For six years Peninsula's Artsclamation! event has gathered regional artists on the first full weekend in November to encourage mental health awareness and to fundraise for Peninsula Park West Medical Center, a non-profit division of Park West Medical Center that focuses on behavioral health services.

This year's Artsclamation! featured 35 artists from East Tennessee, all with eclectic styles, using materials as varied as fiber, oil paint, glass, clay and film. The event was held Saturday, Nov.3 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Sacred Heart Cathedral School on Northshore Drive in Knoxville.

Pulling into the crowded Sacred Heart Cathedral School parking lot at 9:30 Saturday morning, I noticed signs directing me towards the gymnasium where Artsclamation! was being held. The signs read, "Artsclamation! Real Art for Real People," but more importantly, Artsclamation! features real art by real people.

In addition to the 35 regional artists featured at Artsclamation!, a section of the event was devoted to consumer art, which is art created by students in outpatient art therapy programs. Mike Chandler, supervisor of the psychiatric rehabilitation center at Peninsula, approached me while I was taking notes in front of the consumer art display.

Peninsula's goal is to improve the community at large one person at a time. -Mike Chandler

Chandler helps individuals continue their therapy in a productive way. Art therapy students who wish to participate in Artsclamation! must be over the age of 18. Any student whose art is purchased at Artsclamation! will receive a portion of the proceeds, just as any of the other featured artists. The students who participated this year contributed 30 percent of the art featured at Artsclamation!.

Chandler stated that the purpose of psychiatric rehabilitation at Peninsula is simple, "Help students complete their education, volunteer for the community or get a job." Peninsula's goal, said Chandler, "is to improve the community at large one person at a time."

Delana Baughman, event director at the Covenant Health Office of Philanthropy said one in every four East Tennesseans suffer from a mental illness, mostly depression, and up to two-thirds of those people do not receive the treatment that they need, despite facilities like Peninsula.

The event was well organized. The gymnasium at the school had been expertly set up with lights and easels to display the art. A friendly staff of volunteers was ready to greet all visitors at the door with pamphlets, and bagels from Panera Bread and hot coffee were available. Artists such as Jo Marie Brotherton, a jeweler and alumnus of the University of Tennessee, and Pat Delashmit from Maryville, the event's only fiber artist, were ready and eager to talk to visitors about their art.

Brotherton explained that Artsclamation! is a juried show where peers meet, analyze and compare artwork. She feels that Artsclamation! has such a great selection each year. Only the region's best artists will bring their art to the table. Brotherton specializes in sandblast carving, hand beveling, painting, fusing and hot glass. Her wearable art was colorful and intricate.

Pat Delashmit's art was distinct from any other art at the event. Delashmit uses a loom to weave her fiber art into beautiful scenes from East Tennessee. Delashmit said a small piece of fiber art could take her 7 to 8 hours to complete while a larger piece could take up to 50 hours depending on the intricacy.

Artsclamation! will be held again on November 8, 2008.