Broken

Behind the Artwork

“My Family Sold Me” Broken – Watercolor painting by Pamela Alderman

Artist Pamela Alderman

BROKEN: After exhibit visitors shared their experiences, I finally realized the progression between sexting, sexual assaults, and suicidal tendencies. Like one individual said, “Eventually, one thing leads to the next.”

SEXTING: “My boyfriend pressured me into texting a nude picture of myself. I tapped ‘send’—he uploaded my images to the internet.” – 7th-grader

PORNOGRAPHY: “Realizing how many pornography models aren’t there by choice, it changes how one views pornography. It’s no longer entertainment.” – Businessman

RAPE: “First, my boyfriend raped me. Then his dad took a turn.” – High school student

SEX TRAFFICKING: “My dad sold me for sex to the men in his office from the time I was two until I was five.” – Young mom

SUICIDE: “It all started with one private message. But eventually, one thing led to the next.” – 43-year-old

Healing in Art’s awareness exhibits consist of a variety of multimedia installations. Every work represents both the pain and the potential of each girl and boy enslaved in the commercial sex industry. Inspirational stories connect the audience to real survivors and encourage the healing process. Each exhibit can be expanded to include our Healing in Arts Station, with hands-on activities and community resources on how to get involved. For further educational opportunities, our presentation and film connect viewers to this social problem. Combined, these various pieces make the exhibit a more complete experience.

Red Jeans Redemption Story

Behind the Artwork

Red Jeans Redemption: red jeans on fence

“I just couldn’t let it out,” said a 63-year-old woman, whom I’ll call Trudy. So, for years, the repeated childhood molestation remained hidden.

Sometimes shame, guilt, and fear keep secrets—hush hush. Before #MeToo, generations of women often suffered without a voice. They had no platform to talk about what happened to them.

After viewing The Scarlet Cord exhibit during ArtPrize 2014, dozens of older women dropped their heads on my shoulder and quietly wept. Even though the exhibit specifically highlighted sex trafficking awareness, the audience expanded the work to include childhood molestation and date rape.

I wondered, How many from those voiceless generations, women in their 60s, 70s, and 80s, never told their story of abuse for the sake of protecting family members? Because the validity of their story would be questioned? These forgotten women, hiding decades of dirty secrets, never had a chance to process their trauma.

Through an art encounter, though, many of these women found a sort of release. Somehow the artwork touched something deep within the human spirit. After viewing the art, their secrets started spilling out.

My recent work about sexual trauma, Red Jeans Redemption, addresses this missing narrative. This project gives voice to all women as they record their stories of abuse on a pair of red jeans. As I sat in the kitchen with Trudy, her secret, which started when she was only 6 years old, manifested itself through an art project.

But the initial healing had actually started a few weeks before, as an elderly family member lay dying. In those sacred moments, Trudy got down on her knees and took her perpetrator’s hand. Then she broke shame’s power: “Dad, I forgive you for what you did to me.”

Trudy’s redemption moment came during a confrontation—adult to adult—with her childhood abuser, her own father. When Trudy began to talk about the past, the healing process started. After decades of silence, Trudy finally let it out.

Pamela’s art acknowledges #MeToo anger and responds by offering women a space to experience healing and peace.

Maria Fee, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor of Theology and Culture Fuller Theological Seminary

Healing in Art’s awareness exhibits consist of a variety of multimedia installations. Every work represents both the pain and the potential of each girl and boy enslaved in the commercial sex industry. Inspirational stories connect the audience to real survivors and encourage the healing process. Each exhibit can be expanded to include our Healing in Arts Station, with hands-on activities and community resources on how to get involved. For further educational opportunities, our presentation and film connect viewers to this social problem. Combined, these various pieces make the exhibit a more complete experience.

Red Jeans Redemption: Live Art Response

Behind the Artwork1 Comment

Red Jeans Redemption

Pamela Alderman with SEE Freedom

The Red Jeans Redemption exhibit gives voice to the hidden stories of sexual abuse, rape, and sex trafficking. This community-based work involves multiple layers of participation. First, several individuals donated funds or bought red jeans and left them on my front porch. Next, a couple of sexual abuse therapists agreed to make the project available to their clients.

One counselor wrote her own rape story on a pair of red jeans and hung them on her office wall. As clients noticed the jeans, they asked if they could participate by writing their stories too. To keep up with the increasing interest, we developed a rotation system: When the counselors returned the finished jeans, I dropped off or mailed additional jeans. Several women from Sacred Beginnings, a nonprofit that rescues victims of sexual exploitation, also recorded their sacred stories.

In February, the Red Jeans Redemption exhibit will be expanded to include Pamela’s live painting performance with an opportunity for audience engagement. For this segment, audience members will write ways they can help end exploitation on scraps of red denim. Then, Pamela, along with Anna Donahue and Susan Anderson, will incorporate the audience’s responses into a large canvas painting (detail from example painting shown). This live collaborative experience will remind visitors of the healing redemption found when shame and secrets are released and met with a compassionate response.

Join Us for Story Collective On February 25, 2020

Story Collective: A Night for Freedom curates an artistic gathering to support the work to create a future free from human trafficking for thousands in our community.

Story Collective will gather community members to showcase a new art exhibition by Pamela Alderman, the Red Jeans Redemption Project, an art experience which gives voice to survivors of exploitation. The red jeans display anonymous stories from survivors. This night we will learn together and participate in a live art response to the problem of exploitation.

Date:
Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Time:
6:15 PM – 8:30 PM EST

Location:
The Lit
61 Sheldon Avenue Southeast
Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Tickets:
$55

The Season to Give

Behind the Artwork

Children creating interactive art projects in school workshop

What do you do with that loose change leftover from coffee dates? Or the unexpected $10 discovered in your coat pocket? Here’s a challenge: Empower someone else through hands-on art with your small gift of money. At Healing in Arts, our donor-supported work transforms human brokenness into opportunities for growth and wellness through interactive art.”

Artist and facilitator Pamela Alderman creates a new kind of community-based art that invites audience collaboration. This participatory art lets others speak and respond. As individuals or groups engage with artmaking through social justice art exhibits, school workshops, or community programs, many attest to the restorative power of art.

Pamela and her team witness this healing time after time. She recalls an incident at The Scarlet Cord installation, an exhibit that raises sex-trafficking awareness. “In response to The Scarlet Cord, a student fell into my arms. I held her as she cried. Little by little her story came: At 13, she had been raped by an older adult and another teen. Pain and devastation marked her young life.” The participatory art helped activate the healing process and gave the young teen an opportunity to release some of the hurt by verbalizing her story.

Young woman viewing The Scarlet Cord in Phoenix

As visitors interact with the work, they often identify their pain, and in some cases, they begin talking about deep wounds for the first time. The result? Participants experience healing—bit by bit—through redemptive art.

By serving others and encouraging soul care, we help unlock people and move them towards human flourishing or personal well-being. Your financial investment—large or small—plays a huge role in healing brokenness and restoring hope. Join our Healing in Arts team today!

Join Our Team!
We would be so grateful!

Our healing art involves you—because you matter!

Recovering from Sexual Abuse

Behind the Artwork

Wounded - Mixed media art and part of The Scarlet Cord installation

Tammy’s Story

Survivors often begin to experience healing when they finally acknowledge the sexual abuse. Over time, some even reach the point when they can let go of the guilt and shame. These first bold steps often end up sparking hope. This inspirational story occurred at The Scarlet Cord exhibit:

While I was raising awareness for sex trafficking at The Scarlet Cord, a young woman I call Tammy asked for one of the scarlet cords that we gave away to exhibit visitors. As I tied a cord on Tammy’s wrist, she burst into tears. The sexual abuse, she said, had lasted for years during her childhood.

“The shame and the guilt of your sexual abuse,” I said, “belongs to your perpetrators. The individuals who committed the crimes against you. The shame and the guilt doesn’t belong to you.”

Tammy’s perpetrator, a teacher, had told her that she had invited the abuse by being seductive. “His accusations are part of the abuse,” I explained. “Children don’t solicit sexual abuse; children are the victims.”

A month later, one of Tammy’s friends emailed me to thank me for reaching out to her. The friend wrote, “Ever since that night when we met at The Scarlet Cord, Tammy has been feeling encouraged.”

Tammy’s first bold steps for healing gave her a sense of new beginnings.

Find out more about The Scarlet Cord exhibit.

Note: The name and some details have been changed to protect identities.

The Scarlet Cord: Awareness and Healing for Sex Trafficking and Sexual Abuse

General

The Scarlet Cord elements

The Scarlet Cord presentation—comprised of a film, gallery collection, and interactive exhibit—is designed to raise awareness and inspire healing for sexual abuse survivors or those negatively impacted by the commercial sex industry. The Scarlet Cord popup exhibit contains an abstract painting series portraying the victims’ voices that have been interpreted from audio sound waves to 2D paintings.

This series is part of a twenty-five piece gallery collection. In addition, 3D optional responsive pieces, Life Words or The Scarlet Web, invite an interactive collaboration between artist and visitors. These engaging works let others speak and respond. The multi-dimensional modular components, or a special custom work created especially for your event, fit into open or closed spaces. Pamela also has coached high school and college students in creating their own unique projects.

Book The Scarlet Cord for Your Next Event…

Pamela’s collaborative and interactive art is donor supported.
You can get involved, donate securely on the Patreon web site.

The Scarlet Cord: Making

Behind the Artwork

The Scarlet Cord Collection, which first debuted at ArtPrize 2014, helps raise awareness for sex-trafficking. But it also speaks to deep emotional wounds caused by sexual abuse. Many male and female visitors have taken the first brave steps towards healing while experiencing the artwork.

By using words or releasing tears in acknowledgement of what happened, the healing process for some begins. True inner freedom is possible. But healing takes time and long-term effort.

If you have a past history of sexual abuse, we would encourage you to seek healing for resolution and closure. Surround yourself with people who care, compassionate people who are willing to help you move forward.

What is the next step you need to take to find true healing?

Learn more about Healing in Arts…

Our healing art involves you—because you matter!