The Therapy Room Hosts Inaugural Beyond the Brush Benefit for Bay County Mental Health Art Show

PANAMA CITY, FL  – The Therapy Room proudly announces the inaugural Beyond The Brush Benefit for Bay County Art Show on Friday, May 23rd from 6-8pm in the main gallery of the Center for the Arts in downtown Panama City. The show features artwork donated by local artists of all ages that will be sold in a silent auction format, and all proceeds from sales will be donated to The Therapy Room Foundation to provide free mental health services to individuals and in our community.

The Beyond The Brush Benefit for Bay County Art Show is a one-night-only event, being held in the main gallery of the Panama City Center for the Arts on Friday, May 23rd from 6-8pm.

The Therapy Room is still accepting donations of art and will be until Wednesday, May 21st at 5pm. For more information about how to donate art to the art show, you can email Ben Earnest at ben@thetherapyroomflorida.com. 

“We wanted to put on this art show because oftentimes art is a voice for people to express themselves and their mental health when words won’t do it justice,” said Katie Bergman, owner of The Therapy Room. “We’re going to use all of the money that’s raised from the art sold to pour back into our community because our mission at The Therapy Room is to continue to reach people and aid in their mental health journey.” 

One of the pieces featured in the art show is by local artist Matthew Shelley and is titled “Fearful Chemistry and Other Vices.” “This centerpiece was originally a stand-alone drawing in ink on paper from 2017 during the throes of struggling with depression and loneliness amidst love lost, left only with an absence of touch and fragments of understanding,” Shelley stated when discussing his piece. “The added collage fragments are organized with color representing the emotional spectrum- an addition made when I was introduced to the concept during therapy as a coping mechanism aiming to help me describe my emotions more succinctly and actively engage with them. ‘Fearful Chemistry & Other Vices’ is a retrospective collage depicting the struggle one endures when being devoid of emotion, regardless of that void being voluntary or not, and how the alternative over the years, really truly addressing my emotions, seemed insurmountable because of how intense they were compared to my comfortable emotionless void.” 

The Therapy Room started in the spare bedroom of owner Katie Bergman in May of 2020, and it has now grown to a thriving group of 17 therapists all over the state of Florida. Therapists at The Therapy Room work with people of all ages, working in areas like trauma, depression, anxiety, perinatal and postpartum issues, men’s issues, couples counseling, and more. The Therapy Room Foundation was established in 2025, so The Therapy Room is more equipped to be able to serve a wider range of clients and to provide community mental health services. For more information about The Therapy Room and The Therapy Room Foundation, visit thetherapyroomflorida.com