The Sunflower Project

The Sunflower Project envisions a world where all survivors are deeply supported in reclaiming their voice. By using storytelling, embodied movement, and a wide range of creative outlets, our work encourages emotional processing, fosters healing, and builds community. We aim to educate all young people about healthy relationships early in life, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, background, location, or socio-economic status.

The Sunflower Project is committed to the essential education, empowerment, and healing that needs to occur in communities of all kinds to ensure a healthier future for all, and fills four gaps in the fight against domestic violence and sexual assault. First, we work directly with teenagers - beginning the conversation when young people are first becoming sexually and romantically inclined. Second, we focus heavily on prevention on both the abused and abusers behalf - teaching young people of ALL genders and sexual orientations about truly healthy relationships and sexual encounters is vital to producing empathetic, kind, and healthy adults. Third, we work with survivors to find embodied practices that foster peace, acceptance, and celebration of their identity as a survivor after they’ve recovered from the primary crisis and trauma of the abuse they underwent. And fourth, we provide artmaking and art sharing as lifelong tools to help people work against the misogynistic and homophobic powers of the world which will confront them their whole lives.

We address these service gaps through our programs:

• Body Memory Method: Created by founder Leah Zeiger, the Body Memory Method is a somatic movement practice and survivor-focussed philosophy aimed at giving survivors the tools to embrace and incorporate their experience as a survivor into their daily lives. Designed for survivors who are out of the immediate danger their abuse posed, the Body Memory Method offers survivors tangible tools for the lifelong task of healing.
• Demand To Be Heard: A call to action for survivors to create artwork exploring their survivorship, Demand To Be Heard is both an online pop-up art gallery and (new this year) an artist residency, supporting performing artists who are survivors of gender-based violence, interpartner violence, domestic violence and/or sexual assault. A catalyst for self-discovery and personal growth, Demand To Be Heard invites survivors to shatter the barriers of stigma, cultivate empathy, understanding, and support among a wider community. This platform raises awareness about the impact of trauma, challenges societal misconceptions, and fosters a culture of healing and resilience.
• Art Jams: Publicly offered spaces for artists of all kinds to come together and improvisationally collaborate, Art Jams provide a unique opportunity for survivors, their friends, and families to share ideas, riff off each other's creativity, and embark on artistic journeys that transcend boundaries. From painters to poets, sculptors to dancers, we celebrate the diverse range of artistic mediums and voices that converge at our Art Jams.
• Education: Tailored to each setting and constituency, The Sunflower Project offers educational programs for teenagers, their families, and their communities focussed on defining and encouraging healthy relationships, and providing resources for teenage survivors and abusers. These take the form of film screenings, movement sessions, artmaking workshops and Art Jams, panel discussions, interactive online presentations, blog publications, podcast interviews, and more.