Welcome to our safe space.
Art is found everywhere we look. In the roads we drive on, the buildings we walk through, the world we live in. Every piece of art tells a story: a story of its creator and their unique experiences. Art is a powerful tool to express and share complex feelings, including one’s journey with mental health. We encourage you to submit pieces illustrating your story with mental health based on our monthly prompts. As art can come in many different forms, we accept a variety of different mediums: from creative writing and painting to sculpting and filmmaking, the sky’s the limit!
By submitting your art to our blog, you’re submitting a piece of your journey. And by curating a collection of all these pieces, all of these stories, we can create a gallery proudly showcasing these unique experiences. Contributing to this gallery and sharing your story helps to reduce stigma surrounding mental health while also educating viewers about your story. This is a service to your community, and, as a result, each submission is eligible to receive one hour of community service work.
— INterested in Contributing?
Check out our monthly prompts below.
CHANGE-MAKING:
Summer Grounding: Ground yourself in the moment and identify what is in and out of your control.
Want more directions?
- With school on the horizon, feelings of anxiety are rushing to the front of our minds. If you’re feeling the same way, let’s try to focus on grounding ourselves in the moment and not projecting into the future.
- Depict your current surroundings, and label what is and isn’t in your control this upcoming school year. This can be an image you circle back to during classes, if things start to feel like they’re spiraling out of hand.
Emotive Expression:
Widening Horizons: Take a different perspective on things, and try out a new medium/style.
Want more directions?
- If you’re an avid painter, try going back to the monochrome pencil-and-paper. If you’re used to realism, try your hand at a cartoony image.
- While doing this exercise, try to let go of any prior biases, and identify three things you admire about this new medium/style.
- Keep in mind that such a practice is also useful in real life. For example, reminding yourself what you have instead of focusing on what you lack in tough situations can make you feel better. Try it out!
Raising Awareness:
August 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day. Create an art piece dispelling stigma and raising awareness about drug usage and overdose.
Want more directions?
- August 31st is International Overdose Awareness Day. According to the Penington Institute, the organizer of this date, it is “the world’s largest annual campaign to end overdose, remember without stigma those who have died and acknowledge the grief of family and friends left behind.”
- This month, create an art piece raising awareness about drug usage and overdose. Include themes of dispelling stigma around those who are fighting drug addiction or who have passed.