Art show shines light on domestic violence

Aug 28, 2023

Ozer Ministries along with the East Palestine Country Club, Columbiana County Department of Job and Family Services and Norfolk Southern, put on the annual Artisans Against Domestic Violence Art Exhibit held at the East Palestine Country Club on Saturday. Several local artists submitted artwork to the event which shined a light on the men who are victims of domestic violence.

NEGLEY — For eight years, Ozer Ministries has been telling the stories of domestic violence through the hands of local artists. On Saturday, the annual Artisans Against Domestic Violence Art Exhibit was held at the East Palestine Country Club. This year the event gave a voice to victims that are too often overlooked and unfairly looked down. Saturday’s theme was “Men: It happens to us too.”

“The mission today was to present that men experience domestic violence,” said Daryl Hersh of Ozer Ministries. “What I especially see is that boys, little boys, live and experience domestic violence or abuse at the hands of their father or their mother and it really skews the way they see healthy relationships.”

The statistics are startling. Domesticshelters.org reports that 1 in 4 men have experienced severe physical violence by an intimate partner; nearly half of all men have dealt with some sort of psychological or physical aggression by an intimate partner; and an estimated five percent of male homicide victims annually are killed by an intimate partner.

Men domestic violence victims struggle with stigma and shame. Boys who experience domestic violence — suffering abuse themselves or witnessing abuse in their home — often go on to abuse their own partners later in life.”

“A lot of times they grow up very insecure without a lot of relationship skills and often resort to control or manipulation,” Hersh said. “They often become abusers themselves and it’s just an awful, ugly cycle.”

Saturday’ exhibit was a way to both recognize the impact domestic violence has on boys and men and to remind those victims they are not the darkness they endured.

Hersh has made the message her life’s work. Ozer Ministries was established in 1987 in East Palestine by Hersh and her husband, John. The couple is contracted with the Columbiana County Department of Job and Family Services to advocate for domestic violence victims and are chaplains at The Tobin Center, counseling 11 to 17 year olds. It was through her outreach work that Hersh first came up with the idea of an art exhibit.

“I understand the healing process and I encourage creative outlets during it. I really encourage people who have suffered abuse to journal but some people don’t write, they draw. And other people don’t draw, they paint or sculpt,” Hersh said. “I believe that creative expression is an important step in recovery. The art exhibit grew from that belief.”

Hersh, for the first time since the annual art show began, submitted her own art piece in Saturday’s exhibit. Hersh’s painting was her interpretation of how absentee fathers open the door for abuse.

“This is the first time I’ve entered a piece, but I wanted to call attention to the fatherless children and how that leads to both children becoming both victims and later abusers,” she said. “A lot of the time it’s because of the abuse, abandonment, drugs, protection orders. It’s a lot of things but I wanted to ask ‘Where are the fathers?’ It is a question that needs to be asked.”

Saturday, as it turns out, was Hersh’s last chance to submit an art piece. She announced it would be the final art exhibit. Hersh said next year a different event to raise awareness on the scourge of domestic violence will replace the art exhibit.

“This is the final one. It’s time to move on and do something else,” she said. “But we’ve had a great time and a great run and the opportunity to showcase many wonderful artists while shining a spotlight on domestic violence and those who suffer.”

Columbiana County Department of Job and Family Services, the East Palestine Country Club and Norfolk Southern also sponsored the art show.

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