H O P E  c e n t r a l

ARTIST STATEMENT

Hope Central is a collaborative project of Dasa Bausova, Jennine Hough and Aspen Valley Medical Foundation (AVMF). The project was part of Aspen Art Museum’s 970.org exhibition featuring local non-profits. The Red Brick Center of the Arts’ part of the exhibition was called The Concealed Revealed and dealt with hidden social issues in the Aspen area. The assignment for what became Hope Central was mental health and suicide in the Roaring Fork Valley.

Dasa Bausova and Jennine Hough drew on a wealth of information from the AVMF to deal with topics of hope, real and unrealistic in a place like Aspen where the fit, the wealthy, the successful, the generous and the beautiful come to play and where the expectations of local residents are not always matched to this image.

Subsequently Aspen has one of the highest suicide rates in the nation. The Aspen Hope Center, an organization of the AVMF, served as basis for the two artists.

The installation asked questions like: How do people address their identity issues in a place like Aspen? How do these issues become exaggerated and magnified in a culture of excellence?