NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — After her brother died years ago, local artist Erika Hitchcock became passionate about mental health, with one-in-four American adults experiencing a mental health disorder in a given year, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Now, Hitchcock has teamed up with NAMI Coastal Virginia to help get the community involved in erasing the stigma attached to mental illness.
“I did lose my brother to mental health,” Hitchcock said. “He didn’t have that support, and I think if there was one person that had reached out to him, we might have had a different outcome.”
In an effort to raise awareness for NAMI’s programs, as well as fundraise for the nonprofit, Hitchcock and NAMI leaders created the With Love Campaign. A part of that campaign is the 1,000 Flowers Community Art Project.
“The core of the program is to combine the arts with mental health advocacy,” Hitchcock said. “We’re asking everyone in the five cities [that NAMI serves] to make an origami flower with a written message of hope inside, and all these flowers will be collected and then put into heart vessels that will be put on installation and unveiled at the With Love Gala in February at the Chrysler Museum of Art, and then travel through 2025-2026 in the different cities.”
Anyone of any age can participate in 1,000 Flowers Community Art Project.
“This program has really taken off,” she said. “It’s in the schools. It’s coming into communities. I think because mental health is just a difficult topic, the effects of it are hard and difficult for people. Combining it with the arts gives it a lighter feel that maybe brings people to create something and bring some joy to a topic that’s very, very difficult.”
If you are not able to participate in the 1,000 Flowers Community Art Project in person, there is a virtual option.
“There’s a QR code on our website where you can submit your statement so that that those will all be projected along with the installation,” Hitchcock said.
With educators on the With Love planning committee, they created resources for teachers to use in their classrooms.
“There’s curriculum for teachers online, and there’s also instructions for community organizations,” she said. “So you can download that or read it and then bring that to your organization.”
Hitchcock said she has two main goals — one is to support NAMI Coastal Virginia, and the other to address the stigma of mental health.
“It’s too prevalent, and I think if people can have conversations by making one flower, we help remove the stigma,” Hitchcock said.
She said the With Love Gala will be a joyful, elegant event in February.
“We’re looking at it as a celebration, a celebration of the arts and advocacy of everything we’ve accomplished over the year,” Hitchcock said. “It will be the unveiling of the 1,000 Flowers installation.”
Hitchcock is hopeful 1,000 Flowers, combined with the With Love Gala, will make a difference in the lives of so many who live with mental health struggles.
“I think when you lose somebody in your life so tragically, you’re always going to question, did I do enough? And I live with that,” she said. “So when I see people responding positively, … to me, it brings hope that maybe my brother’s outcome will change for somebody else.”
More information
There will be a silent art auction, music, dinner and performances at the With Love Gala. The goal of the formal event is to raise funds and support for NAMI Coastal Virginia community programs.
The gala will be hosted at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. WAVY-TV 10 anchor Katie Collett will be the emcee for the evening. To buy tickets, click here. If you’re interested in sponsoring the event, click here.
There is also a call for local artists to donate a piece of artwork for the silent auction. If you would like to apply to submit a piece of your artwork, click here.