The Art Career Podcast: Painting To Help With PTSD & Domestic Violence

 When The Burning Bed movie with Farah Fawcett was shown on TV in 1984, American culture had finally awakened to the sad realization that domestic violence was a well-established and pervasive secret of a male-dominated society. 

Nearly 40 years later, things are better. Domestic violence shelters, support programs and greater awareness has made some inroads into this centuries-long issue. 

But it still occurs more than we like to think. Witness the latest episode of The Art Career podcast with Emily McElwreath. 

This latest episode is actually a rerun from last season, but with an interesting twist. In the beginning, we hear from the guest / victim, Meg Lionel Murphy, about how she's coping today, as she informs listeners that she has a storefront art studio in rural Wisconsin and has a burgeoning art career. 

 Meg Lionel Murphy received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities, with three majors: Art, Art History, and English Literature. Additionally, Meg studied classical oil painting in Florence, Italy. After graduation, she worked as a children’s illustrator, co-founded the literary and art magazine, Paper Darts, and co-directed the arts and social justice non-profit, Pollen Midwest.

All that disintegrated because of her mentally and physically abusive husband.

Before we hear the Redux interview, Ms. Murphy tells listeners that she's coping by "living in her work."

 That's why I like The Art Career podcast with Emily McElwreath so much. The podcast celebrates the arts, the people involved, and the value the arts add to the vibrancy of our culture. Most importantly to me, the podcast illustrates that the arts can be a solution, a coping mechanism, and a way forward when dealing with chronic societal problems like domestic violence.

The host, Emily McElwreath, asserts, "With each episode, our mission is to empower you, expanding your journey through the arts." 

To be clear, McElwreath doesn't just have guests who are artists in the sense of painting. To her, "artist" is an expansive term, so she has writers, fashion experts, poets, educators, and even a critic.

The Art Career podcast is in the middle of its fourth season, which began in mid-October with an episode named, Matthew Tully Dugan: Caviar, Vampires, and Warhol.

In the interview, Ms. Murphy narrates her gradual descent from marriage partner to assault victim, and being controlled by her husband.

After finally getting free and pursuing divorce, her abuser husband tells her that he has just bought a gun, insinuating that if she signed the divorce papers, he would use it -- on her.

Listen to this episode that plunges us into Murphy's hellscape, and then transfixes us as we learn about her strength and courage as she rebuilds her life through the lens of pain.

A diagnosis of severe PTSD from domestic violence led Murphy to leave her career in publishing to focus on painting and healing. She moved back to her childhood home in rural Wisconsin, where she started painting in her father’s junkyard, in a studio shack that was converted from an industrial cooler. As her art took off, she moved her studio to an old storefront—that was built as a church in the 1880s.

Recent solo shows include “Traumatica Dramatica'' at The Untitled Space Gallery (New York), “Interior Violence” at CoExhibitions Gallery (Minneapolis), and solo booths with SPRING/BREAK Art Show (New York and Los Angeles). Recent group shows include “10 @ 10” at The Wisconsin Museum of Art, “Pleasure Garden'' at Laurie Shapiro Gallery (Los Angeles), and “In Her World” at Voltz Clarke (New York). 

Check out this episode, how one woman suffered from domestic violence and the resulting PTSD, but refused to be a passive victim. Listen how she has rebuilt her life, even with the vestige of pain, trauma, and damage.