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HEADS UP ALABAMA! PSYCHOLOGY PROMOTES HEALTHY LIVING
Check out the new website--keep up-to-date on the progress of this public health education project at www.headsupalabama.org.
Mail your tax-deductible, charitable contribution to support Heads Up Alabama to:
aPAF
P.O. Box 430011
Birmingham, Alabama 35243
The Alabama Psychological Association Foundation is working on this worthwhile educational campaign. We are working closely with the Jefferson County Department of Health on this project. The Heads were produced in Nebraska and returned to Alabama early in May. There was a call to artists, and the Heads are out being decorated. They will be ready to go for summer weather--be ready to see them around town in August and September.
The Kickoff Event will be at the Birmingham Public Library, downtown location on July 22, 2010. Afterwards, the Heads will move to Aldridge Botanical Gardens in Hoover. The Heads will also go to Huntsville, Gadsden, and Mobile, and can also be followed around Birmingham later in the Trail of Heads..
Sponsorship information, including possible in kind contributions, can be found by clicking here. The Heads will tour the Jefferson county area, and with additional funding, will visit Mobile, Huntsville and other cities in Alabama. Two Men and a Truck will help us move the Heads around the state.
If you are willing to volunteer your time, money, and/or skills, or if you know of someone else who might be interested, please contact the Executive Director, Linda Alverson-Eiland at headsupalabama@gmail.com or the aPAF Chairperson, Cathy Huey, at #205.403.0955 or cathyhuey@att.net.
By pairing health education with totally cool art, the project hopes to:
- Reach a broad segment of the population with potentially life-saving information
- Garner significant media attention to generate discussion within the community about psychological components of health
- Enrich the community through the addition of professional art to the daily lives of Alabama's citizens
Heads Up Alabama! is an innovative public education project that uses public art to engage the community in exploration of psychological components of health. Heads Up! addresses various goals, including:
1. Promote Psychology
2. Educate the public about psychology and health
3. Raise the profile of the Alabama Psychological Association
4. Energize aPA members and attract new members
5. Develop new funding sources for public education
6. Create connections with community leaders
Why would a small association with limited resources decide to undertake a major campaign such as Heads Up Alabama? Several years ago, while attending the APA Practice Organization State Leadership Conference, some aPA Executive Committee members learned about an exciting project, Heads Up Kentucky!, which was developed and executed by the Kentucky Psychological Association. Alabama members were so impressed with this campaign that they began thinking about using the idea to increase revenue and improve services. This project is much larger than any public education campaign undertaken previously by the Alabama Psychological Association. It will require support and participation by many aPA members. Heads Up Alabama! will also help to produce funding that can be used for future public education projects.
The Concept. KPA Executive Director, Nancy Gordon Moore, Ph.D., founded the idea to pair public art with public education and promotion of psychology. The concept had percolated in her head for a few years, following a discussion about the Chicago Cows public art project. Approximately 40 fiberglass heads were individually decorated by various artists and displayed in museums and other public places for several months, before being sold at auction. Brochures and posters about emotional and physical wellness were displayed with the heads. Corporate sponsors, KPA member donations, grants, and small marketing materials funded Heads Up Kentucky. Some of the funds raised were used to benefit four non-profit mental health organizations. The uniqueness, popularity, and attraction of the decorated heads can better be understood by seeing pictures on the KPA Heads Up website: www.headsupkentucky.org.
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