Brian Hagberg
WARREN, Pa. – For the last couple of weeks, anyone driving into the entrance at Sheffield High School has been asked to make a choice.
Not verbally, or through an app on their phone, but by the artwork adorning the billboard just east of the parking entrance off Route 6.
Choosing joy was the theme of Sydney Smead’s piece that was selected to be featured as part of CORE’s (Choosing Openness Regarding Experiences) annual billboard campaign celebrating Mental Health Month in May.
For Smead, her work was inspired through a combination of her love of experimentation and wanting to be inspirational in the wake of the deaths suffered within the school district this year.
“My inspiration for this project was my love with experimenting with art supplies,” Smead said. “I’m really upbeat and I wanted to do something inspirational. The tragic news made me realize the importance of choosing joy and getting past hard times.”
While the billboard project has been an annual CORE event, it took on extra meaning this year after two students completed suicide within days of each other in December. And for CORE’s founder, Kari Swanson, it only intensified her passion to help the community learn to deal with mental health.
“This (helping people) is my passion. This is what I love to do,” Swanson said. “I want people to come in and help our youth and our adults who are struggling because in the 27 years I’ve been doing mental health the suicide rates have gone up and the ages of those rates have gone down. And we need to come together and change that.”
That need for change was also a driving influence for Smead.
“We need to get past the barriers and realize we need to help people with their mental health,” Smead said.
For the “upbeat” Smead, that meant having some fun with the project.
“My art teacher told me about (the billboards) and inspired me to use my skills and have fun,” Smead said.
Smead has entered her work in art shows, but having it prominently placed where it could inspire those who see it was a new experience.
“I’ve had my artwork be displayed in an art show but I’ve never had it on a billboard before,” Smead said. “It was awesome to see that my artwork could potentially help people be brave enough to ask for help.”
