ABOUT US

PAIN Exhibit, Inc. was established June 15, 2012 as a California Non-profit Public Benefit Corporation.

Mission Statement

The mission is to educate healthcare providers and the public about chronic pain through art and to give a voice to the many who suffer in silence.

Governance

The organization is governed by the following individuals:
James Groovy, CEO, CFO, and Director
Elizabeth Groovy, BSN, RN, PHN, Secretary, and Director
Christopher Embrey, Director

(Mark Collen retired from the PAIN Exhibit in August, 2017)

History

Mark Collen founded the organization as a result of his own experience with chronic pain. He herniated a disk in his lower back resulting in chronic nerve pain. He searched for many years but was unable to find quality pain management and felt that no matter how hard he tried to communicate with his physician he was unable to express his true physical pain. Mark began to make art about his pain and suffering as a way to visually share his experience with his doctor. After showing his artwork to his healthcare provider his treatment improved as a result of his doctor having a visual reference and seeing the pain through Mark’s art. Art was far more effective at communicating pain than words ever could be. As a result of his experience, in 2001 Mark decided to reach out to other artists with chronic pain and assemble an online collection of images of their art expressing some facet of the pain experience. The response was overwhelming and artists from around the globe volunteered to join Mark to share their pain experiences with the public through their artwork on-line. In June of 2012 PAIN Exhibit was formally born as a non-profit with the goal to use the collection as a visual tool to educate healthcare providers and the public about chronic pain and give a voice to those suffering in silence. James Groovy, who is also affected by chronic pain, has been part of the journey of the PAIN Exhibit throughout the years and as of August 2017 is the new CEO.

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