The Shoalhaven Mental Health Fellowship was launched at the Shoalhaven City Arts Centre last week.
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Unit Manager for Arts and Culture Bronwyn Coulston believes the art competition encourages an open minded approach to understanding mental health.
“The Mental Health Fellowship open art competition aims to increase an awareness of mental health and illness in the community,” she said.
“As an open art competition there is no stigma attached to the artists entering, they might or might not have a direct connection to mental health issues, the viewer cannot know and so it allows viewers to take the art works on their merit and use the artistic statements to delve deeper into the works and their connection to the theme.”
This is the thirteenth year the Arts Centre has partnered with Shoalhaven Mental Health Fellowship to hold the competition.
“As a community arts centre and Regional Gallery it is important for the Shoalhaven City Arts Centre to work with programs that grow and develop art practise and engagement with the arts right across the community,” Mrs Coulston said.
“The Mental Health Fellowship is a great initiative and encourages so many artists of a range of skill levels. As Jim Birkett said at the opening ‘It is a brave artist who can put their art forward to be curated and judged by others’. We applaud all the brave artists who are part of this exhibition.”
This year the theme for the competition is ‘The adventure of life’.
‘We have been involved in this project to raise awareness in the community that people with serious mental issues can make a recovery, and to combat the old stigma that there is no hope for people who have mental issues,” member of the Shoalhaven Mental Health Fellowship Matthew Sproule said.
“We chose the theme ‘The adventure of life’ because life as a journey can take many interesting and unexpected directions as people undertake their own recovery process.”
