On April 11, 2026 a reception was held for Unpack your Mind: a group show by artists with mental health conditions. It will remain on view through June 20, 2026. The group exhibition is presented by Pamela Schoenberg, owner/director of dnj Gallery, and Ted Meyer, founder of Art and Med. The ten-week exhibit and corresponding, community-focused events is part of the Art and Med program, curated by dnj Gallery. The events will all highlight a chronic disease. The Art and Med program has designed this program to increase awareness, further education, and raise funds for charities.
In the Spring of 2024, Pamela Schoenberg brought the Art and Med program to dnj Gallery. During the pandemic, she studied nutritional science, and then, in 2023, she received her certification as a registered Health Coach. By combining her two passions—art and health—Schoenberg currently displays fine art that calls attention to certain health illnesses. She stresses the current mission to provide a platform for sharing experiences related to these chronic conditions.
dnj Gallery April 2026
The Art and Med curriculum highlights the voice of the artist/patient. Ted Meyer designed the original program. He is artist-in-residence at the USC Keck School of Medicine, for use in medical schools. This was to illustrate the specific illness and thus emphasize the perspective of the patient. In other words, Meyer reveals a commitment to utilizing art as a tool to support individuals.
The gallery’s next exhibition explores the many ways people experience and navigate their mental well-being. Rather than defining mental health through labels or conditions, this exhibition centers on the voices and stories. Therefore it spotlights the creative expressions of those artists who live with these experiences every day. Through art, the exhibition invites reflection on resilience, vulnerability, care, and the ways individuals make meaning of their journeys. Mental health exists along a spectrum, and every person’s experience is shaped by their relationships, communities, and the circumstances they move through. This exhibition seeks to create space for empathy and connection. Therefore it offers artists an opportunity to share their perspectives. Then in return, audiences have a chance to listen, reflect, and recognize the humanity within these stories.
Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services
More Events Take Place with Unpack your Mind
The gallery will host addtiional events in conjunction with the exhibition Unpack your Mind: a group show by artists with mental health conditions. These include:
Sunday, April 19, 3pm: OUTSIDER FILM SCREENING AND PANEL DISCUSSION – Join us for a special screening of OUTSIDER, a 40 minute award-winning documentary about the late Maury Ornest, mental illness, art, and family – followed by a thoughtful panel discussion: including Lyn Morris, LMFT and Didi Hirsch CEO; Laura Ornest, mental health advocate, retired KNX radio journalist, proud sister of Maury Ornest.
Saturday, April 25, 2pm: DIANE SHADER SMITH AND ANDREA SONNENBERG – The story we’ve been told is that mental health is internal-but what if the real story is everything around us.
May 2026 Unpack your Mind Events
Saturday, May 16, 2pm: ARTIST-PATIENT/MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL CONVERSATION – with dnj Gallery artists- Mila Fejzo and Donna Bernstein and Didi Hirsch- Kris Eterea, LCSW; Moderated by Ted Meyer
Thursday, May 21, 7:30pm: WEBERN QUARTET – Program: Webern String Quartet (1905); Webern Five; Movements for String Quartet, Op. 5; Berg String Quartet, Op. 3; Schubert String Quartet No. 14 in A minor, D. 804, “Rosamunde”
Sunday, May 31, 4-7pm: ARTIST RECEPTION FOR “A LIBRARY FOR THE INNER CHILD” – In support of NAMI Westside LA’s work with children’s mental health, this space will feature over 45 unique pieces of illustrated mental health literature for children and grown-ups. They will include a healing sound element at the reception.
Saturday, June 6, 2pm: OPEN MIC – This is a platform for any individuals living with mental health challenges to share personal stories, poems, and reflections about their experiences. Moderated bv Pamela Schoenberg
dnj Gallery will align itself Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services as its community partner for this upcoming exhibition. Didi Hirsch provides compassionate mental health, substance use, and suicide prevention services to individuals and families. It brings these service to needed communities where discrimination and injustice limit access. They have nine locations throughout the Los Angeles area, offering direct treatment and support, crisis services, and community education and training. The Art and Med program at dnj Gallery is grateful for these participants.
Art & Artists
Artists use expressive methods to process emotions, reduce stress, and boost self-awareness. Some might say that it is a means to survival. Similarly, as Mila Fejzo states, “I use the imaginary realm [the paintings] as a way to cope, process, and make sense of intense internal experiences.” No matter the media, it is the development of the art piece that aids in healing. In her artist statement, Kristine Schomaker explains: “[it is] making the invisible visible. Getting it out of my head and onto a surface where I can actually look at it and ask: is this real? Is this concrete? Or, is it made of dots and color and light?” Moreover the remaining artists in this group exhibition react to their mental health experiences through art-making as well.
On view: April 11, 2026 – June 20, 2026; Gallery hours: Thursdays – Saturdays, 11am-5pm and by appointment – contact office@dnjgallery.net
What: Additional Events, Unpack your Mind
Where: dnj Gallery, 3015 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405
When: April & May 2026
Website: https://www.dnjgallery.net
For additional art exhibitions, and performances as well as culinary events, see LAArtParty’s Upcoming Events Page.
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Or enjoy interviews with artists and gallery owners on our Art Talk Page also on ETG.
