Scream it out

We scream for many reasons: when we’re scared, excited, overjoyed and in pain.

When we’re on rollercoasters or watching horror movies or, sometimes, when we’ve been delightfully surprised.

From May 2-4, local residents will have another reason to shout. Scream Room Montana, an interactive art exhibit, is making stops in Bigfork and Kalispell. The Scream Room is the product of Brooklyn-based artist Kylin O’Brien, 45, who recognized her own need for a verbal outlet.

“I wanted to experience a kind of deep, totally free opportunity to scream. I live in the city, so there’s just no place that you can do that without upsetting people,” O’Brien said. “You can move out even some unknown energies or discomfort and the soundwave is like a carrier, similar to how the water is when we cry. It’s almost like the sadness is moving out through your body.”

So what exactly happens in the room?

Folks simply walk in to a special portable studio, close the curtain and scream. O’Brien takes photographs of those who give consent, but if participants would rather not have their yell documented, that’s fine too. The experience is free and open to members of the public of all ages.

“It could be grief, it could be frustration, it can be joy or ecstatic,” she said of people’s screams. “For a lot of people, it starts out as something that has more intensity and the scream starts to change as it’s occurring, and at the end there’s laughter, there’s tears.”

O’Brien set up the Scream Room in Brooklyn last year, and the upcoming stops in May will be the exhibit’s first venture in the Big Sky State. The idea to bring the Scream Room to Montana came from a friend of the artist and FVCC adjunct professor, Jenny Bevill.

“[The Scream Room] happened in Brooklyn last fall. When I saw the pictures on Facebook, at the time I was feeling really disconnected because our valley is divided on so many things,” Bevill said. “This is perfect — everybody has something to scream about and you don’t have to say what it is.”

Bevill not only wanted to bring the project to the Flathead, she wanted to ensure that O’Brien was properly compensated for her time — a challenge for artists in general, but even more so for female ones.

“It’s very hard for artists to get paid — period, and then put on top of that, if you’re a woman artist, you’re facing the same 20 percent pay gap that women in all jobs are facing in this country,” Bevill said. “As a gender we tend to be so caring and so giving … and there’s a moment where you have to go …. I want to do things to help people but I want to put food on the table.”

So Bevill helped form Flathead Valley Women in the Arts, which will not only fund O’Brien’s project, but will promote art opportunities for women in the Flathead. In addition to their crowdfunding efforts through GoFundMe, ImagineIF and Soroptimist International of Whitefish contributed to the art installation. The portable gallery, valued at $12,000 was donated for the exhibit by its creator, however the group will have to pay for shipping along with O’Brien’s artist stipend and hope to raise a total of $5,000.

O’Brien said the majority of participants, about 60 percent, consent to having their photos taken during their experience. An Instagram account will be created following the exhibit so participants can see their photos, Bevill noted.

“I’m really excited to do it in another context and with another group of people and see if anything is different,” O’Brien said. “The work proved itself in Brooklyn to be surprisingly joyful and it’s an opportunity to get in touch with some buried emotions. The outcome has really seemed to be so wholy positive and fun … it’s an opportunity to start conversations and it’s one that can influence community and culture.”

Reporter Mackenzie Reiss may be reached at 758-4433 or mreiss@dailyinterlake.com.