"As an incest survivor and performing artist this has been a dream project to tell my story and help so many young girls and women find a life worth living after surviving domestic and sexual assault."- Cherisse Bradley
 

Conceived by critically-acclaimed performance artist and  Cherisse Bradley, IFMV was launched in 2013 with the support of Share Art Flint funding and through partnerships with the YWCA of Greater Flint and the University of Michigan-Flint. An incest survivor herself, Cherisse designed an innovative program that utilized various artistic mediums and story circles to engage and empower women survivors of domestic abuse and sexual assault. Through this process, women survivors from the YWCA of Greater Flint were able to form their own creative responses to their personal and collective traumas and to connect with other survivors. The program culminates with the participants showcasing their created works (which included spoken word poetry and dance) in a final stage show for the community. Through a partnership with the University of Michigan  IFMV participants have shared the stage with a stellar line-up of local, regional, and nationally-acclaimed women artists such as Jessica Care Moore, Mama Sol, Steffanie Christi'an Antwaun Stanley and Harold Geen. In addition to the original works created by participants and the performers, the show also featured tribute covers of luminary icons such as Natalie Cole, Nina Simone, Betty Carter, Tina Turner and Billie Holiday.