PEABODY– On Thursday, the Northshore Mall hosted an opening reception for Gloucester artist Amy Kerr’s “I Am More” exhibit, which features portraits of people from 20 different communities across Massachusetts, including Lynnfield’s Karen Nascembeni, Marblehead’s Jared Charney, and Peabody’s Margot Holender.
“I Am More” focuses on telling the subjects’ stories through portraits and essays that involve a wide array of mental and physical health topics. This year, topics include bullying, depression, antisemitism, brain cancer, schizoaffective disorder, post-partum depression, opioid addiction, dementia, suicide, alcoholism, and Covid-19.
Nascembeni, who is the general manager of the North Shore Music Theatre, began the reception by sharing her story. Nascembeni lost her husband, and nearly her own life, after contracting two of the first known cases of Covid-19 in Massachusetts at the beginning of the pandemic, along with losing her father-in-law and a close friend. After 31 days spent in a medically induced coma, it took Nascembeni four months to recover and learn to walk again.
Kerr had reached out to Nascembeni about hosting her exhibit at the theater when she learned of her story, and immediately wanted to feature her in the exhibit. After initially not wanting to do the portrait right away, Nascembeni eventually had it done at the theater, with friends and family members of her and her late husbands all there. She touched on how amazing the experience was.
“It was just a really beautiful experience. It was a moment of gratitude, looking out at these 30 people and despite all of the heartache that I had, all of the hope and the gratefulness that I had for the people who stuck by me during this period,” she said.
The exhibit got its beginnings when Kerr started it as a local portrait series in Cape Ann. Her work was inspired by her own experience with depression, and has since expanded into a series that focuses on how people are more than their mental and physical health diagnosis.
This was the third year that “I Am More” has come to the mall, and it was the first big venue where Kerr put the exhibit on display when she was starting the project. Kerr is hoping to come back for a fourth year, and thanked the mall for allowing the exhibit to grow into what it is today.
“I think we all took a chance together. None of us really knew what was going to happen and it was a little scary, but it has launched this project all over the Northeast because we can say ‘We did it at Northshore Mall, and it was successful.’”
Other local stories include Charney’s battle with sudden hearing loss and tinnitus, and Holender’s recollection of what it was like escaping Poland with her Jewish family during World War ll.
Northshore Mall manager Mark Whiting also spoke at the reception and expressed his gratitude for being able to put Kerr’s portraits on display.
“The other thing that I am proud about is that we can offer North Shore up as a venue for this type of event,” said Whiting. It really allows us to serve kind of as a connection point between Amy’s incredible artwork.”
Each of the portraits had essays on display next to them that were written by the subjects, each one telling their story and how they have overcome their situation and proven that they are more than their mental or physical illness or life situation. Each essay was also complete with a Spanish translation for the first time at the exhibit.
Mental health resources were provided at the reception by NAMI Greater North Shore & Cape Ann, and The NAN Project, and will be available while the exhibit is open.
“I Am More” will be at the Northshore Mall until Feb. 25. For more information, visit amykerrdraws.org.