Art and mental health issues, they seem to go together

This article was originally published by Daily Review.

Anglicare’s Arts&minds in Brisbane has produced a web-series and a billboard campaign across the city to tell of artists and their commitment to increasing awareness of mental health.

The church organisation has paired five emerging artists affected by mental health issues with five established artists to create artworks that will be auctioned at an event on May 31.

The five emerging artists are Ipswich-based indigenous artist Ailsa Walsh, the Gold Coast’s Samuel Dunn, Marie Robertson from Brisbane, Woombye’s Liz Pepper and Spectator Jonze from Eight Mile Plains. They have been paired with five leading and established Queensland artists in Sean Leahy (pictured above), Matt Stewart, Tracey Keller, Tracey Eaton and Aunty Denise Proud.

Ten canvases were created by the 10 artists and filmed over an eight-hour period with the paired artists working at the same time and to the same brief to create their pieces.

Anglicare Executive Director Karen Crouch said: “Arts&Minds is our dedicated campaign to increase the public conversation about mental health. We believe that more transparent and open dialogue about mental health will remove the fear so many people have about the issue, and help more Queenslanders talk and seek help when they need it”.

“The five inspiring emerging artists have all been brave enough to share their experiences with mental health challenges, and for this we incredibly thankful; their coming out and talking about their experiences, and then sharing these experiences via their artworks, is humbling to say the least,” she said.