EDUCATION is the primary objective of an new art exhibition featuring the work of artists who have experienced mental illness.
Colour Me Crazy is an exhibition which comprises 17 items of work from artists based across the Mallee, all of whom have had some form of mental illness in their lives.
Organised through Mallee Family Care, program manager John Downie said the exhibition’s works were included based on artistic merit.
“We want to communicate to the broader community that people with mental illness are not just a diagnosis,” he said.
Mr Downie said art was an effective way of breaking down such perceptions.
“People let their barriers down when it comes to regarding art,” he said.
“They take it as and of itself.”
He added that there were benefits for the artists as well.
“To use a cliché, a picture paints a thousand words and sometimes with the way that somebody is feeling, it can be difficult to find the words to describe their journey with a mental health crisis,” he said.
“I think art can give people an insight that they wouldn’t be able to find via other means.”
The Colour Me Crazy exhibition will be on display in the Swan Hill Regional Art
Gallery until Sunday, October 28.
