Artists, amateurs, doctors, therapists and patients use art to cope, create and spread awareness for mental health.

On Thursday, Syracuse University’s Active Minds will host “Art from the Heart,” an art show for mental health. Students and locals entered works from films to paintings to sculptures. The show will be at held Panasci Lounge from 6-8:30 p.m.

Active Minds members like Meaghan Brady and Ming Cooke, the branding chair and photographer, respectively, have entered personal work alongside community-members to show support for mental health awareness.

“To pass the time I did art,” said Cooke, who recalled her time in psychological care. “Part of it was to keep my mind off where I was.”

Cooke entered two photographs to the art show. The pieces are printed on wood from when she participated in Active Mind’s “Send Silence packing” event, which highlighted student suicide rates on college campuses. Like that event during Mental Health Awareness week, “Art from the Heart” shows a side of mental health often overlooked.

“This exhibit brings a slightly different audience than what we usually have,” Cooke said. “We are talking about mental health in a different way, and sometimes talking through a new medium resonates with different people.”

Mental health awareness has been the mission of Active Minds at SU since its founding in 2011 by Lexis Davis, who explained that the group is on campus to inform students that they are never alone.

With the support of all members of Active Minds, Michael “Buddy” Paladino, co-treasurer, started planning for the art show in January.

“At my first meeting with Active Minds, the idea popped into my head, so I proposed it,” Paladino said. “Some people might draw, run, write, etcetera to cope in their own way. I thought we could have students display what they’ve made while doing that.”

People cope in different ways, Paladino said. Some of the show includes some of the unexpected, like a tapestry and a projected show using crystals.

To further support and bring aid, Active Minds partners with the SU Counseling Center and the school’s health services. Those at Active Minds want to make these resources known, which is why a new audience at the art show can benefit their cause.

“In the future, we’ll continue to stress that ‘you’re not alone,’” Paladino said. “The hope is that, in showing all these other people creating things, that people realize that they aren’t alone, and it’s OK to be open about it.”

Published on November 29, 2017 at 9:28 pm

Contact Sarah: ssallam@syr.edu