One of the first items BJ Armstrong ever sold as an artist was an abstract painting centered on the feminine experience. Swirls, smudges and hard lines in shades of red and black helped her work through the painful emotions she was harboring.
“I included things like makeup, a little bit of mascara, a little bit of nail polish,” Armstrong said. “I spent a lot of time being kind of rough, letting the materials dry and not worrying about everything being precise. It really showed me that art can be an outlet."
The piece was created for the first-ever RISE Survivor Art Show, a platform allowing Coloradans to reclaim their experiences with sexual violence and break the silence that so often surrounds them.
“When I first did the show three years ago, it was to get out that rage,” Armstrong said. “Now, I want to focus on showing survivors that things can change. There can be joy; there can be moments of reprieve and release.”
The art show is put on each April by the Blue Bench, a Denver-based sexual assault and prevention center.
“As much as [RISE] is about these violent acts that occur, it's also about the resilience and the right to joy that people have coming out of these experiences,” said Blue Bench interim executive director, Michelle Wiley.
This year, the show features artwork from 90 unique survivors of sexual violence at M&D Artistries in Denver’s Santa Fe Art District.
“Not just our trauma”
“We really want to bring attention to the fact that we're not just our trauma, we're not just our stories,” photographer Kirstie Klein said. “We do have a lot of joy and that's what's kept us going. It's kept us alive.”
The show has helped foster friendships over the years, including between survivors like Klein and Armstrong who connected during the first show in 2022.
“We both saw each other's art before we actually met, and I just knew that we were going to be friends right away,” Klein said. “Before my first RISE show, I didn't have any other survivors in my life nor did I ever share this side of me. I am forever grateful to the Blue Bench for bringing us together.”
The pair worked together this year to create a series of photographs that depict their power and joy as survivors and women.
“Our friendship isn't just centered around our trauma or our experiences,” Armstrong said. “If I'm having a rough day or having an off moment, I know there's never going to be any judgment from her. It's really this safe, shame-free loving environment that we've created.”
Facing funding cuts
Since January 2023, the Denver Police Department has received more than 1,900 reports of sexual assault, but the actual number is likely much higher. Data from the U.S. Department of Justice shows just 310 of every 1,000 sexual assaults are reported to police.
“I want people to understand that it's not just the role of the survivors to advocate and speak up against things,” Armstrong said. “It takes the entire community to create change.”
This year’s show is opening as the Blue Bench adjusts to a massive cut in funding to the federal Victims of Crime Act, which helps support similar nonprofits across the country. The cut resulted in the Blue Bench having to cut back its therapy staff and end several school outreach programs.
“It's driven me to express how crucial it is that all survivors have access to these resources,” owner of M&D Artistries Dea Bender said. She participated in RISE for the first time last year and was called to do more for the event after her experience.
“Being a RISE artist really launched my life in a very heartwarming direction,” Bender said. “I am just one example of the half a million survivors that the Blue Bench has helped. When you think about that number alone, it proves how crucial it is.” Bender said creating art for RISE has also helped her find confidence, peace, and liberation both in her artwork and in her life.
“Something I noticed that was really beautiful while creating the RISE piece this year is there's more color in this one,” Bender said. “Last year there was a lot of darkness that I had just been keeping to myself. It's special to be able to know that there is that safety, that you can be out in the world again and feel completely safe and create things that open the door for even more survivors.”
The show will be on display throughout the month of April for Sexual Assault and Prevention Awareness Month. All profits from pieces sold will go directly to the artists or to the Blue Bench to pay for survivor services.
It also is a featured exhibition during the First Friday Artwalk on April 4.
