The Same Thing Project, founded in 2016 by Rhode Island Music Hall of Famer Mark Cutler, is bringing its innovative community songwriting workshops to college campuses for the 2022-23 academic year on a tour titled Community songwriting for mental health. This first-of-its-kind college tour was developed with the support of the National Museum of Mental Health Project (NMMHP) as a means of addressing the mental health challenges facing college students today.
The Same Thing Project is one of the first organizations in the United States dedicated to community songwriting, which it defines as “discovering one’s own voice, together with others, to create words and music for shared experiences and emotions: all become composers. No musical experience required.” Recognition of the mental health and wellness benefits of community songwriting is increasing nationally. During the summer of 2022, the City of Detroit kicked off an effort that uses community songwriting to spark conversations around mental health and wellness. In order to create positive emotions on campus, the Community Songwriting Tour for Mental Health College it is believed to be the first effort of its kind to focus on universities.
In March, The Same Thing Project held a community songwriting workshop at Dean College in Massachusetts under the direction of Mark Cutler, who is also NMMHP’s songwriting-in-residence. Over 20 students attended and co-wrote a song titled “What’s Gonna Happen.” Michael Adamowicz, director of the Morton Family Learning Center in Dean, observes: “Mark Cutler…is an expert in working with students with learning differences; His gentle and encouraging approach allowed everyone to participate and feel included. Building community through music, is there anything better?
NMMHP board member Anne Walton explains: “In any form, art speaks to the unspoken. The Same Thing Project offers participants the opportunity to explore thoughts and feelings through words and music. This collaboration is a natural extension of NMMHP’s work.”
the Community Songwriting Tour for Mental Health College arose, in part, from work done by MBA students at Universidad de Asuncion and the work of Emily Taylor, College of the Holy Cross ’22, who is an advisor to NMMHP. The tour is expected to focus on southern New England during the fall semester of 22, but has already received an inquiry from a large Texas university.
The Same Thing Project is named to represent the same joy, laughter, and sense of belonging that everyone experiences in their workshops, and every songwriter’s contribution, no matter how small, is just as important.
Reflecting on the positive impacts the tour can have on colleges, author Bill Flanagan, Sirius XM host and former MTV executive, says, “The Same Thing Project is a great idea, helping people from all walks of life life to deal with all kinds of emotional problems. turning your thoughts, hopes, challenges and problems into songs. It’s a kind of emotional alchemy.”
More information about the Community Songwriting for Mental Health campus tour can be found at www.thesamethingproject.com or www.nmmhproject.org/collaborations. Anyone wishing to book the Tour for a campus group should contact Mark Cutler at 617-791-7942 or [email protected].
About The Same Thing Project and Mark Cutler
The Same Thing Project is one of the first organizations in the United States dedicated to
community songwriting and conducts weekly community songwriting workshops at the Outsider Collective in Pawtucket, RI, which are free and open to the public. The workshops include people from all walks of life: musicians, non-musicians, artists, retirees, people with disabilities, and blue and white collar workers.
The roots of The Same Thing Project stem from a collaboration between Mark Cutler and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Jim Wolpaw on a film project related to Ladd School, formerly a residential institution for youth and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Rhode Island.
Mark Cutler is founder of The Same Thing Project and a member of the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame for his work with the bands The Schemers and Raindogs and his solo work. The Schemers received national exposure on MTV. Mark’s work with the Raindogs included experimental collaborations with Iggy Pop and actor Harry Dean Stanton, and the Raindogs toured nationally with the likes of Bob Dylan, Don Henley, and Warren Zevon. In 2014, Mark wrote the soundtrack for a PBS documentary about George Washington and Gilbert Stuart.
About the National Museum of Mental Health Project
The National Museum of Mental Health Project is a Massachusetts-based nonprofit organization and virtual museum whose mission is to “strengthen mental health literacy through the arts across the country by bringing exhibit to you.” The roots of NMMHP connect with a research fellowship at the Universidad de la Asunción and with several other colleges and universities.
n 2022, NMMHP was recognized in the American Alliance of Museums TrendsWatch report for its collaborations at the nexus between mental health and the arts. Alexandra Orlandi and Paul Piwko, co-developers of NMMHP who met at the University of Asunción, have been published in the DesMoines Register, Coloradoan, Omaha World Herald, and elsewhere. During 2022-23, the National Museum of Mental Health Project is curating a virtual exhibition and mosaic about mental health and wellness in the 2020s called “I Get It.”
