Okay. Remember last month when I found a bunch of tattered art works at a local estate sale and fell into an obsessive hyperfixation to figure out who the artist was and what happened to her?
Here’s a tiny recap in case you have the same memory problems I do.
The art works were from the 1950s and were signed L. Perea. They were mostly images from inside of a mental institution and were both brilliant and harrowing. They reminded me of the pieces that Van Gogh had made while in asylums, and it struck me how many people never had an opportunity to tell their story…particularly people who were hidden away in institutions in a time when mental illness was something to be ashamed of or feared. Her art spoke to me because I struggle with mental illness and creating art and writing has saved me over and over. I have family members who died in institutions when mental illness was something to be feared, so in some ways I felt a kinship.
I was really conflicted though, because I wanted to protect her privacy and her family, but also I wanted to break the stigma of shame so that her art could be seen and her story told. Through research I’ve found she was the last living descendent of her family. (She could have very distant cousins on her mother’s side but none that I’ve found.) I also worried that perhaps she wouldn’t want her art shown, but what I do know is that she created homemade paper frames for almost all of them, and I don’t think you do that with art you don’t want to be seen. I hope I’m right.
So I’m going to tell you her story…the small parts that I’ve been able to discover…and then let her art tell what I think she wanted the rest of the world to know. I hope she’ll be happy about that, wherever she is now.
After I wrote the first blog about Laura I had a chance to return to the home where I bought the art and dug through piles of ephemera to find a few more of her pieces. The owner of the home had been an antique dealer and he couldn’t remember where or when he’d acquired them, so that was a dead end.
It’s actually because of readers here that I found the first thread…Laura Perea, a patient listed as a resident at the local San Antonio State Hospital Mental Institution in the 1950s census. I wasn’t convinced though until I compared this drawing she did in 1955…
…with a photograph from the San Antonio Express showing female patients outside the hospital and recognized the same unique fire-escape stairs in both.
The news story that accompanied the photograph was a horrifying story of severe overcrowding, understaffing and dehumanization…with one psychiatrist for every 280 patients. And it backs up the images from Laura’s art.
Here is what I know of Laura’s story:
Laura’s paternal grandfather was the first hispanic man ordained as a presbyterian pastor (in 1880) and he had a wild life. He rebelled from his wealthy Catholic upbringing in Mexico, ran away to sail the world for 5 years, searched for gold in California, became a shepherd, a missionary, and supported his school-teacher wife in starting a presbyterian school in New Mexico until the local jesuit priests convinced the children that the schoolhouse was possessed by Satan and that Laura’s grandmother “consulted with the devil” each night. The pair started several churches, but personal tragedy followed them.
Their first 5 children all died before age 10 of various illnesses. Their next oldest had a history of mental illness and when he robbed a drug-goods store at age 18 his parents testified that “insanity in his case was hereditary, having a number of very near relatives confined in asylums”. He was committed to the Territorial Hospital for the Insane in Las Vegas. The newspapers at the time blamed his mother for his insanity because she’d witnessed a run-away accident and saw two of her children die of scarlet fever while she was pregnant which made her son insane. (Jesus, patriarchy.) He was later released, but died soon after in a grisly coal train accident, age 24.
The next oldest child started working as an evangelist for Spanish-speaking people, but by at least 1917 (age 26) he’s listed at the Eastern State Hospital for the Insane in Kentucky, where he remained until his death at age 46 in 1938. His death certificate listed what we’d now recognize as a form of schizophrenia.
The only surviving child to enjoy a successful adult life became a language professor and the registrar at Trinity University (in Waxahachie and later San Antonio). His wife gave birth to their only children, twin girls name Helen and Laura, in 1914. The girls excelled in school and both attended college at Trinity University from 1933-1936. In the newspaper stories Laura was recognized for having the highest grades in her class and she graduated summa cum laude of her university, however neither Laura nor her sister were ever named or photographed in any of their college yearbooks. (Possibly because they were both starting to struggle with their mental health?) In the 1940 census Laura and her sister are 26, and are both residents of the West Texas State Hospital for the Insane in Big Spring.
In 1948, Helen dies by suicide at her parents home.
The 1950 census shows Laura living at the San Antonio State Hospital Mental Institution.
The 1960 census hasn’t been made public yet so her history is largely a blank after that. When her last parent dies in 1982, Laura is the only surviving member of the family and so she should have been the next-of-kin informant on the death certificate, but instead it’s an unrelated man who works for a funeral home, which makes me think Laura may have still been institutionalized.
Laura died here in San Antonio in 1995. No known photographs of herself or her sister exist. She was cremated, location of ashes unknown.
I’ve requested a copy of her death certificate but that can take a long time to arrive.
I reached out to various museums who display outsider art because I want them to be seen and I want her story to heard, but no response. But then someone reminded me that I own a bookstore…and that’s why on May 24th we’re going to have our first (and possibly only) art show, where we’ll be displaying Laura’s art at Nowhere Bookshop. Maybe no one will come. Or maybe someone will see her art and be moved, like I have been. The art will be up all day if you want to stop in, and at 5pm we’ll have a casual reception where we can talk about art and mental health. We can explore the symbolism in each piece. We can recognize the forgotten voices and see how very far we’ve come in the treatment of mental illness, and also how far we still have to go. It’s totally free. Come by.
I tried framing them but they lose some of their magic under a glass, so instead (in true outsider-art style) they’ll be raw and unframed and as tattered as they were when I found them. Because in some ways that tells a story as well. If I can get my shit together I’ll have some prints available for sale, with all profits going to NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Health.
And perhaps by then we’ll have more information. The San Antonio Express will be doing a story about the art, and maybe someone who knew Laura will see it and share what she was like.
Until then, we’ll let her art speak for her.
Thank you for listening.
Wow. I so enjoyed that. I love her art and the well written summary of this talented woman’s life. Nicely done. I wish I lived in San Antonio to see the show.
I should also mention that I’ve been in touch with the San Antonio State Hospital, which still treats patients. They aren’t able to tell me anything because of confidentiality but I was happy to hear that this month they’re moving the patients to a brand new, large building…going from four people to a room to each resident having their own private room and bathroom. They are still underfunded, but so far removed from what Laura experienced 75 years ago.
Every first Tuesday the open up their resale shop (Trinkets and Treasures) to raise money for the patients. Patients often show and sell their art there as well. I plan on checking it out.
Oh wow. Thank you so much. I live in Western North Carolina, and I don’t see any way I could make it to the show, but I’m so happy you’re doing this. It makes my heart a little happier.
Absolutely amazing. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for the update. It is a very touching story.
I’m crying. So much loss.
Wow, I love that you are going to be sharing her art! There is an abandoned mental institution not far from where I live (Long Island) with many bittersweet stories of patient art. https://www.abandonedamerica.us/one-last-masterpiece is one. Highly recommend this documentary as well: https://kingsparkmovie.com/
What a book this would make!! Thank you for being so invested in sharing Laura’s story. It’s an important one. I wish I lived local to the store.
Hi,
This story is so moving, thank you for sharing it. If it feels like something you might like to take on, it would be amazing if a print was available to buy online. – Kara
I left you a reply when you first posted about this artist–because my great grandmother lived and died in that hospital. I’ve sent your post to my brother, Jack Morgan, who is the arts & culture reporter at Texas Public Radio. I think this would make a good story for the arts community, as well as for the mental health community. I’d love to come to the store but live in Pennsylvania. Wonderful work!
This touched me deeply. Texas is one of only a few states left that still has state run institutions (although they are now called Supported Living Centers). Because these centers are huge local employers and hold significant political influence, all attempts to close them and implement a modern, inclusive housing model have been in vain as the Texas legislature votes against it.
Great story, thank you for doing the research and sharing it. I look forward to the Express News writing about Laura.
One minor correction:
“The girls excelled in school and both attended college at Trinity University here in San Antonio from 1933-1936.”
The Trinity campus in San Antonio didn’t open until 1952. The school was still located in Waxahachie at that time. (I’m an alumnus.) I’d love for my school to have a connection to this amazing artist, but I’m not sure how to square that with this history.
(Oh, good catch. The family lived in Waxahachie and the girls graduated from high school there. I thought that the university moved in the 30s to San Antonio but I think you’re right. They would have attended Trinity in Waxahachie, which make sense since so the Waxahachie newspaper had most of their mentions. Looks like their parents moved to San Antonio when Trinity moved. ~ Jenny)
This story is so moving, but not half so much as her art. I think some of these works are masterpieces. Thank you for advocating on her behalf and for always sharing so openly and honestly about mental illness. It’s a story that needs to be told and you do it uniquely well.
Comment #12 was from me, I hope it captures my information this time.
Thank you so much for all of this.
Thank you for a wonderful story. So amazing what lives inside each of us and what we have to offer. We cannot always control our chemicals in our bodies and sometimes imbalances occur. Through no fault of our own. Beauty can be found everywhere. XO
So sad a story but such moving art. I’m glad that you are giving her a chance to tell her story in the only way you can.
Thank you for sharing. Her work is hauntingly gorgeous.
What a horrible tale of genetics gone bad. Coming from a family of people with various stages of mostly mild mental illness who all seemed to marry spouses who came from family’s in various types of mental illness, all of our children have either various learning disabilities, ADHD, Tourette’s, Autism spectrum, anxiety, autoimmune disorders or BPD. It all ranges from mild to debilitating and several have chosen to not have children of their own. It’s tragic and gets worse each generation. That poor family must have suffered the visions of hell while still alive.
Beautiful. Thank you for sharing these.
The state mental health system in 1982 was a completely different landscape from 1950, and the biggest difference, aside from the over crowding and mistreatment being reduced, was the vast numbers of those who had been almost life long residents turned out to the streets during the early 70’s.
I worked in personnel at the Austin state hospital from late 1979 to 1982, and many of these folks remained homeless around the streets of the facility, now homeless and more than likely off their medication. (I would occasionally interview one of these poor souls who were trying one way or another to return to what had been to them a safe place. ) Thanks Ronald Reagan.
(Heart-breaking. ~ Jenny)
It would be amazing if you could somehow find a way to do a live feed on this. I would pay to watch it.
Wow! It’s so incredible. Your loving research and the story of Laura you have shared honors her life and others with mental health concerns. Thank you and Laura for this Art work.
P.S. I’ve written a memoir that includes a story about my great grandmother’s life and death in the SASH (when it was called an asylum). I’d love to make it available in your bookstore. Title: Story Carrier: A Collection of Tales of the Disappeared.
(I just ordered a copy for myself. 🙂 ~ Jenny)
Thank you for sharing the photos and Laura’s story.
💛
Lisa
Thank you for making visible a life that could have gone unnoticed if not for her brilliant art.
Wow! You are a rockstar for doing all this.
Incredible work. Thank you for sharing her story.
If you do have prints available, I’d love to purchase!
I would absolutely buy a print of one of these, particularly if the proceeds went to NAMI. Especially that last one. Thank you for making sure her work is seen again.
I am grateful you did all this work on her behalf (and others). Her work is both moving and at times so so beautiful. And it is a window into the mental health world that needed opened.
I love this.
Jenny, this is an amazing story. Thanks for doing all the research to accurately share Laura’s life and art. If I lived in Texas I would so be there to se her work in person. Someone earlier in the comments said this would be a great book. I 100% agree. Thanks for your compassionate telling of her tale.
Laura’s art moves me in a way I cannot even attempt to put into words. Such beauty in the midst of such fear and suffering.
My heart feels both heavy and light. I lost my little sister Laura to mental illness, and I feel like she was reaching out to me today through your words and sharing. The emotion and text in the art are exceptional. Thank you for sharing!
(Sending you so much love. ~ Jenny)
Thank you for your warm and caring heart. I hope someone from her past sees her art.
I’m so glad you followed up and found more of her art, it’s very moving to see. In case you feel like pursuing another possible place for an exhibition, the International Folk Art Museum in Santa Fe, NM does put on exhibits of “outsider art” and they might be interested. internationalfolkart.org
Thank you for finding and sharing her art and caring about who she was and her story. I am deeply moved by her life as we now know it. Her art evokes agony and pain. I would definitely purchase prints. How I wish I could join you May 24; my spirit will be there.
A person can live their entire life and not truly be seen. What an amazing thing knowing that Laura has been seen by you.
This is beautiful and sad and I wish I could see her art in person. Thank you for telling her story.
I am so happy you have brought the artist’s life and experiences and art to the public eye. It may start a conversation about mental health, the mental health treatment options, and mental hospitals and asylums history, and how so many of our people are struggling, homeless, addicted, and not getting the support, appreciation, and care we need.
This exhibit is awesome, and I think you should contact CBS Sunday Morning show to do a story on this artist, and also stories on the history of mental hospitals, and the history of treatment options, and how so many institutions were dismantled with nothing to replace them, and now lots of folks are living on the streets or incarcerated and not able to access affordable care or treatment.
Whoopi Goldberg talks in her new autobiography about how her mother was institutionalized and treated against her will in a mental hospital when Whoopi and her brother were children.
This could be the start of a transformation about how we think of mental health.
I am so very happy you were able to rescue even more of her work. Her artistry is astounding and so moving. It’s not often I weep over art, but these have me sobbing. I lost a half-brother to institutional life. He was released and we weren’t notified until years later long after he’d disappeared on the streets. He, too, was intelligent and creative like Laura. I can only hope he found happiness in the world somehow.
For almost three years, (May 89 to March 92) I worked at a State Mental Health facility here in Alabama. While electric shock therapy had long been outlawed, the image of “Waiting For Electric Shock Therapy” (esperando tratamiento de choque eléctrico) really touches my heart. I saw many patients with similar expressions on the grounds of the hospital campus.
Dearest Jenny, this is a masterpiece of art and research. My heart is sad for her but you are a Star. Yes if any prints are to be sold I will purchase one. Love, me
I am so happy you went out of your way to discover Laura’s story, as much as you could.
Her artwork is beautiful and haunting.
I wish I was close enough to attend the showing. I would definitely purchase a print or two – my favorite is the intricate drawing of the mental hospital
So moved by this whole story. I am glad you took the time to give the paintings and drawings justice. It sounds like generations of her family suffered with either mental illness or some other tragic calamity. Thank you Jenny. I am tearfully moved by the paintings and her story.
Thank you for honoring Laura’s work. We should be taking more care of our less abled neighbors, friends, family, and strangers
wow. I only have the time to skim this but it is haunting and beautiful and terrifying and so so REAL all at once. Thanks for digging into this. I want to reread when I have more time. I’d like to share it, too.
You’ve done an amazing amount of research to share what you have! As someone who is also diagnosed with depression and anxiety, and one psychiatrist tried to label me as bipolar and gave me lithium – that was a bad few months; I really appreciate the efforts you are making to (A) share your own journey with depression and (B) share Laura’s story and art with the world. Hugs.
Looking again at the images and reading all the captions, I wonder if Laura and Helen saw possible extraterrestrials and talked about it. This could explain “the Searchlight” caption.
She’s not in a mental institution in 1950. She’s living at home with her parents. Here’s the link again to the 1950 census.
(She’s both. In the 1940s Laura and Helen are both listed as residents of an institution and they’re also listed as living with their parents on their parents census. In the 50s census Laura is listed as a resident in an institution, but she also reported on the census at her parents house. It’s possible that her parents added her to their census list because they wanted her home or didn’t know if she’d be reported on the hospital list. Or possibly she visited them when she was stable but still resided primarily in the institutions. The census was more of an honor system when it came to reporting in households, but not for hospitals. If they were living sometimes at home and sometimes in an institution that might explain why the sisters never showed up in the yearbooks. Their father was the registrar and professor so he might have been able to help them work at a distance. Their names show up in the student bulletins so I know they were there…just never photographed or mentioned at all in the yearbooks. ~ Jenny)
I would love to buy a print too! Laura’s artwork is amazing, and thank you for rescuing and sharing it! I would love to attend in person but am too far away. Love to you ❤️
Her art is hauntingly beautiful, please have prints made, her work should be recognised. Thanks for treading gently whilst telling her story.
My heart breaks for the life she led and the trauma her family endured and I am incredibly humbled by the knowledge that it just as easily could have been any of us who struggle with mental health issues had we been born during the same time period. My life is infinitely better because of the gains we’ve made in treating mental illnesses since then, and my hope is that the people who come after us will look back on 2024 and see how far their own lives have come from ours.
GNU Laura Perea
Bless you Jenny for honoring her life and work
Thank you so much for doing this, for sharing this with us and helping her to be seen.
What a story, thank you so much for sharing! Wish I could attend the showing!
You’ve really outdone yourself on this one, truly remarkable and so very special. The art we make, no matter our mental state (or perhaps due to it) is almost always a peek into our very souls. I’m glad to see you presenting these very moving and beautiful pieces. Really worthwhile, thank you.
This is fascinating and beautiful. Thank YOU for sharing!
Thanks so much for sharing this story and her art.
I wonder if the Glore Psychiatric Museum in St. Joseph, Missouri might be interested in displaying her art. If you are ever in the Kansas City area, visiting the museum is both very interesting and disturbing.
https://www.stjosephmuseum.org/glore-psychiatric-museum
I think this would also make a great story for PBS NewsHour’s Canvas series.
Please please please write this story. Maybe a historical fiction? Like Amy Mackay who wrote The Birth House after learning the house she bought had been the home of the local mid-wife. That woman was labeled a witch and the history of medicine is interwoven into the story. We learn more about history when it is cloaked in entertainment!!!
Laura has given you a gift and a challenge. She has finally been ‘seen’ but her story is yet to be fully told. You inspire me. I have been silently reading your wonderfulness since the metal chicken days. I wish you strength and courage and peace of heart.
What a wonderful thing you’ve done in revealing her fantastic art to us, and in seeking out her story so she won’t be forgotten. I personally feel that every artist is trying to communicate, and Laura’s art is profoundly communicative. I love it. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for sharing Laura’s art and story. This is deeply moving. I am so glad you’re having an art show. Laura’s artwork is so powerful. I wonder – no way to know – if the woman on the left of the bench staring straight ahead is a self-portrait. It’s really incredible how she must have memorized these scenes and then drawn them. Each is so vivid.
What a fascinating and heartbreaking story. Thank you, Jenny, for your research bringing this artist’s story to light.
http://www.jpepinartgallery.com in Portland, OR has a mental health/illness focus. Check it out. I doubt they’re big enough to exhibit Laura’s work permanently, but may have ideas to share about how to exhibit it, where it could be housed permanently, etc. And maybe the art could come visit us here? Thanks for rescuing this woman’s life and art from history’s rubbish heap!
Thank you for retrieving that lost bit of history about an artist.
Thanks for the further update and more complete story. I still think you should publish a little art book on it. Wish I could come to the showing but would be interested in getting a print.
Thanks so much for lovingly following up on this amazing story. Have you contacted the Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore? This work and the story behind it seem very aligned with their mission: https://www.avam.org/
Sadly, there have been many cases in the past where women have been institutionalized for reasons other than actual mental illness. While and her sister may well have had mental illnesses, I’d be curious to know how they ended up there.
https://time.com/6074783/psychiatry-history-women-mental-health/
https://www.readersdigest.co.uk/inspire/life/the-shocking-history-of-female-asylums
and many many more
I wish I was close enough to come to the show. Thank you for sharing Laura’s art and what you can of her story.
This story is amazing. This artist’s work is so raw and hauntingly beautiful.
My grandfather was a medical doctor and worked at a mental hospital, and the family lived on the hospital grounds. As a young child, my father spent time with the patients in the hospital yard, playing chess and other games with them. He said it profoundly affected his worldview, and that the only difference between the patients and the non-patients he knew – was the wall.
Thank you Jenny for all you do. You have helped me so much with my own struggles with mental health – your example, your loving heart, and your humor have seen me through some rough times.
Thank you for telling her story. I’m in Seattle, so can’t make the show, but if you find a way to ethically print reproductions to benefit mental health organizations, I will purchase and proudly display her art.
Wow! Amazing & very moving story! Thank you for all the work you are doing to share Laura’s story & her artwork. Gold stars!⭐️
Intuit, The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art (Chicago)
https://www.art.org/
Thank you for giving this woman a voice, digging for hints of who she might have been, and honoring her by sharing the story and her art. I am moved.
Holy cow… my name is Laura and my best friend at the Institute of Living was… Helen. Thank you – from all the institutionalized Laura’s.
Thank you for caring to look into her history. I love that you are making proceeds benefit NAMI – they are such a help to so many people!
Laura, you are seen and heard. I would love to see the art in person. But you are in good hands, Jenny’s got you.
I can’t get over how talented she was. These are as good — or better — than many works I see in museums. Did she ever study art in school… do you have any idea?
(No idea. I can’t find her major and she wasn’t listed in any clubs. The newspaper accounts just talk about her grades, but don’t say what the subjects are. ~ Jenny)
I came across a book called “The Electric Pencil.” It is all drawings from a state hospital patient, James E. Deeds. The drawings had been discarded, but a 14 year old boy rescued them and stashed them away for 36 years before sharing them–amazing that they survived.
(Now I’m down another rabbit-hole. ~ Jenny)
I paid part of my way through undergraduate school working in institutions, and it was such a source of personal torment to meet folks who had been institutionalized for whatever reason, who were often a LOT more ‘sane’ than those of us hired to work there. So I love that you will be honoring this woman’s life like this; she really IS an amazing artist.If you do make prints of some of her works, I’d like to buy one.
I’ve been reading your blogs and books for at least 10 years and I think this is probably the coolest thing you’ve done. I won’t be able to make the show in person but it’s amazing you’re bringing this woman’s art into the public and raising awareness about the history of mental illness in your community.
What an amazing quirk of fate that you and Laura found each other and that after so many years her voice will finally be heard through her art.
OMG I love this so so so much and I wish I could come to the art show!! You’re brilliant, Jenny, and so was Laura. Her art gives me chills… Speaking as someone whose family is absolutely RIDDLED with mental illness and neurodivergence, thank you.
I wish I lived closer because I would love to attend your event! I know they can’t give you information about the girls due to privacy, but hopefully you are able to connect with someone(historian maybe) who could give us details on what it was like for them and other patients. I would be interested to know what got them to be admitted as so many people were sent away for absurd things (like pms🙄). I would recommend the book The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore for those who are interested in this.
This is amazing and beautiful and educational and moving. Thank you for all of this research. And as usual, your writing is comforting.
Wow! Amazing art and story. So glad you were able to tell her story. If you do prints i would be interested in purchasing. Outsider art is one of my favorites.
My dear friend Houray for your wonderful 👍 idea 💡 about the painting it’s going to be great and successful you see I wish I could go and buy one but i can’t deal with heat but I promise you I am coming in Hopefully in November around Thanksgiving can’t wait have a great weekend and week 💐💐💐😺🐈❤️📚🌹🌼
I have been in the hospital a few times myself. We did group art once a week. A lot of the stuff made by my fellow patients was just mind blowing. There were quite a few very artistic types struggling in there. People who wrote beautiful songs, made gorgeous mosaics, fascinating pottery, incredible paintings, and so on. Unfortunately, there seems to be a strong link between mental illness and creativity.
Thank you for making her story public. Is there anyway the show can be virtual? So many of us would love to attend but can’t in person.
(Maybe. I’ll keep you posted. ~ Jenny)
I wish there was a”loved” button
Could you share the sources you used to find all this out? Or are they not digital?
(Oh gosh, that’s a good question. I didn’t really link to sources because it means disclosing all of her families names, but I still think it’s important so I’ll do it here in case people want to dig further. It was mostly from ancestry.com, find-a-grave, newspapers.com, trinity archives, Annette Delgado at San Antonio State Hospital, UTSA’s archives, Waxahachie Light and San Antonio Express and this digital source: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1288&context=hist_etds. ~ Jenny)
Jenny, I love you for doing this. I wish I could jump on a plane and fly down there for this but, much to my dismay, I’m not filthy rotten rich. Pity.
Are you selling print of Laura’s work or yours? If yours, would you make them available online. I’ve just lost a bunch of my “Stuff” to a tornado felling a tree on our house. As you know, I delight in Midsomar Kitty. And I’d be happy to support NAMI.
Any chance you could video tape the questions/ answers discussion of her art at the end of the day. Can’t make it to Texas but would love to learn more and hear people’s thoughts and comments. Thanks
Passing this on to a couple outsider art galleries and dealers we know. Perhaps “Raw Vision” magazine or AVAM would be interested.
Thank you from all the forgotten Lauras.
Jenny, you are a force for good in the universe and absolutely the perfect person to have found Laura’s art.
Thank you so very much for sharing Laura’s story and her transcendant art!
Not to send you down another rabbit home but…There was a recent project undertaken by Seattle Times staff writer Sydney Brownstone entitled, “The Lost Patients of Washington’s abandoned psychiatric hospital” that unearthed stories from Northern State Hospital. There’s also a documentary, “Finding Lillian” and a six episode accompanying podcast – a joint project with KUOW
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lost-patients/id1733735613
Oops, here’s the link to the Seattle Times Lost Patients story:
https://projects.seattletimes.com/2023/local/lost-patients-WA-abandoned-psychiatric-hospital/
(Such a fascinating and haunting article. ~ Jenny)
Wow, thank you for the amazing story. The art is beautiful. I wish I could see it in person.
Thank you for remembering her.
Jenny, love reading your words. I live in Canada, is there anyway we could order prints to be shipped?The dipsy doodle is speaking to me.
(Let me see what I can do. ~ Jenny)
Her art is so haunting. Thank you for doing the research to share it with the world. (If I didn’t live 1,000 miles away I would definitely attend your event.)
I find it interesting that at least in the examples of her art you were able to recover, the female figures are often huddled or pulled in, often not making eye contact, always with other female figures. In contrast, the male figures are large, looming, and staring ominously straight at the viewer. I can only imagine what she must have suffered.
I’m a creative arts therapist and have a couple recommendations for possible outreach about displaying this.
First, look up art therapy graduate programs at universities. I don’t know any in Texas but they do have an art therapy license in Texas so they must exist. There are some in California, GW University in DC, NYU/SVA in NY…
Second, the American art therapy association: https://arttherapy.org/
You can also find school programs thru them.
Third, not sure they would take it but either way this program is worth checking out. I had the opportunity to visit and interview one of the founders during school and it was pretty amazing.
https://thelivingmuseum.org/about/
If you want more particulars let me know and I will connect with my art therapy hive mind. Good luck! This is really beautiful, meaningful art.
Good luck on the plane! I hope the pressure isn’t too much. The air pressure and the self pressure you are putting on yourself to not be a drag on everyone else, even though they love you and are going to be fine in Japan no matter the speed you’re moving.
get detail here……..>> https://shorturl.at/flp18
Her story is compelling even if sparse. Her art truly is eye catching and tells a story even without knowing the depth behind it. Excellent find, and great sleuthing!
This story is so heartbreaking but I’m so glad you were able to find out so much information about her.
If you do wind up doing prints, I would love to buy one. They are haunting and beautiful.
Wow, front page of the entertainment section. I knew there was a reason I kept my actual paper subscription to the Express-News. Great article, your picture was wonderful, so proud of your sleuthing and bringing this story to light.
I’m so glad you did this. Thank you for sharing her art, & her history. I hope other venues will see the value in this & have more exhibitions, more discussions.
Have you heard of Chris Mars? Original drummer for The Replacements, successful artist. His works are based on his schizophrenic brother’s interactions withe the mental health industry. Disturbing/beautiful.
I think the missing word is “doorstop”.
Please consider making prints available online of possible, for those of us not in SA. I’d love to see this as a traveling exhibition. It’s deeply moving.
Wow. Superior sleuthing. Heartbreaking story. I wish I lived closer so I could come to the art show and experience the in person impact of Laura’s creations. Please do post if you are able to offer prints for sale online, and thank you for contributing to NAMI.
Laura may have “vanished,” but her story remained and now, you are implicated as the carrier. Brava to you. You do know that every time you post about Laura and her story, I am carried back to the tale of my great grandmother who disappeared in that institution. Her story, like Laura’s, was a mystery to me until I discovered her medical records at the San Antonio State Hospital. I hope you’ll keep the story moving along. Thank you! Jane Clark
Thank you for posting this, I needed to see this on a day like today, where I had to file an ADA due to a failure in leadership. Its humiliating to have to ask for good/standard management processes thru an ADA. But turning around and seeing you rescue someones art and give it a showing is freaking amazing.. Trauma informed care.. is beautiful even for art. Your books have helped me so much while on the PTSD struggle buss. Thank you..
In the searchlight and waiting for EST I think there are the same two women. The women holding hands in “Waiting” seem like the two holding hands in searchlight.
I think you were destined to find these.
Hello, my name is Angie Gonzalez my ancestors are the Perea family from New Mexico and I am almost positive I am a distant relative of Laura’s. I found your blog as I was doing research on my family. The Perea family was one of the first families to colonize New Mexico during the conquest and colonization of Spain in the New World. Our family actually came from Spain through present day Mexico during the Spanish Inquisition. At the time of her grandfather that territory was already Mexico but our history can be traced into the 1500’s when Mexico was Nuevo Espana. Most of the men in our family held gubernatorial positions or were Merchants. Lt Col. Francisco Perea is my 5th great grandfather who was a congressman for New Mexico once it became part of the US, he was also great friends with Lincoln and sat under him at his assassination. Sorry just unloaded a whole bunch but our family has a large history that is also a bit controversial. Our family carries a rare genetic mutation that caused many of our relatives to die at a very young age I have not heard of a link to mental illness but will be doing more research. Francisco himself had 18 children with his first wife who all died and 18 children with his second wife who only 10 survived. Laura’s story is so touching and I would love to have copies of her prints. I live in Mesquite outside of Dallas and would love to make a trip to San Antonio and see them in person and discuss more about the Perea Family.
Sorry just left the long post about the Perea family if you would like to contact me my email is gonang2302@yahoo.com.
(Great! I just shot you an email. ~ Jenny)