Tyler Janow graduated with a degree in Finance from the University of Tennessee. After that, he admits he ran away from home. “I found the most admirable, cowardly way to run away from the family business by enlisting in the Army,” he confesses. “All the men in my family were Army men, so they would understand being compelled to serve in that way.” There was also a hiccup in his personal life before shipping out: Tyler had met his now-husband Anthony Wilson in June of 2014 and left for basic training in November of the same year. After time on bases in Oklahoma and Texas, he ultimately was stationed in Fort Cambell, Kentucky, where he and Wilson were able to keep their relationship growing by traveling back and forth to and from Knoxville on long weekends. 

During this time, Janow was being trained in behavioral health by the Army. “I’ve always had a desire to work with people,” he says. “I spent a lot of time being people’s mama,” Janow jokes, “but it was incredibly rewarding.” Through his work he was able to understand behavioral health from a different perspective. “Your whole health is behavioral health,” he says.  

Janow returned to Knoxville and to Wilson after his tour and served for four years in the Reserves in Chattanooga. He also faced the music with family and accepted a role as Chief Financial Officer for their business. Among other interests, he manages finances for 32 Taco Bells in rural areas around the state. “My mom, my dad and my brother handle operations,” he says. “They were thrilled when I came back. I took over what they didn’t want to do!” he laughs. 

He and Wilson were married in January of 2016 in Nashville and maintain their home in downtown Knoxville. The couple are intricately involved in the community with Wilson, Chair of the Department of Family Medicine at UT Health Science Center and Assistant Dean of Clinical Affairs and Faculty Development, serving in volunteer capacities as Chair of Community School for Arts, East Tennessee Historical Society and Knox Heritage. Janow volunteers as President of CASA of East Tennessee, Co-Chair of the KMA’s Art House, board member of the Mabry-Hazen House and Covenant Health Foundation, serving as Co-Chair of their Artsclamation! event since 2021.

Artsclamation! is a regional juried fine arts sale to benefit patient services for Peninsula Hospital and outpatient clinics. This is where Janow sees his perspective on behavioral health he experienced in the Army as key to understanding the importance of this annual fundraiser. “Just because someone is admitted to Peninsula with a psychiatric episode, when they are stabilized and released, that doesn’t mean the problem is solved,” he explains. “They may be sent with medicine for a few days, but that doesn’t cut it. Access is so limited, so it could be weeks before anyone sees them again. They wind up right back in the pipeline.” One of the initiatives Artsclamation! supports is a fund to send everyone discharged from Peninsula a 30-day supply of medication to keep them stable. “There’s not a person that this does not touch,” Janow says. 

There is also a clear intersection between art and therapy, which is how Artsclamation! came into being. There is a section of the show where former Peninsula patients self-identify and represent themselves and their work. “There are a couple of artists who I know come back year after year that are former patients,” Janow says. “They sought us out and said, ‘this mattered, and I want to participate in this.’ It speaks to how they found something that is helping them, and they want to give back.” 

This year, Janow is serving as Co-Chair alongside Lauren Miller for Artsclamation!, which will be held for the first time at The Standard in downtown Knoxville. The three-day event will begin with a preview party on December 4th with a public sale coinciding with First Friday December 5th and December 6th.