Multimedia Research Project
The Seeing Wellness Project
An online multimedia exhibit exploring the self-care, healing, and wellness practices of Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color engaged in diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice work around the globe.
About the Project
Wellness as Reflection, Practice, and Collective Care
The purpose of The Seeing Wellness Project is to explore the self-care, wellness, and healing practices of transgender, women, and gender nonconforming Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color who are diversity and justice leaders in the global north and south.
Given that we are asked to commit our energies, lives, expertise, and experiences to our communities, the work we engage in is only as healthy and sustainable as we are. But what does it look like to be well? What practices, routines, and rituals refill us, giving us the fuel to continue in our efforts?
The Seeing Wellness Project serves as both an interactive public reflection and a living archive — part outlet, part accountability measure, and part invitation for deeper collective care.
Global
Community
perspectives
BIPOC
Centered
storytelling
Visual
Multimedia
exhibition
About the Project
Questions That Invite Reflection
Participants contribute images, stories, reflections, and embodied experiences through guided prompts focused on wellness, imagination, care, and healing.
Prompt 1
Current Practice(s)
What do you do on a regular or semi-regular basis to be well?
“… got to give it all up, the pain, the hurt, the anger and make room for lovely things to rush in and fill you full.”
Prompt 2
Imagination & Wellness
What do you do on a regular or semi-regular basis to be well?
“… got to give it all up, the pain, the hurt, the anger and make room for lovely things to rush in and fill you full.”
Prompt 3
Embodied Wellness
What do you do on a regular or semi-regular basis to be well?
“… got to give it all up, the pain, the hurt, the anger and make room for lovely things to rush in and fill you full.”
About the Project
Questions That Invite Reflection
Participants contribute images, stories, reflections, and embodied experiences through guided prompts focused on wellness, imagination, care, and healing.
Prompt 1
Current Practice(s)
What do you do on a regular or semi-regular basis to be well?
Prompt 2
Imagination & Wellness
What is the role of imagination in your wellness practice?
Prompt 3
Embodied Wellness
Prompt 4
Prompt 4
What is the role of love in your healing and wellness practice?
Prompt 5
Prompt 5
Who does it (your life, space) look like when you are not well?
Prompt 6
Prompt 6
What is the role of liberation in your self-care(ing) practice?
About the Project
Questions That Invite Reflection
Participants contribute images, stories, reflections, and embodied experiences through guided prompts focused on wellness, imagination, care, and healing.
Prompt 2
Imagination & Wellness
What is the role of imagination in your wellness practice?
Prompt 3
Embodied Wellness
Selected Works
An Expanding Visual Archive
Participate
Join the Seeing Wellness Project
Join the Seeing Wellness Project
Participants are invited to engage with photographs, storytelling, and reflection as a way of documenting wellness practices and collective care.
- Share photographs and written reflections
Contribute to future online and in-person exhibits
- Participate in workshops and conversations
Explore the relationship between wellness and justice work
Events & Exhibitions
Public Reflection & Community Gathering
The project includes future exhibits, workshops, speaking engagements, and community-centered gatherings.
Coming Soon
Online Multimedia Exhibit
The project includes future exhibits, workshops, speaking engagements, and community-centered gatherings.
Future Programming
Workshops & Speaking Engagements
Institutions, organizations, and communities are invited to host exhibits, workshops, and facilitated dialogue sessions.
In Development
Traveling Community Exhibit
A future in-person exhibition centering BIPOC wellness, care work, and visual storytelling.
Contact
Share Your Reflections
Principal Investigator / Curator
Laura Porterfield
- Newark, NJ
- seeingwellness.com
- laura.k.porterfield@rutgers.edu
“Let’s imagine what resources we have that make us feel happy, or that make us feel calm. For me, I have the sea.” — Seeing Wellness Project Participant
You are invited to engage with these photographs and share your own perspectives. What resonated with your own experiences? What did you learn from these images that may inform your own wellness and caring practices?
For media requests, exhibit hosting opportunities, participant inquiries, or collaborations, please use the contact form.
