MAKER'S SPACE
← Allison Haas, Owner of Fortuna June
Jewelry business shines light on mental illness By Melinda Green Photos by Jen Brown
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BEAD BY BEAD 18
(614) MAGAZINE MARCH 2021 614NOW.COM
or the past nine months, in her Fortuna June studio, Allison Haas has produced hand-woven bead earrings in retro colors, emboldened with zig-zags, triangles, and hearts, some even paying homage to “Bernie’s mittens.” But look closer, and you begin to see that each piece is a step on a journey that advocates for mental wellness—her business takes its name from her great-grandmother, Mary Fortuna Haas, who was institutionalized with severe mental illness for the last 40 years of her life. “I feel like I’m giving a voice to someone who would have otherwise been muted by the stigma of her legacy,” Haas said of her great-grandmother. “I’m reminded of my own privilege, being able to get help when I need it, and working to help others get assistance as well.” And every tiny bead is a fragment of that commitment. The wife of a small-town Ohio doctor, Mary’s symptoms began in June of 1929. Though Haas only heard small whispers of her great-grandmother’s story growing up, it loomed large in her imagination. Who was Mary before she became ill? What was her life like in an institution? Eventually, Haas was able to procure medical records and piece together a story of schizophrenia, grief, and postpartum depression. The lack of understanding during that period about mental illness eventually failed her great-grandmother. In 2019, Haas honored Mary’s legacy in a ghost walk, where she told her true story in a re-enactment. While Haas’ art is influenced by the memory of her great-grandmother, it’s also affected by her own life experiences. Her beadwork draws on a life rich with its own stories. Armed with digital design experience and →
