Exhibit picks SFA as one of six sites

July 9, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

The Summer Festival of the Arts has been chosen to exhibit the Expressions of Courage: Art in the Park display, a collection of winning artwork from previous Expressions of Courage contests. Youngstown is one of only six locations in the United States selected for the exhibit this year.

The 16 pieces of artwork will be located near the main information booth during SFA hours.

The Expressions of Courage art contest was initially created to provide a way for children with epilepsy to express themselves through art. The response to the program was so overwhelmingly positive that it was expanded to include people of all ages.

Developed in February, the exhibition aims to enhance public awareness of epilepsy and promote the arts as an key component of health care. Selected by curators from the Society for the Arts in Healthcare, the exhibition represents a collection of pieces from hundreds of winning entries, all of which illustrate both the profound effect that epilepsy can have on a human life and the courage many show in facing it. The contest is sponsored by Sponsored by Ortho-McNeil Neurologics, a division of Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., in partnership with the Epilepsy Foundation.