Statewide Theatre And Public Dialogue Tour Will Visit Glasgow

The University of Montana’s Co-Lab for Civic Imagination brings its theatre program State of Mind to Glasgow on Thursday, Oct. 24. State of Mind is an interactive theatre and public dialogue event that is touring to over 20 (primarily rural) Montana communities from September 2024 to May 2025.

The project consists of a free theatre performance for the general public, and workshops for local students, school faculty and staff, and local health providers. The performance will take place on Thursday, Oct. 24, at Valley County Pioneer Museum, with workshops taking place at Glasgow High School earlier that day. The workshops will inspire a portion of the performance, ensuring that Glasgow’s residents’ voices and ideas are a part of the performance, thereby providing a unique experience for each community that State of Mind visits.

State of Mind has been developed over two years by a group of professional Montana artists, facilitators, and mental and behavioral health professionals in response to the troubling trends in Montana’s behavioral and mental health outcomes. Thirty-five percent of adult Montanans report symptoms of anxiety or depression, and Montana ranks in the top five states for highest rates of suicide across all age groups. With so many Montanans living in rural areas, it can be challenging to connect with professionals like psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, or addiction counselors in times of crisis or just for regular counseling support.

Health providers and policy experts believe that in addition to having more professionals around the state, we also need to change how we talk about mental health with one another - neighbor to neighbor, Montanan to Montanan. If someone has an accident on the ranch or the job site, we know how to get them the medical help they need, but if someone’s struggling with addiction or other mental health crisis, sometimes it’s less clear how to help. And that’s where State of Mind comes in.

State of Mind director Michael Rohd says, “The arts are a powerful way to not just share stories, but to gather and imagine the futures we want to see and build together. State of Mind’s goals include tackling stigmas around seeking help, making local resources more visible and contributing to local capacity for community care. We aim to bring diverse Montana voices into health policy and resource conversations across our state, and to make opportunities for those with local knowledge to lead the way as Montana continues to battle our behavioral health crisis.”

State of Mind tours are at no cost to the communities they visit. The Glasgow event is being organized by Fort Peck Fine Arts Council, Youth Connections Coalition, Glasgow Public Schools, and the Eastern Montana Community Mental Health Center.

One of the community partners, Jenny Fuller, from Youth Connections Coalition, says: “The U of M State of Mind tour provides a unique opportunity to address youth mental health in a safe and supportive environment. We are very excited to be able to bring this resource to our frontier Montana community in a thoughtful way.”

State of Mind will be touring at no cost to communities through May 2025.

For more information about State of Mind and the people involved, visit: http://www.umcivicimagination.com/state-of-mind-1 or follow them on Facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556751081311

For more information about the community organizations:

Fort Peck Fine Arts Council - https://www.fortpecktheatre.org/

Youth Connections Coalition - https://www.youthconnectionscoalition.org/

Glasgow Public Schools - https://www.glasgow.k12.mt.us/

Eastern Montana Community Mental Health Center - https://www.emcmhc.com/