NARSAD Artworks Featured Artwork of the Week: “Northeaster” by Dorothy Ricci

Dorothy Ricci lives in Pennsylvania where she paints in many different formats. She is an accomplished artist, having studied at Philadelphia Museum College of Art, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Art Students League of New York City. While at the Art Students League, she studied oil painting with Frank Mason, concentrating on portraiture and still life and utilizing the methods of the old masters, particularly Rembrandt and Sargeant. She has traveled to Italy over a dozen times, where she painted extensively in watercolor. Diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, for the last ten years Dorothy has been a working artist, doing commission works in landscape, private homes, historic sites and portraits. Her works are part of both private and corporate collections. Dorothy finds that painting is an expression of her emotions and helps her get beyond them.

NARSAD Artworks is a 501(c) 3 non-profit corporation dedicated to reproducing and selling museum-quality art, including note cards, holiday cards, posters, bookmarks, and T-shirts. Each piece of art was designed by a talented artist whose life has been affected by mental illness. The artists are paid at prevailing commercial rates, and all proceeds flow to Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (Formally NARSAD) -funded research to understand causes and improve treatments of mental illness.

In addition, many of the items available through NARSAD Artworks were created around the anti-stigma Silver Ribbon. The silver ribbon is available as a pair of earrings, a charm, wristband, tote bag, and even a cookie cutter. It is designed to be worn to show you care about someone with a mental illness, to help break down the barriers to treatment and support, to help eliminate the stigma against those who suffer and to show you believe there is hope through education and research.

Please have a look at the beautiful, moving artwork and consider supporting NARSAD Artworks. The work produced by NARSAD Artworks has many benefits:

• provides self-esteem and income for the artists
• employs mentally ill persons
• promotes public education and de-stigmatization of mental illness
• raises funds to invest in  brain and behavior research

Visit www.narsadartworks.org to view and to purchase any of these items.

by Josh Okun, NARSAD Manager of Web Services and Lorraine Divone, NARSAD Production and Art Director