MSW Student Wins Playwriting Contest and Scholarship

Chris Yount, a masters student in the School of Social Work, won third place in the American Theatre Co-op's spring playwriting contest for "Color Me," an original full-length play about a schizophrenic painter.

"Color Me," which was written in 1999, was inspired by Yount's experiences as a diagnosed schizophrenic. According to Yount, the play shows how the world perceives an individual with schizophrenia, and how an individual with schizophrenia perceives the outside world.

Yount said he wrote the play with "a desire to promote an understanding of mental illness," and that the play "depicts mental illness from the inside out." He is currently looking for an opportunity for publication or production of his play.

"The arts can bring mental health consumers together to share common experiences expressed through various media: the brush, the pen, the drama on stage," Yount said.

Yount also participates in other programs that aid mental illness through the arts. He serves on the Art Gallery Committee for the Schizophrenia Treatment and Evaluation Program (STEP) and has participated in two Healing Through Words workshops.

Yount was recently awarded a Lilly Reintegration Scholarship by Eli Lilly and Company. The scholarship is awarded to help individuals with schizophrenia and related mental illnesses who are involved in reintegrative efforts and successfully dealing with their diseases.

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