Our Grief & Art film is almost finished. Can you help?

Symphony of Grief is a short film about artists who collaborate as they experience grief.

A performer, a visual artist, a composer and an animator work together with access specialists, including audio describers, grief professionals and producers to honestly explore the profound intersection of grief and art. Our diverse group of creators, from age to ability to economic circumstances, aspire to create a film that inspires others to journey into art as they grieve.

The film is being lead by myself, Susannah Mars, and my two Producers - Jen Tate and Jackie Weissman.

1) The film is centered around interviews with four artists as we explore our grief over the loss of a loved one.

*Susannah Mars - I was a caretaker for my father before he passed

*16 year old Mack - who lost their father at a young age

*Jenny Kincade - who lost her husband during the pandemic

*And, Dick Titterington - who lost his son to suicide

2) The film weaves together:

*Vocal performances from myself

*Drawings and sketches from Mack, beginning when they were 12 years old

*Animation from Jenny who works as a professional animator

*Original music performed and composed by Dick for his late son

3) We have taken a unique approach to crafting this project by including the following:

*Creatively written audio description for blind and low vision patrons to ensure an artistic integrity that is often neglected. Our audio description collaborators are Cheryl Green & blind artist, Rick Hammond.

*Artistically crafted closed captions to capture the beauty of the music and messages in the film in written form. Cheryl Green brings her experience with multiple invisible disabilities to this element of our film.

*Emotional guidance and grief support throughout the production as we traverse the complicated topic of grief. We gathered our team for an Ofrenda ceremony led by a grief doula to share our stories of grief, and have received ongoing grief support from Emillie Cartoun.

When it is complete, we will share our film with the public in conjunction with moderated community conversations about grief.

4) In addition, we are collaborating with these individuals/organizations:

*Medical guidance from Kathryn Kolonic M.D. - Vice President/Medical Director at AllMed Healthcare Management

*Performance and presentation space from Portland Playhouse and Portland Center Stage

*Community awareness and promotion from The Dougy Center for Grieving Children & Families