be able to relate to some of my paintings but the clocks in them…anybody can relate.”
Stampley used real glass in the eyes of the people depicted in her pieces.
“They’re a mirror so that you can see yourself,” she said.
According to the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, just seeing art can impact the brain whether it’s part of a creative arts therapy exercise, or something experienced in everyday life, artistic expression is beneficial.
“I would say to people dealing with mental health issues the first thing is you don’t have to struggle.” Stampley said. “There’s help out there in many different ways and forms. If you don’t like therapy, find another healthy way to cope but you don’t have to be miserable or sad. It’s ok to ask for help.”
For more information about the events at Creative Minds or to contact Teala Stampley, visit her website at www.tealastampley.com or visit her Facebook page at Creative Minds Center of the Arts.