Background: In 2014, Kelsey Sweet was awarded a proclamation from Washoe County in Nevada, USA for her Master's capstone project in Transformative Leadership at California Institute of Integral Studies, a performance art piece, focused on the individual and social impacts of sexual violence. Her hometown is now on board with the national initiative April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Sex in the Art Scene, or SITAS, has become an honorary forum in which collective steps are made to generate more awareness and community solutions toward assault prevention and mental health support in creative communities to generate physical and psychological safety.

​

2019 Was the first year of SITAS, which addressed consent and policy for safe business practices. Creating safe spaces was a primary focus with professional support educating the group from multiple perspectives. The Pioneer Center in Reno, NV donated their venue and staff to support healing within our community. 

​

2020 There are still residual effects the collective is experiencing from the onslaught of a pandemic and political uproar. Public shut downs prevented a public gathering for the forum which resulted in an intentional online live feed in which Kelsey held space for the collective to process trauma. Intention to continue this initiative was set and more research was done in the community.

​

2021 With generous contributions that surpassed $700, we initiated a video series that started with the topic Artists and Mental Health. As we acknowledge a global wellness crisis, "Staying Sane in an Insane World," aims to elevate the collective frequency. Artist K.Sweet gets vulnerable and shares a portion of her mental health journey. The purpose of this video is to catalyze creative expression by sharing how SITAS was started and bringing awareness to sexual assault and mental health. 

​

2022 After a holiday initiative with a Reno's CARES homeless shelter, Creativity Survival Purses were donated to the Domestic Violence Resource Center in Reno, NV. About 50 purses packed with basic hygiene tools, craft supplies, and resources geared toward survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence were made available thanks to generous donations from our community. 

​

2023 We did community outreach to take the temperature of community support and capacity to navigate awareness. It was a year to assess whether or not this initiative is worth pursuing. And yes, it is. 

​

2024 The theme this year is BULLYING and PREVENTION. Community events are being planned with the intent of providing ongoing community support. We are focused on the importance of social cohesion as an essential pre-condition to long term community change. We set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise $10K called #FeedAuniKorn which can be found at this link: Fundraiser by Kelsey Sweet : Feed A uniKorn: Sexual Assault Awareness Campaign (gofundme.com).