If art really does have the power to heal, then Betty Taylor is the healthiest woman of all.
Taylor is a student through vocational rehabilitation at The University of Memphis and is a member of DAG (DDrum Arize Graffiti), a movement promoting healing through the arts.
She is also a victim advocate due to personal health problems, who has been designing programs since 2001 colliding the politics of corporate America and ideals of the arts, hoping to bring a medium through which disabled and mentally ill individuals can heal.
"There is a severe lack in corporate America...and a great need in young people," said Taylor. "The need is art, and we're designing programs that will aid in mentally ill and disabled people's lives."
Taylor hopes to eventually partner with The U of M in an effort to bring back the lost arts such as dance to the city as well as the main campus.
"I hope to convince The U of M to partner with me to reinvent the wheel," she said. "If I'm allowed this partnership, we can get them all back (art and music).
"We have such a strategic approach to provide some healing."
U of M students can get a chance to see what DAG is all about Saturday when Graffiti Playground, a non-profit performing arts school, in conjunction with DAG, will be performing "A Dark Night in the Cathedral," a show combining music, dance and poetry.
"I took things from my journal and added a bit of fantasy," said Kristin Bihler, director, choreographer and performer of the play.
Bihler, an emerging choreographer in Memphis, wants to provoke thought throughout the community with her work while also utilizing forms of art that are seemingly becoming lost in this area.
"So many people in Memphis embrace ballet, many embrace hip-hop, but I don't see anybody embracing jazz," she said. "I like to push the envelope with my work. I see my things as a conversation piece."
"Dark Night" will consist of three parts, including a section of the spoken word. Music by Ani DiFranco, Tori Amos and Cirque du Soleil will be showcased.
The show starts at 8 p.m. at the Galloway United Methodist Church in midtown. There will be a $10 donation entry fee. For ticket information, students can call 289-0403.
"Use art to express yourself. Take the gun out of your hand, and we'll show you how to dance/ paint/write out that rage," she said. "The people involved in this play have played a major part in my own healing."
