The Wish Mural
A public art project by Jess Bean she/they & The Alliance fort Suicide Prevention of Larimer County | Completed May 2023
Once AR-animated. Now a lasting conversation starter.
The Story
In 2022, Scott Smith — then Executive Director of the Alliance for Suicide Prevention of Larimer County — envisioned a bold way to bring mental health awareness into the heart of his community. Now Executive Director, Kim Moeller stepped in to carry that vision forward, reaching out to the Fort Collins Mural Project in search of an artist whose work spoke directly to mental health. That search led her to Jess Bean.
Together, Scott, Kim, and Jess began to shape a visual narrative — one that would become a beacon of understanding, reflection, and hope.
Unveiled during Mental Health Awareness Month in 2023, Jess Bean’s mural invites viewers to pause and look deeper — into the quiet, often hidden world of teen mental health. The outermost faces portray the duality within us all: one holds the “positive” emotions we feel safe sharing; the other reflects the more difficult truths we often conceal. These faces also embody the balance of feminine and masculine energy — reminding us that identity, like emotion, is layered and ever-evolving.
At the heart of the mural, a vibrant, joyful face with an expression that radiates outward. But it carries a poignant message: even those who seem happy on the surface may be silently struggling. Sometimes, brightness is a mask — a fleeting moment of light within a storm unseen.
The Ripple Effect
These messages come from the Alliance for Suicide Prevention of Larimer County’s Cards Program, which has collected over 10,000 heartfelt responses from young people, and is used to focus youth programming and create lasting positive change.
Behind the figures, soft concentric rings ripple outward — like thoughts spiraling through the mind, like echoes of pain that reach farther than we realize. Spaced just 4 to 5 feet apart, these rings bear witness to a heartbreaking statistic: in 2022, Larimer County lost one life to suicide every 4 to 5 days.
Etched along the edges of each ring are anonymous messages from local teens, collected through ASPLC’s Cards Program. In response to the prompt “What I wish adults knew about teen mental health,” over 10,000 heartfelt answers have been gathered — raw, honest, and deeply human.
Together, Scott, Kim, and Jess chose the most urgent and echoed responses — words that speak for many. Jess painted each message in the original handwriting of the teen who shared it, their age gently noted beside. These are not just statistics — they are voices. They are people with full lives.
At the center of the rings, the original prompt is painted in Scott’s own handwriting — grounding the mural in the vision that started it all.
A County in Crisis — and Recovery
In 2019, Larimer County had one of the highest suicide rates in Colorado — about 23 deaths per 100,000 residents. Since then, it has seen a 25% decrease in suicides, with deaths dropping from 85 in 2018 to 61 in 2023.
How They Do It
- Cross-sector collaboration: nonprofits, local officials, businesses, and law enforcement
- State and federal grants, including a dedicated sales tax for mental health
- Programs like the Cards Program, youth outreach, and community trainings
‘’Back in 2015, we lost two 11-year-olds to suicide, and that really rocked our community. And a small group of people started to gather and say, ‘What are we going to do about this?’”
explained Rachel Olsen-Towlen, deputy director for the Alliance for Suicide Prevention. Denver 7
Artist Statement — Jess Bean
What I Wish Adults Knew About Mental Health in Teens.
Jess Bean of J Bean Art Artist Statement: Jess is facilitating the outermost faces to represent the parts of our psyche that can be both visible and hidden to the naked eye. One representing the “positive” emotions and one representing the “negative”. One representing the feminine and one the masculine that reside in all of us.
Jess chose to use a joyous playful expression to express how warning signs and cries for help are often overlooked by friends and family. Not from lack of caring, rather because people struggling with mental illness are still capable of laughter and moments of happiness even while in the midst of their darkest moments.
The circles in the background are representative of the ripple effect created by our mind expanding on thoughts so quickly. The outer ripples alternate between 4-5 ft apart as an infographic for the current statistic of Larimer County losing a person to suicide every 4-5 days. Each circle is outlined with statements from The Alliance for Suicide Prevention of Larimer County’s cards program.
The cards program allows adolescents to anonymously respond to the writing prompt: “What I wish adults knew about mental health in teens”. This program has a huge impact with over 10,000 responses thus far. Jess’ goal of this mural is to start conversations that can be difficult but life changing in the most positive ways, and to give perspective that struggling with mental health is not uncommon or shameful. Especially, with Colorado consistently ranking in the top 10 states for deaths by suicide.
