UW Mural Unveiling Will Coincide with Mental Health Month

SEATTLE—Student-housing company American Campus Communities/ACC is partnering with the Hi, How Are You Project and the firm is committed to help tackling issues related to mental health among college students. The ACC partnership is aimed at freshmen and sophomores at more than 90 colleges.

ACC collaborated with Seattle’s Urban Artworks to recreate artist/musician Daniel Johnston’s famous “Jeremiah the Innocent” Austin mural as a permanent exterior installation at the University of Washington to help raise awareness about mental health and wellness. The mural will be completed by May 2020 as part of National Mental Health Awareness month and placed on ACC’s Hub U-District community at 5000 University Way.

The redesigned mural concept debuted at the Hi, How Are You Day Concert at the ACL Moody Theater in Austin, TX earlier this year. Concert proceeds went toward mental health awareness programs.

One in five Americans experience a mental health illness with 75% of mental health illnesses beginning by age 24. More than 45% of students who stop attending college because of mental health reasons do not seek help.

“ACC is committed to helping tackle mental health issues among college students by partnering with the Hi, How Are You Project to roll out peer-to-peer trainings of our residents around the nation, including at our three communities in Seattle,” said Bill Bayless, co-founder and CEO of American Campus Communities. “Thanks to UrbanArtworks, recreating Daniel’s mural at the Hub U District will serve as a symbol of this commitment and we hope it encourages students and everyone out there to check in on a neighbor, friend, co-worker or loved one and ask, ‘Hi, How Are You?’”

Johnston painted the mural in 1993. It features a frog named Jeremiah the Innocent with the words “Hi, How Are You” above it. The artwork was originally the cover of Johnston’s music album by the same name from the early 80s. His original mural is located on the Goodall Wooten building at the University of Texas at Austin, which ACC purchased in 2018. ACC pledged to preserve this important work and Johnston’s legacy. Johnston struggled with mental health issues until his death in late 2019.

“Thanks to our partnership with American Campus Communities, the Hi, How Are You Project is able to reach more students than ever before to spark meaningful conversations around mental health and wellness,” said Tom Gimbel, Johnston’s longtime manager, co-founder of the Hi, How Are You Project and general manager of Austin City Limits. “To raise awareness even further, we are thrilled about this first permanent external recreation of Daniel’s iconic mural that will stand proudly on ACC’s community, the Hub U District in Seattle, which is home to a huge fan base of Daniel and his work.”

The mural’s mainstream prominence can be attributed in part to Kurt Cobain, who was a fan of Johnston and often used his celebrity status to champion unsung underground artists. Cobain wore a Hi, How Are You t-shirt to the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards, giving Johnston’s work a much higher degree of visibility than ever before.

“Partnering with the Hi, How Are you Project and Urban Artworks to recreate Daniel’s mural at Hub U District in Seattle provides a great platform for inspiring conversations around mental health issues,” Bayless tells GlobeSt.com. “Through our the recreation of Daniel’s ‘Jeremiah the Innocent’ mural at Hub U District and peer-to-peer trainings of residents around the nation, we hope to further encourage ideas and education surrounding mental well being and remove the stigma around mental health.”

Urban ArtWorks is working with local students and artists from the community to complete the project by the May deadline. It will feature UW’s purple and gold colors, and other elements of surprise to make the mural unique to Seattle.