{"id":35927,"date":"2025-11-06T15:23:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T15:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/35927\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T15:23:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T15:23:21","slug":"it-forced-me-to-paint-from-the-deepest-parts-of-myself-st-pete-art-show-seeks-to-end-stigma-associated-with-suicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/35927\/","title":{"rendered":"‘It forced me to paint from the deepest parts of myself’: St. Pete art show seeks to end stigma associated with suicide"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Abstract\u2018Talking To You\u2019 by Genevieve \u2018Vevie\u2019 Lykes Dimmitt Credit: Jennifer Ring \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay-based artist Genevieve \u201cVevie\u201d Lykes Dimmitt lost her son, Lawrence Hundley Dimmitt IV, to suicide in 2017, but she still speaks to him through her art.<\/p>\n

Her art show, \u201cWindows Letting in Light, Prayers for Lawrence,\u201d runs at FloridaRAMA<\/a> in St. Petersburg through Monday, Nov. 10. Proceeds from artwork sales benefit Love IV Lawrence<\/a>, a donor-advised fund created in her son\u2019s memory to promote mental health awareness and end the stigma surrounding suicide. <\/p>\n

This Saturday, Nov. 8, from 6 p.m.-8 p.m., Vevie joins Love IV Lawrence representatives for a public talk on art and mental health.<\/p>\n

What do you do after a family member dies by suicide and the press starts calling?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the question the Dimmitt family faced in August of 2017 when Lawrence Hundley Dimmitt IV, Operating Partner of Dimmitt Chevrolet in Clearwater died at 32 years old.<\/p>\n

\"Close-upLawrence Hundley Dimmitt IV Credit: Courtesy \/ Genevieve Dimmitt<\/p>\n

The loss left the family stunned. Lawrence\u2019s mother, Vevie, and sister, FloridaRAMA Founder and CEO Liz Dimmitt, describe Lawrence as a sort of golden boy\u2014cute, popular, friendly, fun, thoughtful, a great outdoorsman, a successful businessman, a kind mentor to his colleagues at Dimmitt Chevrolet, a protective brother, a supportive friend, a good neighbor and a loving son.<\/p>\n

Lawrence\u2019s friend, Daniel Singer, describes him as one of the most engaging people you\u2019d ever meet\u2014friendly to everyone, the life of the party, an overall outstanding human being.
Everything appeared to come easily for Lawrence, but beneath the golden boy fa\u00e7ade, he struggled internally.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we all knew he had his ups and downs,\u201d Liz told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. \u201cAnd that summer of 2017, he was in a hard place, but we didn\u2019t know that we were there.\u201d
\u201cHe was clearly battling a lot of this stuff behind closed doors,\u201d says Singer.<\/p>\n

Suicide is rarely expected, yet shockingly prevalent.<\/p>\n

According to the World Health Organization, more than 720,000 people die by suicide every year. And for every suicide, there are more people who have attempted suicide. Earlier this year, Tampa Bay lost beloved historian, author and archivist Andy Huse<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an epidemic in the world today\u2014so many people are struggling with it,\u201d Liz told CL.
Despite the shock, the Dimmitts didn\u2019t have much time to grieve. It wasn\u2019t long before members of the press discovered the police report and began contacting the surviving family members.<\/p>\n

Not knowing what to say, Lawrence\u2019s surviving siblings deferred to their mother, Vevie.
Liz recalls specifically asking her mother, \u201cWhat do you want us to say?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not pretending this didn\u2019t happen to our family,\u201d Vevie told her kids.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I just knew that I had to tell the truth,\u201d Vevie reflects on that moment. \u201cThat we could only get through it if we told the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

As far as she was concerned, there was no other option. Once they told the truth, the Dimmitts were left alone to try and make sense of it.<\/p>\n

How do you make sense of it? You go through their things, you talk to your friends, family, neighbors, doctors, your priest. You make art.<\/p>\n

Eight years later, Vevie still wonders if any of Lawrence\u2019s many concussions played a role.
On the day of his death, Lawrence had left a single file out on his desk\u2014a class action lawsuit referencing concussions in high school football players. Lawrence suffered one such concussion himself as a high school senior. At the beginning of his first football game of the season, Lawrence was carried off the field on a stretcher.<\/p>\n

The coach told Vevie that her son was fine, not to worry about it. But after the game, she discovered that he\u2019d been lying there with a concussion the entire game, practically unconscious. Vevie took her son to a doctor who told her, \u201che\u2019s had a concussion, and he shouldn\u2019t have any more, but there\u2019s nothing you can do about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I know he had more,\u201d she says while acknowledging, the simple fact that, \u201cit\u2019s not like we can ever figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

How do you move forward after a death changed that changes the lives of so many around the person?<\/p>\n

Liz Dimmitt, who happened to be in Florida at the time of Lawrence\u2019s death, never moved back to New York City, where she\u2019d just purchased a new apartment with her husband-to-be. Instead, the couple settled in Florida, and Liz started running Dimmitt Chevrolet.<\/p>\n

She\u2019d always wanted to have a big art project, and Lawrence\u2019s death reminded her that life is too short to put off one\u2019s dreams. So in 2021, she established Fairgrounds\u2014now FloridaRAMA\u2014in a St. Pete warehouse called The Factory<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Everything\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Lawrence\u2019s Tampa friends approached the family, wanting to do something.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t necessarily know exactly what it would be or what form it might take,\u201d Dan Singer, from Tampa, told CL.<\/p>\n

But their good friend and mentor, Martin Borrell, offered guidance, and Lawrence\u2019s Tampa friends established the foundation, Love IV Lawrence, with the Dimmitts in 2017 to help change the conversation around mental health, depression and suicide. The foundation supports several Tampa Bay organizations doing important work in mental health, granting about $100,000 in annual support.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, our mission is to save lives,\u201d Singer told CL.<\/p>\n

Genevieve Dimmitt continued to make art, but its nature changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an artist, it forced me to paint from the deepest parts of myself,\u201d Vevie told CL. \u201cI try to connect with him, to talk to him, to tell him things that were left unsaid. I no longer paint to make something beautiful. I paint to survive, to understand and to stay connected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vevie\u2019s paintings are covered in messages to her late son\u2014all the things she wishes she\u2019d told him. The words often overlap to the point of illegibility\u2014there are so many things left unsaid.
The last time Vevie saw Lawrence, the family was together in North Carolina around the time of the 2017 total solar eclipse.<\/p>\n

She was setting the table and trying to serve dinner when Lawrence noticed a series of paintings she\u2019d left leaning against the wall and asked her, \u201cWhere do you get your ideas?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I didn\u2019t really give him an answer,\u201d says Vevie. \u201cThat was my opportunity to talk with him and communicate, and I missed it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The answers soon found their way into her artwork, starting with \u201cThe Eclipse of 2017,\u201d and then in others. Letters swoop around objects that remind Vevie of Lawrence\u2014smashed automobile glass, shark\u2019s teeth, bottle caps, rocks and shells.<\/p>\n

The works currently hanging in FloridaRAMA Gallery are just a portion of the paintings through which Genevieve Dimmitt processed her son\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a huge amount of work that came out of this,\u201d Liz told CL.<\/p>\n

Through the tangle of unspoken words, one thing is always clear: love.<\/p>\n

Rummaging through old papers as she packed up to make the trip from North Carolina back to Florida once again, Vevie found the last Mother\u2019s Day card Lawrence ever gave her. The handmade card carried the following message:<\/p>\n

Dearest Mama, Happy Mother\u2019s Day. I wish you happiness, comfort, enlightenment, and peace on this special day and always and forever in the future. You have earned it. You are an inspirational and uplifting force for your children and for everyone in your life. Your spirit is warm, vibrant and encouraging. Thank you for instilling your positive energy with us. Thank you for being an incredible person. Thank you for your love. The love and respect that I have for you is equally as strong. It is eternal and it is unyielding. You mean the world to me, mama; you are my world. You have made me the man that I am today. I love you. Happy Mother\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

Years later, it reads like a goodbye note.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I were painting today, I\u2019d tell him how much that note meant to me, and how much he meant to me,\u201d Vevie told CL. \u201cI\u2019d ask more questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an artist, it forced me to paint from the deepest parts of myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

For families affected by suicide, the intrusive questions never end.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of day, when you look back, maybe there are things you could have done,\u201d Singer told CL. But this requires knowledge and tools that most people don\u2019t have.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why Love IV Lawrence has invested heavily in Mental Health First Aid\u2014a program that trains people to recognize when a loved one may be at risk for suicide. Through longstanding partnerships with MHFA instructor Stoney Dvornik, Directions for Living and Safe & Sound Hillsborough, the organization has helped certify more than 7,000 people in Mental Health First Aid.<\/p>\n

Suicide is more prevalent than most realize, and with the world the way it is today, these tools and resources are more important than ever.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you haven\u2019t been directly affected by suicide, someone you know has been directly affected by suicide,\u201d Singer told CL. \u201cThey may or may not want to talk about it, but it\u2019s just so pervasive out there today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve learned so much more through having Love IV Lawrence,\u201d Liz told CL. \u201cYou have to have the hard conversations and ask hard questions\u2026we didn\u2019t have those tools in our toolbox at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Abstract\u2018Windows To Heaven III\u2019 by Genevieve \u2018Vevie\u2019 Lykes Dimmitt Credit: Photo by Jen Ring \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"ExtremeDetail of \u2018Windows To Heaven III\u2019 by Genevieve \u2018Vevie\u2019 Lykes Dimmitt Credit: Jennifer Ring \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"Close-upDetail of \u2018Windows To Heaven III\u2019 by Genevieve \u2018Vevie\u2019 Lykes Dimmitt Credit: Jennifer Ring \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"AbstractDetail of \u2018Windows To Heaven III\u2019 by Genevieve \u2018Vevie\u2019 Lykes Dimmitt Credit: Jennifer Ring \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"Close-upDetail of \u2018Windows to Heaven III\u2019 by Genevieve \u2018Vevie\u2019 Lykes Dimmitt Credit: Jennifer Ring \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"Close-upDetail of \u2018Windows to Heaven III\u2019 by Genevieve \u2018Vevie\u2019 Lykes Dimmitt Credit: Jennifer Ring \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"Abstract\u2018The Eclipse of 2017 Your Goodbye\u2019 by Genevieve \u2018Vevie\u2019 Lykes Dimmitt Credit: Jennifer Ring \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"Close-up\u2018Light of My Life\u2019 by Genevieve \u2018Vevie\u2019 Lykes Dimmitt Credit: Jennifer Ring \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"ThreeGenevieve \u2018Vevie\u2019 Lykes Dimmitt\u2019 \u2018Windows Letting In Light, Prayers for Lawrence\u2019 installation at FloridaRAMA in St. Petersburg, Florida, up through Nov. 10, 2025. Credit: Jennifer Ring \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"LongGenevieve \u2018Vevie\u2019 Lykes Dimmitt\u2019 \u2018Windows Letting In Light, Prayers for Lawrence\u2019 installation at FloridaRAMA in St. Petersburg, Florida, up through Nov. 10, 2025. Credit: Jennifer Ring \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"WideGenevieve \u2018Vevie\u2019 Lykes Dimmitt\u2019 \u2018Windows Letting In Light, Prayers for Lawrence\u2019 installation at FloridaRAMA in St. Petersburg, Florida, up through Nov. 10, 2025. Credit: Jennifer Ring \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"Abstract\u2018Gold Arabic Painting\u2019 by Genevieve \u2018Vevie\u2019 Lykes Dimmitt Credit: Jennifer Ring \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"Close-upDetail of \u2018Family Heart\u2019 by Genevieve \u2018Vevie\u2019 Lykes Dimmitt Credit: Jennifer Ring \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"Triptych\u2018Faith Hope Love\u2019 series by Genevieve \u2018Vevie\u2019 Lykes Dimmitt Credit: Courtresy \/ FloridaRAMA<\/p>\n

\"Close-upDetail from \u2018Faith Hope Love\u2019 by Genevieve \u2018Vevie\u2019 Lykes Dimmitt Credit: Jennifer Ring \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"Tall,David Price and Genevieve Lykes Dimmit Nature of Healing Gallery Photos Credit: Courtesy \/ FloridaRAMA<\/p>\n

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This article appears in Nov. 6 \u2013 12, 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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