Frank Colmenares

Artist

As a life long music artist that stumbled into community activism early in life, those two worlds colliding was inevitable for Frank Colmenares. From the age of 12 being a founding member of a program designed to provide "at risk youth" an outlet through the arts, to creating a regional talent show that would run for over a decade, to combat crime and boredom in the city in which he was birthed, and a line of other efforts, something is very unique and powerful about the journey that Frank is currently traveling. 

In addition to his background in music and activism, he is a full time videographer and owner of his film production company, ReelE Media. It was in this line of work that Frank paired with an organization by the name of The Black Health Collective where he would conduct interviews and create content revolving around mental health and therapy. Frank sat with clinicians, faith based leaders and even peers of his as he explored the views of different groups of people as it pertains to therapy. The reoccurring theme, especially for black men, was that therapy isn't something that they've experienced growing up, or in many cases, ever. This was also true for Frank, as he has never experienced therapy himself. Beyond therapy, another theme was that people felt for the most part that they couldn't vocalize their hardships, frustrations and traumas, as the pressures of the world makes them feel as though they must have life all figured out and be excelling, especially being under the microscope of social media in todays world.

Developing a burning desire to change the narrative revolving around mental health and the idea that people cannot speak up and speak out about the things that are bothering them and seeking help in the form of therapy and beyond, Frank wanted to challenge those notions by putting himself in the "hot seat" for the world to see, hoping that the example could change the reality for the audiences in his reach. To do so, Frank created a musical offering comprised of six songs titled "Beautiful Trauma" where he would transparently vent the traumas and hardships of his life, in hopes of showing others that not only is it ok to speak up and speak out, but also that it could be really cool and liberating. But it didn't stop there. The next phase was a performance where Frank, accompanied by a live band, would perform this album in front of a sold out audience and then be joined by a licensed clinical to commence his own first therapy session for the crowd to witness in real time, as well as extending the luxury of being able to contribute and ask questions if they so chose, and they did.

Which brings us to now and the work that lies ahead. This album and these performances have been game changers for the way that people view how they can address traumas and hardships in their lives. There are so many people that can identify with Frank Colmenares in some way that can benefit in the mental health space by seeing the display of somebody being open and vulnerable, while also creating that space for others and welcoming them into it. The mission is to utilize performances of Beautiful Trauma to break the ice and create an atmosphere for people to be comfortable enough to partake in the group therapy session that would follow the performance... All in the hopes of destigmatizing mental health and therapy and changing the narrative.