Hello! I’m Kimberly Kalil

In my struggle to know myself and learn to live with mental illness — and not let it rule my life — I discovered the most amazing thing: art is a powerful weapon in my fight to have a full and meaningful life. Creating art has healed me in a way other therapies couldn’t. Don’t get me wrong ... I still take medication. I still see a therapist. I check in with my psychiatrist every three months. I make time for regular exercise. But that treatment plan wasn’t enough. Something was missing. And that something was art.

I want to stand on the rooftops and say: it's okay to be have a mental illness. It's just an illness. It's not who you are. I want to wipe away the stigma that comes with mental illness and to show people that they can soothe their souls and their suffering by making art.