Art is a way to creatively express the way you feel about a certain topic and what you support by letting your imagination flow through the paper. Senior Molly Touhy at PPCHS (Pembroke Pines Charter High School) created an Instagram account called Art 4 Awareness to show her support through art for anyone struggling with mental health. “I believe art can significantly impact mental health awareness. Most importantly, it provides individuals with a visual representation of emotions they may not be able to verbalize”, she expresses. Molly has been creating and posting art for about a year now and has made it her goal to make everyone feel surrounded in a safe environment where they are heard and seen.
As Molly was growing up, she experienced and learned a lot about different mental health issues that were in her family, such as addiction, depression, and anxiety. “I, myself, have struggled with severe anxiety since I was in middle school, and I understand how much it can affect one’s everyday life, such as academically, socially, and even within the relationships with your family,” she shared. By going through such a hard time with her mental health, she learned that when you are in this state of mind, it starts to affect you in every single way and breaks you apart from the people closest to you. Molly knew that to get better, you must change how you live and think about life.
She took her experiences and knowledge of all the different types of mental health issues and turned them into a positive Instagram account where she could make anyone smile through her fantastic artwork and sweet messages. “One follower, Delaney, sent me a beautiful piece illustrating the isolating feeling of experiencing endometriosis,” Molly shares. Molly’s art has been extremely educating and inspiring to many supporting followers.
Over the months of Molly posting her content, she has also been working to raise money for two organizations called The Jed Foundation and Pacific Clinics. “The Jed Foundation is an organization focused on suicide prevention, specifically in young adults. The founders of this organization lost their son Jed to suicide and have been fighting for suicide awareness and prevention ever since. Pacific Clinics provides extremely personalized care for patients experiencing substance abuse and helps them reach their full potential,” she explained.
These two organizations are very dear to Molly’s heart, especially the Jed Foundation organization, because she experienced substance abuse in her family, which made her feel more connected to this organization. She also believes that the Jed Foundation treats people as humans compared to other organizations, which is essential.
Molly has been dedicated to this account and has made it one of her top priorities despite the stressful times of balancing work and school. The effort and care that she puts into this account shows how important it is for her to make people aware of mental health issues. One thing Molly will always live by is, “Many people feel afraid to speak up for fear of being invalidated, but if you’re struggling, please get help. Nothing is more important than your mental health and your life,” she expresses.
Molly plans to continue the growth of this account by posting, having donations for different mental health organizations, and collaborating with more artists and speakers to exchange knowledge on various mental health issues. 
