How do you make sense of a compelling voice that exploits your most private insecurities and fears with taunts and jeers? Thought Auction artists have encountered exceptional personal challenges that most of us will never face. No words seem big enough to describe the emotional confusion, the chaos of thought, and the terrors of those who endure psychosis.

Yet armed with courage and resilience, these young people translated their extraordinary experience by creating powerful works of art--first for their families, friends, and neighbors & then for the public. During the summer of 2002, they were invited to exhibit their drawings, paintings, photos, sculptures, and writings in the Northview Gallery of Portland Community College's (PCC) Sylvania campus. The positive impact on the artists and the enthusiastic response from the campus community helped launch the Thought Auction Program.