(surf rock music) - [Narrator] Coming up on "ART inc." Blowing off S.T.E.A.M.

(static buzzing) Our Verses, Our Voices.

(static buzzing) the Art of Repair, (static buzzing) and Forged in Fire.

(static buzzing) - [Announcer] If you want to know what's going on.

(jazzy music) (jazzy music continues) (jazzy music continues) (TV static buzzing) (surf rock music) (TV static buzzing) - Hi, this is Roberto.

You are back with another Steam Box podcast.

Today I am with my homies from Young Voices.

Homies from Young Voices, please make some noise and say what's up for the world.

- [Homies] What's up?

- Hi, my name is Brissia Rodriguez Reyes I am a senior at Classical High School as well as part of the board of directors in Young Voices.

Steam Box, they came to my middle school.

All I heard was Roberto's big, huge voice and just big personality in general.

And he was like, I will get you food and I will get you interviews with the most famous people that you know.

(Brissia laughing) - [Roberto] We had the artist from Nights on the podcast.

You got this book bag.

He signed it for you.

- Yeah.

- [Roberto] And he drew a picture.

- Yeah, he drew a little picture on like the front cover.

- Obviously I love Spider-Man, you all know that about me.

So sometimes people would pretend that they are everything that I want and I hate that.

- But Roberto recognizes our maturity and wants us to learn like how the real world works, how the adult world works.

- There are people who are genuinely suffering and in pain who want to hurt themselves, want to unalive themselves.

- I love that he gives us kinda like a pathway to that.

- All right, this is not Roberto, this is Angel and you are back with another Steam Box podcast.

Like, just because we're teenagers does not mean that like we don't have feelings, we don't have emotions, we don't have things going on.

Yeah, maybe not, we might not pay bills or have a job and all that stuff.

- Roberto especially is so open and is very understanding.

- [Roberto] Right?

So these are the conversations that I think are so dope and challenging to the world.

I think that's dope.

Thank you everybody for being a participant.

We are not done.

- [Brissia] Especially a lot of my friends are part of the LGBTQ community.

They're really scared of their rights being taken away.

I'm scared of my rights being taken away.

I'm scared for my friends who are immigrants being taken away.

This was like a letter to the teacher.

I love how much you've done for me.

I love that you helped me with my English.

Tell my classes classmates, I will miss them very dearly and that just brought me to tears.

(Brissia takes deep breath) Sorry.

- And it doesn't really matter if they have all the proper papers and visas and all of that stuff.

- [Arianna] It's like so normalized now.

Like to have all of these things that you're dealing with and like suppressing them.

- [Male Interviewee] We didn't talk about it when we was young.

We wasn't taught about it.

So it's kind of like we don't know how to speak about it.

- [Girl Interviewee] Because you really don't know what somebody's going through.

- Podcasting has helped me.

I have a lot of hatred stored up in me.

So podcasting has helped me like express that hatred out.

So it has helped me like help my mental state be a little bit balanced.

- And I'm gonna... - I don't really know how to explain it I really love him.

Like he brought so many opportunities to me, so I really appreciate Roberto for that.

- Roberto gives us space to be who we are.

He wasn't it, we are not - [Roberto] This is it's important.

- Yes.

So.

- [Roberto] I got you.

So, right.

(everyone laughing) - Okay.

Okay wait a second.

Wait, wait.

I'm getting that.

I'm getting that on the podcast.

We getting, we getting into this.

- It's easy to talk to someone.

Like they let you know that you can like really like go in depth on how you're like feeling.

- At least from that podcast we got to learn a little bit about ourselves and - Mhm.

- of course to better ourselves.

- It gets me mad.

- Oh right.

- That's, that's like a toxic behavior that I need to work on on my self.

- And I was like, and when I got home I was like, damn, how do I fix that about myself?

I just, it's, I think it's just practice right?

When it comes to like fixing your, fixing something about yourself that you know isn't okay.

It's just with practice.

- I feel like a few months ago I like, I took it very seriously this podcast I said you know, I'm gonna open up a little bit more like everybody's else is doing their part.

I wanna do mine like I wanna feel like useful like.

- I went to Prevention Day in Washington DC and it's to talk about our work that we do here in podcasting.

It was crazy because I was in a room full of like about like 300 people.

That's like crazy to think about.

And after we were done, people came up to us for like every five minutes and I was like there's no way.

Like I can really make a difference just by just saying something.

Just having that feeling of like feeling like oh I can really be up top and I can really like, you know, express the work that I've done, express the mental health in a way.

But also having the connections with fans, I would say?

Like it was crazy.

At the end of the day, school causes enough stress as it is.

So having these issues and not being able to talk about 'em kind of sucks.

Which is why this really like benefits the people who can't really open up.

- Reach out even though you think you're the only one who experiences that you have to reach out because you're not the only one.

- [Arianna] I feel like a different person from who I was like four years ago.

Like I wouldn't have been outside talking to people, I wouldn't be in this interview right now.

- I actually like wanted to be here.

- [Interviewer] I didn't know.

- No it didn't mean like that... (everyone laughing) - I know I've cried a lot when it comes to like podcasts.

- [Camera Person] I was gonna (indistinct) (Brissia yelling) - You're listening to SoundCloud rappers and you're saying they're good.

(Brissia cringes) Yes, I've been angry at times.

Right?

You call females and males to animals, right?

We're technically supposed to be like of higher conscience, you know, we don't call you guys males, we call you guys, men, boys, you know, we don't.

It seems degrading.

But most of the time I've been very happy and I've been extremely joyous at this.

That Steam Box is a thing and that I got to be part of it at least for a short while.

'cause I know for sure Steam Box is gonna last longer than me.

(TV Static buzzing) (surf rock music) (static buzzing) (lo-fi music) (marker scratching) ♪ I was in flame mentally ♪ ♪ All these little broads be out here ♪ ♪ messing with my energy.

♪ ♪ Angels talking to me.

♪ ♪ Sometimes I can't feel the chemistry ♪ ♪ demons whisper in my ear ♪ ♪ but I can't let 'em get to me.

♪ ♪ Somehow they resemble me.

♪ ♪ Angels talking to me like lil Hundi get from ministries, ♪ ♪ demons tell me start and go provide, you know, ♪ ♪ we into deep, ♪ ♪ it's messing... ♪ - [Hundi] The demons and angels came from like my anxiety, I be stressing too much, like.

I be going through certain things and sometimes I can't like determine whether to let it go or just keep chasing after it because I didn't get answers.

Sometimes you need to the closure before so it's like, nah, I let it go or nah, just keep chasing it, like, see what's to it.

(group clapping) (page flipping) (marker scratching) (funky lo-fi music) At AS220 Youth, you can basically come here and do anything that you artistically desire, whether it's music, photography, media or like fashion.

(voices echoing) - [Qbando] Usually songwriting class will like talk about like different like genres.

So like Jay Lew he tries not to make it easy on us, you know like, he'll put like a beat we're not comfortable with or have us right about like a topic we're not comfortable with.

- All right, so what's going on y'all, what's going on y'all?

So today, right?

I really want y'all to really focus and thinking about the idea of how mental health and your music is comes together, right?

So as songwriters, a lot of the times when we create our music, we create them from our experiences and what we're going through, right?

So today what I want y'all to think about is I want y'all to think about how music has impacted your mental health or even has it been something that heals your mental health.

So has anybody got anything how they feel?

Like how music impacts their mental health?

- I would say it's the therapy and it's like a way of coping and connecting with other people.

Because it's like when I listen to music, people or or artists can say certain things that connect with you and when you're making music you can say like how you're feeling in that moment and it can resonate with people.

- Ooh that's on, that's on.

- Music is just my comfort space, literally.

Like I usually don't open up with anybody, so I gotta show 'em like, you feel me, the grit and grind behind my music, and show people that like if you are not feeling good, another person could feel just like you.

- Music is my way of coping or releasing like my thoughts.

- I want y'all write about that.

I wanna write, I want y'all to write from really the heart from a place that's really genuine.

Y'all lock in, y'all do y'all thing and then when we're done we're gonna try to share what we have as a group.

(lo-fi beats) - [Hundi] So when I write it's like I'm letting everything that I hold in go or just let it go.

Like even if I don't make a song with what I wrote, like I can still like look at it and like read it out.

So it just, it just releases stress and pressure and anxiety, whatever I have running through me.

- You got it.

I feel like, I feel like it flows smooth, to me.

- [Hundi] Here is like open, you should feel comfortable, but when it gets personal and stuff, you're talking about personal stuff.

I'm just hesitant on dropping them because you know the emotions that come with it.

(page flipping) (Marker scratching) ♪ I've been fighting demons so it's so hard to get along.

♪ ♪ I've been going through so much.

♪ ♪ I feel like everything go wrong.

♪ ♪ I've been feeling like the world too lost.

♪ ♪ So no, I cannot breathe.

♪ ♪ Got the smile up on my face, ♪ ♪ behind my heart just wanna leave, yeah.

♪ ♪ I've been fighting mama like war zone, ♪ ♪ but I'm learning how to heal so know I cannot be alone.

♪ ♪ Gotta make my mama proud before I gotta see her gone.

♪ ♪ Yeah, before I gotta see her gone.

♪ ♪ I lost some cousins, lost some brothers, even lost myself.

♪ ♪ Two time killing spree ♪ ♪ Never asked for help ♪ ♪ if I ever told a lie ♪ ♪ it was better for my health.

♪ ♪ I've been drunk, I've been high.

♪ ♪ I've been dealing with my doubts.

♪ - Once I heard, once I heard that we was had to write about mental health, it just like clicked because like as a man, you don't really, we really don't talk about mental health for real.

And it's like, I feel like a lot of people don't really care about our mental health, like, I have times where like I opened up in the long run, it gets thrown back at you.

So now I'm not gonna, I don't wanna do the, usually I'm not even comfortable with opening up in general.

♪ Ever since I lost my aunties ♪ ♪ I ain't never been the same ♪ ♪ and as always long live JB ♪ ♪ That one hit me like a train ♪ ♪ and I pray for better days.

♪ ♪ I know God could heal my pain.

♪ ♪ How to take that to the grain.

♪ ♪ I'm out the way to make a change.

♪ ♪ So I stay in my own lane to show my mama better days.

♪ ♪ Oh, life is a game.

♪ ♪ You roll that dice ♪ ♪ and then you fit in your lane, ♪ ♪ they sent a plan, telling us ♪ ♪ to go spit in the rain ♪ ♪ They took our dough we want it more ♪ ♪ so we gon' spit out the pain ♪ ♪ It's life for death.

♪ ♪ But I cheat death 'cause I can't, ♪ ♪ so many broken bones, so many trials that I fought, ♪ ♪ you ever go so hard until the point that you lost ♪ ♪ exhausted and hurt from all the battles you fought ♪ ♪ you gotta to keep your head high ♪ ♪ and keep your (indistinct) ♪ ♪ They talking about my life, ♪ ♪ but they don't know what I've been through.

♪ ♪ Remember cold long nights crying, mom didn't have a clue.

♪ ♪ She's staring deep into my eyes, ♪ ♪ thinking I got the blues.

♪ ♪ She said time heals all wounds ♪ ♪ got it on my arm tattoo.

♪ ♪Figure out my dog had hit the road ♪ ♪ and he turned Mickey Mouse graduated from the ghetto.

♪ ♪ I ain't got no cap and gown where I'm from, ♪ ♪ they bust caps and gun you down.

♪ ♪ They had hit you with that four Nicki or that trade pound.

♪ ♪ We was just kids running around.

♪ ♪ Take me back to recess and that play ground ♪ ♪ and that playground, I'm saying that's all I got.

♪ (group clapping) (lo-fi hip hop) (page ripping) (TV static buzzing) (surf rock music) (static buzzing) (zen music) - [Donna] As part of the Zen Buddhist aesthetics, there is a craft called kintsugi, which is the repair of broken pottery with the idea that rather than throw things away, that they get reused and recycled.

In the kintsugi there's a gold scar, which really shows a certain beauty in the fact that there's wounds that do get repaired.

So that to me is a definition of resilience in a way.

The exhibition's called Portraits of the Precarious Earth and the intention is to engage the public with the environmental crisis that we're going through.

(emotional music) (fire crackling) My name is Donna Bassin.

I am a clinical psychologist with a specialty in trauma and I'm an artist who uses photography.

I'm also a mother and that plays into my work, especially now with the environment and the kids that I've been working with from Bradley School.

- We are very proud to have an over 20 year long partnership with the Bradley Schools.

We've spent a lot of time over the last several years focusing on the relationship between the museum, our community partners and mental health.

- [Charlene] The kids that I work with have emotional and behavioral issues, so the public school will send them to Bradley and we'll teach them some strategies so that they can go back to their public school and be successful.

The kids have the opportunity to see Donna in her studio and she was talking about the work that she was making at the time.

- [Donna] They asked me a lot of questions and I talked about my work and talked about healing and vulnerability and then asked the kids to respond.

Oh wow.

By creating their own work.

Look at these.

These are of magnificent.

- [Danielle] That's where the idea sparked from is this notion of wanting the Bradley students to not only have an arts learning experience where they learn about a work of art, but then there's the next level of exhibiting or being part of an installation experience in the museum.

- I told them about kintsugi, which is the Japanese art of repair, which allows for the history of the object, including the wound and the scar as being showed as part of the object's life.

- [Danielle] There seemed to be an immediate connection that they felt a sense of loss around climate change and that's where there was this natural alignment between Donna's exhibition here and the Bradley students.

- I think this work is more moving than my own.

Wow, wow, wow.

- [Charlene] Donna's work.

Let them think about themselves, but also what's going on in the world.

And as a young person, that could be a little bit frightening, right?

(folk guitar music) (ice crashing) - [Donna] The question I've been asking is why, given the environmental crisis, why aren't more people paying attention?

If we think about it as so overwhelming and traumatic that we disengage, that we feel helpless, we become apathetic, we get depressed.

How do I get people to look at the work that I'm, to look at this environmental crisis?

I felt like I needed to instill some beauty and signs of hopefulness and and resilience in them.

(folk guitar music) - [Charlene] In Donna's work, we see these landscapes that are barren and she's stitching and mending beautiful color into them or, or making us aware that there's little glimmers in this devastation.

As they were developing their own work, we started giving them two prompts.

So what is it do you think Mother Earth would say?

And what would you tell your parents or your grandparents because they left you this.

(chalk scratching) - [Danielle] It wasn't until Donna started writing the words on the wall where the impact of the program really came through.

The students' words are, they're powerful.

- [Donna] I am a tree.

Please protect me.

Do you understand how much has disappeared?

I was struggling with how to represent them and I wrote it on the board here and I started not making it so legible because I think it is hard to hear and I wanted it to be hard to read, but I, and I wanted in the same way that I want with my own work, for you to look closely and say, what's going on here?

I'm a kid, we need to work together.

I am vulnerable.

- [Danielle] I truly feel like these students got it.

And it's not just the theme of the climate crisis, but there are deeper layers around pain and repair and loss.

- [Charlene] Some of our kids are healing, right?

And repairing.

They do have a voice and I don't wanna speak for them because actually their voice is in their artwork.

So I think if you focus on their work, you can hear what they have to say.

(water bubbling) - [Students] Why would you throw trash into lakes, ponds, and rivers and oceans?

Stop cutting my trees down, I say.

Respect the environment.

We need to protect the earth for this is the only planet we have.

The only planet raising life.

If I was a tree and I could talk, I would say, I love this place.

(zen music) (TV static buzzing) (surf rock music) (static buzzing) [Narrator] And now an encore presentation of "Forged In Fire" (somber music) (torch sparking) - I am Diana Garlington.

I'm the mother of Esscence T. Christal, who unfortunately I lost in a drive-by shooting in 2011.

Once this happened, they gave her a number on a list as a unsolved murder homicide.

She's not just a number.

Her name is Esscence.

- I'm Scott Lapham.

I'm an artist and an educator.

Four of my students were lost to gun violence.

(saw grinding) One Gun Gone came about as positive response to the idea that so many people were taken out of our lives by gun violence.

(saw grinding) So I wanted to have a space that literally and and figuratively could talk about how we felt about gun violence.

Since I'm an artist and a visual artist, the idea of having an art project made the most sense because having an art project is a way to have a conversation.

We wanted to make a project where the art is more valuable than the gun.

And then also to have Diana Garlington, anti-gun violence activist, now involved in the programming itself.

She was learning welding.

She was there every week talking to young people.

- It took an unfortunate circumstance in order for me to change my lifestyle.

Unfortunately, that changed November 26th, 2011.

- The only rules that we have in One Gun Gone is, is that we don't glorify guns or gun violence, and when we hold the sculptures, we hold them like with two hands open.

When you hold it like this, you can have a different relationship with it.

Now we can look at it, we can think about it.

We are not acting as we're conditioned to, we're conditioned to pick this up and use it as a weapon.

- I already know it's a firearm.

I already know it's a dangerous instrument, but it like to have that in the steel shop and to present it and pass it between each other in that way was just reminds me of, it is sobering to what we really are holding.

- Before the students even see one of these weapons it's decommissioned.

And that starting point then as the culmination of them being used in a sculpture, a metal sculpture, then metal fabrication and welding where that weapon then becomes a part of that sculptural piece so that it has a different function.

Art is a different use.

This was a gun, but now it's a sculpture and when you guys transform it into a sculpture, it's gonna talk about how you feel about gun violence.

- Losing Esscence shattered my home.

(saw grinding) Those windows broke.

(metal hammering) Pieces of the floor began to fall apart.

And that is what led us to my project.

(torch sparking) These young men are, are prospering from this program just by being here.

They could be anywhere right now.

They could be out on the streets doing whatever, but they choose to be here.

- The youth is just us over and over again.

We are reflections.

We see them and they see us.

Without these kinds of outlets, I don't see peace being very viable.

- It definitely helps someone like her to see that there is something in the world that isn't just all wrong.

(tools grinding) - I think it's changed our, like, my perspective a bit more from hearing like Diana's story and Scott's story about like how gun violence affected their lives.

(tools grinding) - I've always just thought of art, like you take a, a crayon or a marker and you draw something.

You know, I never would've thought that you can take an actual piece of something metal that affected lives and then bring it up to a beautiful work of art.

(torch sparking) Esscence's legacy is to change lives.

It's just, you know, the beauty of knowing that people understand.

- Art is a different way of communicating and it's a language sometimes that's about beauty and sometimes it's also about other things that need to be confronted to then understand beauty.

- [Diana] Art is healing.

It's healing.

- Wake up little providence.

Don't get caught slipping or taking that ride because you may be added to that number and labeled unsolved homicide.

(TV static buzzing) - [Announcer] Thanks for watching and we'll see you next time on Art Inc. (TV static buzzing) (surf rock music) (surf rock music continues) Watch More Art Inc. A Rhode Island PBS original series now streaming at ripbs.org/artinc.

This episode was generously underwritten by a grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island.