The most terrifying moment domestically abused women face is when they decide to walk away from their abusers, according to Tori Henninger, executive director of Barren River Area Safe Space.

That moment is the most dangerous for women because their abusers have lost control and are more likely to retaliate, she said.

“Coming into shelter is that moment when they’re afraid for their life,” she said.

The FFOYA House community arts venue on Friday will showcase the artwork and writing of domestic violence survivors and local artists to benefit Barren River Area Safe Space, a local shelter.

The show opens at 5 p.m., and guests are asked to bring donations of personal care items and nonperishable food as admission, a news release said. After the art show, a poetry and prose reading will be at 6:30 p.m. Two bands, the Wet-Eyed Liars from Bowling Green and Chew from Atlanta, will perform at 8 p.m.

As she prepared for the art show, FFOYA House co-founder Amanda Crawford pointed out paintings of a dove and purple flowers and self-portraits produced by domestic violence survivors through two recent workshops.

The art and writing workshops, along with the art show, are part of a joint project between BRASS, Hope Harbor and the FFOYA House to raise awareness about domestic and sexual violence and give survivors a voice through creative expression. An Art Meets Activism grant through the Kentucky Foundation for Women funds the project.

Crawford, a creative nonfiction writer and an assistant journalism professor at Western Kentucky University, taught joint writing-art workshops this fall with local artists Courtney Davis of Ingen Art Studio and Chloe Lee.

“There is a little bit of fear of creating,” Crawford said, referring to how women first approach the workshops.

Often, Crawford said, it takes some convincing to bring the women around to telling their truth through art and journaling.

For Crawford, creative expression is a source of power for abused women. Directly talking about trauma doesn’t always accomplish that. Crawford is a survivor of domestic abuse from an earlier relationship.

“It allows us to think with a different part of our brains,” she said.

Through a recent workshop, participants went about painting self-portraits by first writing about a time when they felt like a hero or otherwise empowered.

In another exercise, the women were asked to reflect on moments of beauty in their lives, which led one woman to write about waking up to a peaceful, rainy morning.

Through the workshops, Crawford said she encountered many women who said they loved to paint or write but haven’t in years. The workshops allowed them to rediscover those passions, she said.

Alayna Milby, a crisis intervention specialist with Hope Harbor, helped at the workshops and said she was impressed by the energy around them. “I am a strong believer that art is a great way to express yourself especially through trauma,” she said.

– Follow education reporter Aaron Mudd on Twitter @BGDN_edbeat or visit bgdailynews.com.