‘Every Day is a Memory’: Honoring Life Through Art at UPMC Northwest
By: Autumn Bellan
Every year, UPMC Northwest’s behavioral health unit hosts an art show and sale in May for Mental Health Month, featuring art created by patients. This year, one day before the show, the unit was struck by the tragic loss of their beloved colleague, Candace Kent.
“Candy Kent was an amazing clinician, colleague, and friend,” said Trisha Rimpa, M.A., unit director, behavioral health. “Losing her suddenly was tragic for the patients she compassionately advocated for and for the staff who witnessed her dedication to the field of psychiatric nursing.”
Kent was on the behavioral health unit for eight years, helping to make the unit what it is today as one of the first nurses on the unit to obtain board certification in psychiatric mental health nursing. “Candy’s memory lives on in all the hearts who knew her and learned from her,” said Rimpa. She led study sessions and provided encouragement to other staff who wanted to be certified.
Postponing the show to mourn her loss, the team found two touching ways to honor her legacy at UPMC Northwest’s behavioral health unit, creating a beautiful mural in the unit to memorialize her mark on the unit and renaming the art show the Candy Kent Memorial Art Show and Sale.
Loss Gives Life to Art
Lindsey Burchfield, milieu therapist I, took the lead on creating the mural on the front wall by the entrance. She designed a piece showcasing Kent’s favorite flowers and colors with the goal of making the environment feel more inviting to patients.
Day-to-day, Burchfield runs groups and one-on-one sessions with the patients, ranging from psychoeducational recreational activities to therapeutic conversations. “My goal is to get to know them as people rather than by their diagnosis,” said Burchfield.
Outside of work, Burchfield has always had an artsy background, working on craft projects in her spare time. “It was my little hidden talent, but after Candy passed away, I was more than honored to paint the mural.” Burchfield wanted to showcase what Kent meant to the unit while making the environment feel more inviting.
Over two months, Burchfield worked on the mural, often finding time between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. while the patients were asleep. Burchfield enjoyed working in the quiet hours of the night. “I loved that I was able to make the process fun for the patients and staff,” said Burchfield, who loved seeing patients’ reactions when they woke up to see her progress or her coworkers’ faces when they stopped by.
On a slower day in the unit, Burchfield showed a talented patient on the EAC how to paint a leaf on the right side of the mural, allowing the patient the chance to give back to Kent, who helped care for them.
“Candy was a huge advocate for patients with mental health diagnoses, which is why the process of doing the mural meant so much to me,” said Burchfield. “While I was working on the mural, there were many times that I would sense she was there.” Burchfield added the butterfly as a finishing touch to symbolize Kent looking over the rest of the mural, the unit, coworkers and patients.
A New Namesake
In addition to the mural, the annual Behavioral Health Stamp Out Stigma Art Show and Sale was renamed the Candy Kent Memorial Art Show and Sale. Recently, the event went off without a hitch, drawing off the success of the past four annual art shows. The patients from the Extended Acute Care (EAC) unit typically facilitate the show, helping with set-up and working during the show.
“They truly love it,” said Rimpa. Christina Greggs, lead behavioral health counselor, spearheads the whole event. organizing raffles too. Last year, the raffle was a quilted blanket made of past UPMC Northwest t-shirts. The team also makes T-shirts, designed by patients, that staff can buy.
In addition to art, the team began selling plants. The patients work on growing flowers and vegetables in the hallway outside of the behavioral health unit, which becomes the ‘greenhouse.’
The proceeds from the show now go towards the Candy Kent Memorial Scholarship for Student Nurses, a scholarship open to current nursing students who plan to go into psychiatric nursing.
Stamping Out the Stigma
Growing up in the communities surrounding UPMC Northwest, Burchfield noted how the small area lacked mental health resources. “I see how mental health affects everyone in our community, whether you see them passing on the street or at a gas station,” she said. “I never realized the impact I could make until I started working on the unit two years ago.”
“Every day is a memory,” said Burchfield. “The patients have given me drawings, handwritten letters, and thanked me in ways that help carry me through my days.” Burchfield has grown very passionate about breaking the stigma surrounding mental health, leaving UPMC to start a Master of Science in clinical mental health counseling in Arizona this month.
“As our unit is behind a locked door, we are often ‘in our own world,’” said Rimpa. “We are on a constant mission to decrease the stigma behind the behavioral Health unit.” Whether it be through art, gardening, or supporting each other through loss, the behavioral health team at UPMC Northwest continues to work to show the community that patients with mental health diagnoses are people just like anyone else.
Day-to-day, Burchfield runs groups and one-on-one sessions with the patients, ranging from psychoeducational recreational activities to therapeutic conversations. “My goal is to get to know them as people rather than by their diagnosis,” said Burchfield.
In addition to the mural, the annual Behavioral Health Stamp Out Stigma Art Show and Sale was renamed the Candy Kent Memorial Art Show and Sale. Recently, the event went off without a hitch, drawing off the success of the past four annual art shows. The patients from the Extended Acute Care (EAC) unit typically facilitate the show, helping with set-up and working during the show.
