A science-informed art model aimed at educating children is acting as a legal middle ground in Colorado. While weed is legal in Colorado, concerns about high-potency THC concentrates and products often rise when children could potentially gain access to them. The resulting solution has manifested in the form of Hear/Say at the BRDG Project Gallery, proudly hosted by the University of Colorado School of Public Health.
The captivating art exhibit explores the effects of high-concentration cannabis, creating awareness in a space where it can make a meaningful difference. With a more cumulative understanding of the impacts of marijuana concentrates on a broader social scale, mistakes could become less prevalent and less abundant.
THC concentrates, typically in the form of dabs, wax, or hash oil, can contain up to 90% THC – which is not a healthy dose for some individuals and should be kept away from children and adolescents. That’s why House Bill 1317 was passed during the 2021 legislative session, which required the Colorado School of Public Health to develop an education campaign addressing the issue. Hear/Say at Highland’s BRDG Project Gallery and Event Space has become a beacon for this campaign, curated by Tya Anthony.
Tya Anthony selected 11 artists to attend a three-day workshop chock-full of lectures by local scientists and medical professionals for a thorough, detailed, and credible view of the topic. Next, she invited the creatives to tour local marijuana-growing facilities to complete the cycle of kinetic learning. With a few months to develop their personal artistic craft in reference to the matter, the pieces that construct this purposeful exhibit came to life.
The exhibit will be showcased through July 14th and is open to anyone ready to explore an objective perspective. “We were asked to have open minds despite being pro or nay cannabis,” Anthony says. “When an artist creates work, it’s typically from their own imagination and lived experiences, versus in this exhibition where the artists are creating based on information given to them.”
In other words, the science-informed art model used in this educational effort is ready to dazzle any audience – and all in a way that’s relatively new. According to Ann Collier, an associate professor with the Colorado School of Public Health and the project’s co-director, “I did a literature review, and there was one project in the United Kingdom that I found before this. What you do see is social practice art, where artists try to bring social issues or hot topics into the art world where they can be experienced with the community… But using art as a medium to disseminate science and public health information is somewhat novel.”
In the same artistic vein, Grow Up at Bell Projects Gallery is being hosted through July 7, also stemming from the science-informed art model. The work displayed here was contributed by youth spanning four schools in the Denver metro area.
The science-informed art model is more about objectivity and intellectual exploration than it is about expressing an opinion. “We don’t want to tell people what to do, we want to challenge people to think about it through the art,” Collier says. “That’s why artists are in a really good position to share messages. They can express these issues in abstract ways that get people thinking about it.”
Hear/Say is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to The Colorado School of Public Health’s planned endeavors. A social media campaign, podcast, series of billboards, and set of six short documentaries are all underway. But for now, Coloradans can look forward to this exhibition, featuring local artists including Christine Nguyen, Autumn Thomas, and Tiffany Medina.
“There’s no more literal hearsay about concentrates, which is how I came up with the title of the show, versus what’s informed by science and research,” Anthony says. “We can break the stigma around discussing cannabis. This is a conversation in the state of Colorado that needs to happen to inform our communities in the right way.”
