April 23, 2026

Their Words, Their Way: Survivors share healing through art in Ferris State's annual exhibit

Grim Simons didn't write "Her Way" for himself.

The Ferris State University freshman wrote it for his sister who grew up feeling the path forward was already chosen for her.

"She very much would listen to whatever our family was telling her to do, very scared to do anything else," Simons said. "At some point, she couldn't even function without directions being given to her."

Grim’s sister is now an honor student graduating high school and heading to Ferris State in the fall, as the first woman in her family to attend college. Simons brought her to campus earlier this year. He credits that visit with solidifying her decision to enroll.

The four-stanza, 14-line poem is one of 45 pieces on display in "Healing Isn't Linear: Survivors' Art Exhibit," an annual installation features work from Ferris State students, employees and Big Rapids community members who are survivors of trauma, abuse or violence.

Submissions on display inside Room 116 at the David Eisler Center, 810 Campus Drive, include poetry, photography, painting, sculpture and short stories.

"I just feel words are very strong," Simons said. "Some of the words in the poem would be difficult to show in a painting. And I feel people's imagination would have a big effect on how they see it."

The poem's opening line — "She walks in strength, not in his worn-out shoes" — draws from a childhood of hand-me-downs and low expectations. Its closing lines mark the shift Simons intended from the start: his sister's story becoming everyone's.

"I wanted to keep it kind of vague so people could imagine themselves in it, too," he said. "I didn't mention her name. I think that played a big part in finding all the right words."

The exhibit was conceived by Sydney Mingori, now Violence Prevention Coordinator at Ferris State’s Anti-Violence Alliance. She developed the idea as a senior project after attending a conference focused on youth expression during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I saw this and I'm like, why can't we do something similar for our line of work?" Mingori said.

She graduated from Ferris in summer 2023 and joined the Anti-Violence Alliance staff shortly after. The exhibit grew from a senior pitch to a four-year tradition.

Of the 45 pieces on display, 27 came from students at Ferris State’s Kendall College of Art and Design, 11 from Big Rapids-area students, four from faculty and staff, two from Big Rapids community members and one from an unknown contributor. Twenty of the pieces are new to this year's installation.

Notable among them are two series — "I Don't Want to Be That Girl Anymore" and the "Centipede Series" — both submitted by the same artist.

Mingori said the exhibit challenges an assumption she believes causes lasting harm: that healing moves in a straight line.

"When they start to experience the lulls of healing — those really bad days — it may feel like they're not healing correctly," she said. "And that's not something we ever want to promote."

Participants could display their work anonymously or publicly. Mingori said that choice was intentional.

"When you are a survivor, you have already gone through something that has taken a lot of your power away," she explained. "In offering anonymous or not anonymous, they get to take that power back."

A resource table outside Room 116 offers materials for survivors and for those who want to better support them. Ferris State funds Mingori's position — the Alliance's only full-time staff role — along with student workers on both the Big Rapids and KCAD campuses.

For Simons, the exhibit connects to something larger than the poem. Coming to Ferris was his first real taste of independence, and bringing his sister to campus gave her a glimpse of what that felt like.

"The people here encourage you to reach your hand out to opportunities," Simons said. "It was definitely the community."

For anyone who walks through the exhibit, he said the message is straightforward.

"The path you make shouldn't depend on where the past was," Simons said. "When you look behind you, it shouldn't affect where you're going."

"Healing Isn't Linear" is open to the public 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily through April 24.

Submissions for the 2027 exhibit open in September 2026. Updates will be posted on the Anti-Violence Alliance's Ferris 360 page and social media at @fsuantiviolence.