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The Psi Chi Honor Society’s chapter at UTRGV and Unfolded: Poetry Project invite students to explore mental health through poetry, painting and community reflection.
Stories of Mental Health: An Unfolded Poetry Project Collaboration will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in Student Academic Center Room 1.101 on the Edinburg campus.
The event combines live poetry readings with expressive art activities, inviting attendees to paint their emotions while listening to original work centered on mental health, according to the chapter’s event coordinator. The goal is to create a supportive space where students can express themselves, share experiences and destigmatize conversations around mental health.
Andreya Melendez, Psi Chi event coordinator, said the idea for the event grew from a workshop she attended at the National Latinx Psychological Association Conference earlier this fall. One session asked participants to draw what they felt while listening to music.
“As I was listening, I found myself releasing my inner emotions onto paper,” Melendez said. “It felt so freeing.”
She said the experience, combined with learning about community art organizations such as the Craft School Project, inspired her to create a space on campus where expression and healing could coexist.
Unfolded, a creative nonprofit founded in 2022, will lead the poetry portion of the program. According to its website, the group focuses on amplifying diverse voices and promoting self-expression through writing and spoken word.
The event coordinator said attendees interested in reading can sign up on-site the day of the event. Poems do not need to follow a specific style, but they should engage with the theme of mental health, whether through personal reflection, recovery or lived experience.
Draya Rios/THE RIDER
Luz Martinez, Psi Chi president, said she hopes the event provides students with a sense of comfort and belonging.
“I’m hoping people feel a sense of community and safety,” Martinez said. “Not just random people showing up, but people who are sharing a purpose and a shared safe space.”
In addition to poetry, participants will have access to canvases, paints, easels, coffee and conchas, the chapter’s president said. While listening to the readings, guests are encouraged to paint their reactions, emotions or interpretations of the work.
Melendez added expressive art can reveal subconscious emotions people may not be able to articulate with words; the imagery and colors somebody may find oneself using to draw all ties into how they may feel inside.
“When I was drawing [at the conference], I found myself sketching a chokehold around my neck,” she said. “That’s a somatic symptom of anxiety I didn’t even realize I had until I was drawing. It just came out.”
Martinez said she plans to continue organizing expressive art events in future semesters, even as Psi Chi leadership transitions.
The event is open to all students, regardless of major or poetry experience. Participants may keep the art they create.
“You don’t have to be struggling to come and paint pictures and tell us how you’re feeling,” Martinez said. “It’s an audience of anyone and everyone.”
For questions or accommodations, contact andreya.melendez01@utrgv.edu.
