Ohio artists' works reflect on suicide, mental health as part of inaugural fundraiser

Amid the worst months of her husband’s rapid mental health decline, Julie Leonard recalls waking up most mornings thinking one thing: “What fresh hell awaits?”

It was a time marked by uncertainty and anguish, the potential for tragedy looming each day until the proverbial bomb Leonard had long dreaded went off. Her husband, Steve, died by suicide in 2008 at the age of 40, leaving Leonard and the couple's three young children in Cincinnati left to pick up the pieces of their family’s shattered life.

Now, those four words Leonard contemplated daily — ”What fresh hell awaits?” — serve as the title of the first of three ceramic art pieces she created to reflect on the final days of her husband’s life, and the journey of grief it set her upon. Beginning with the depiction of a grenade, the series ends on a more-hopeful note now that Leonard has transformed that pain into a powerful artistic statement.

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“It’s a terrible, terrible pain, but I would also never trade the gifts that come from that,” said Leonard, 55. “Tragedy can create a lot of beautiful things and that’s what I wanted to convey with that piece.”

Leonard will be among several multidisciplinary artists who will have their work displayed as part of the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation's (OSPF) inaugural fundraising event. Taking place Thursday evening in Downtown Columbus, the sold-out benefit includes dinner and a slate of speakers, including Academy Award-winning actress Marlee Matlin, said Tony Coder, the foundation's executive director.

Those who cannot attend the benefit are also able to make donations at www.ohiospf.org.

The benefit — featuring pottery, sketches and paintings from artists who have lost loved ones to suicide or who have struggled with suicidal ideation — comes as suicide deaths climb across the nation.

A recent report from the Franklin County Coroner's office revealed that suicides in the county rose nearly 10% in 2021 from the previous year amid nationwide concern that isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to rises in suicide and suicidal ideation.

Coder cited a 2021 Kaiser Family Foundation survey in which he said that 41% of respondents self-reported feelings of depression and anxiety, nearly four times the 11% of people who reported having those feelings in 2019.

“We’re just now starting to see all those impacts of the pandemic starting to really be evident in people, and our suicide rates are climbing pretty drastically,” Coder said. “There’s so much need, and we just really want to raise awareness around the issue.”

In the years following the death of her husband, Leonard connected with other widows as a member of the Companions on a Journey Grief Support, a nonprofit agency providing counseling for those in the Cincinnati area who have lost loved ones. Through that agency, she also began facilitating a support group for people dealing with suicide loss.

Now an advocate for suicide prevention and mental health, Leonard became a ceramic hobbyist and started sharing her creations on social media. When a fundraising consultant who she knew saw her work, she was asked to create ceramic pieces for the OSPF fundraiser.

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Her second piece resembles one that you may find at an archeological dig, she said — a piece glazed in copper and blue tones and titled “Holding the Pieces Together,” a nod to the months after Steve’s death where her sole focus was on keeping her life and the lives of her children from falling apart. A homage to where she is now in life, the series ends with a sense of optimism — a vase that appears to be spilling open, titled “Wide open lets the light in.”

“I feel like where we are now as a family and where I am as an individual is trying to live my life so that every minute counts,” Leonard said.

Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, a retired Ohio Supreme Court justice, created a painting that will be exhibited during the benefit. Stratton first became interested in mental health awareness during her time on the bench when she said she saw so many defendants who entered her courtroom struggling with apparent mental illnesses. 

An avid painter, Stratton happily lent her skills to create an acrylic painting titled “Joy out of Darkness” to muse on the hope that exists to those who survive suicide. 

“So many times, if you can make it through a suicide attempt or a suicide ideology, you find the joy in life again,” Stratton said.

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Coder said that much of the art will be auctioned during the event, but some of it will be saved at the artists’ requests to be displayed for the public when OSPF opens a gallery as early as spring at its Downtown office, 175 S. 3^rd St.

“There’s ability to talk about it, and there is hope,” Coder said. “When they’re feeling depressed, when they’re struggling, the therapy that comes with creating art is so valuable, and we want to make sure everyone has the tools to get through those times when life seems so bleak."

If you or someone you know is experiencing a behavioral health crisis, you can reach Ohio's 24/7 Crisis Text Line by texting 4HOPE to 741741 or call the Franklin County Suicide Prevention Hotline at 614-221-5445 or the Teen Suicide Prevention Hotline at 614-294-3300. The national Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be reached by dialing 988 or by dialing 1-800-273-8255/TALK (1-888-628-9454 for Spanish speakers).

Eric Lagatta is a reporter at the Columbus Dispatch covering social justice issues and nonprofits.

elagatta@dispatch.com

@EricLagatta