Art Wanted

By Sandra Kiume
July 23, 2007

Scotland’s Project Ability is calling for submissions to Mental Image: An International Open Art Exhibition Exploring Mental Health. Artists from all over the world may submit art in any medium “that reflects their ideas and feelings on mental health, either from a perspective of wellbeing or of illness.” Submissions will be accepted after July 30 and juried in September, and officially launched as part of Mental Illness Awareness Week in October.

Art is widely accepted as a cathartic therapy, while heightened creativity has been linked to mental illness for centuries. Bipolar disorders and schizophrenia, especially, are thought to carry unique insights and expression. Books like Touched With Fire and Finding Your Bipolar Muse explore the connections, but not without controversy. Some dispute the idea that mental illness breeds a more successful artist.

The movement of outsider art (a.k.a. Art Brut, raw art, intuitive art, etc.) celebrates the talents of people who aren’t formally trained (and therefore can’t access the traditional fine art gallery system) but are deeply creative. The Icarus Project is a part of this movement, a web community “navigating the space between brilliance and madness.” That space is lively, mixing people who shun traditional treatments with people who do seek them; the common threads are intense expressions and a passion for exploring cultural edges and identity.

The Mental Image exhibit promises to be interesting. If you’re an artist, check out the submission guidelines and maybe your work will play a part.

Sandra Kiume is a mental health advocate and editor of Channel N who lives in Vancouver, Canada.