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Effective January 1: Masks are Optional in VisArts’ Classrooms and Studios
My current artistic practice revolves around researching the individuals who suffered abuse and malpractice while at the former Forest Haven Asylum in Laurel, Maryland. During the course of its sixty-six years as a federal institution for those considered mentally disabled, over three hundred patients died at the hands of caregivers, whom remain unprosecuted. Many of these deaths were left undocumented due to careless, institutional practice as well as deliberate negligence, and what remains of the Forest Haven grounds continues to deteriorate while remaining a federally-owned property. The history and lives of the victims are thus actively threatened by factors both human and natural. A vicious cycle exists therefore that places a risk of extinction upon the countless souls whose narratives remain silenced. As a neurodivergent artist and medical professional, my research with Forest Haven Asylum is scientifically-driven and empathetically- motivated. While I seek to discover and collect data on the lives of former patients as an act of forensic investigation into malpractice, I also share the journey of an individual who experiences neurological differences that influence my daily life and functioning. My natural sense of social justice fuels a desire to offer a voice to these individuals through the power of both medicine and art that has never been offered previously. Clinical entities such as Forest Haven are often portrayed as footnotes from which society has progressed, but my experience within the medical world as both patient and provider continues to prove otherwise. Researching this asylum is an effort to elucidate the continued damage of similar institutions today upon the lives of marginalized communities and those deemed unfit for civil society, along with the bureaucracy that perpetuates this cycle. Institutionalization is the story of racism, sexism, ableism and how society has dealt with cloistering its larger problems. In later studies I examine the narratives of individuals who were wrongfully held including orphans, runaway women, and even immigrants who did not communicate in English.
Trisha Gupta is a contemporary artist, community activist, and educator. Her Indian-American heritage heavily influences her work, and she explores themes of mental health and immigration.
Trisha’s dedication to preserving traditional folk art and fine Indian printmaking is a cornerstone of her practice. After being trained in the Western tradition of woodblock printing, she returned to Ahmedabad to delve into the art of Indian Woodblock carving. She has since made it a part of her practice to teach Asian printmaking processes like Indian woodblock printing and viscosity, sharing her expertise with institutions such as the Smithsonian, the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, and Pyramid Atlantic.
She believes in art as a platform for social change. As an Occupational Therapy candidate at Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, she has taught art to diverse populations in schools, homeless shelters, and off Rikers Island. She has also run events at the Sandy Spring Museum and VisArts in partnership with Amnesty International. Her project,  A Table for Everyone, hosted community dinners and public art projects to introduce new immigrants to the community. She has also created public programming for museums like the KidMuseum to promote South Asian Printmaking. She runs a community studio with a printshop and resident artists in Burtonsville, Maryland where she teaches printmaking and indian block printing. Her studio is a heritage site that promotes cross-cultural learning.
She received her graduate degree from MICA in 2024. Her work is listed in the New York Public Library collection, the Art Students League, and in collections internationally and domestically.
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