Marcia Hayes

Atlanta, GA

Marcia Hayes, CPS, is first and foremost, a person … a human being. She is the sum total of her life experiences and is constantly discovering new possibilities to explore.

 

One of her experiences is that of having lived with, and recovered from, an altered state. Others include having been a business owner (a graphic design company), an editor and a national meeting coordinator for a continuing education video company. She has professionally interacted with CEOs of major companies, a President of the U.S. and with those that served them. Essentially, she is a "people person". She is also a web master, an artist, a weaver, a mother, a friend and an advocate.

 

After entering the mental health system, Marcia found her passion: fighting against the stigma of mental illness and advocating for others who are experiencing the learned helplessness and hopelessness that comes from having been trapped in the system. She has worked with Georgia's consumer network and with the State's department of consumer advocacy and was an early team member of the Georgia Certified Peer Specialist program. She has also served as Executive Director of the state office of Oklahoma's Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. She is currently retired and occasionally does web

 

Marcia’s art is about color. As a child, she used cut Crayons into bits and pieces and float them in a jar of water. She’d shake the jar and watch the colors spinning and bobbing in the liquid and admire their beauty. She used to draw cartoons from the Funny Pages of the Sunday paper. After many years of not doing anything creative, she picked up a box of colored pencils and began to put them to paper, once again discovering the healing that takes place during the process. Lately, she has begun doing collages that allow for the juxtaposition of colors.

 

If you are interested in purchasing a print of any of Marcia’s pieces, you may contact her at emporiumgroup@gmail.com.