The COVID-19 pandemic is not going to stop an important annual contest put on by Rocky View Schools (RVS) for high school students.
The public school district’s Mental Health Out Loud (MHOL) art contest is back, providing students in grades 9 to 12 the opportunity to use art to express their views on mental health.
According to Jodi Neetz, RVS’ Mental Health Capacity Building Program co-ordinator, the contest – now in its eighth year – aims to reduce the stigma of mental illness and encourage people to both maintain their mental health and support others.
“We still want to give students a chance to share artistically and express their thoughts and views,” Neetz said in an email to the Airdrie City View. “This contest allows students to stay connected with us and engage in a project while they are practising social distancing.”
In the fall, the winning artwork will be made into posters and distributed throughout schools in Airdrie and Rocky View County to promote awareness of mental illness. The art will also be shared during Canadian Mental Health Awareness Week, which runs May 4 to 10.
The entry deadline is April 24, and artwork can be submitted to [email protected]
“We usually receive entries from most of the eligible schools,” Neetz said. “There is no limit to how many entries we will accept, although we only accept one entry per student.”
Artwork can be any medium, but entries must be appropriate to all audiences and able to be scanned digitally. That means three-dimensional pieces will not be accepted.
Last year’s winner was Alyssa Crone, a then-Grade-11 student at Bow Valley High School in Cochrane.
She used coloured pens and paper to create a piece titled Restless Thoughts. According to Crone, the piece showed a girl laying on her bed, with a dark cloud above her head illustrating the restless thoughts people struggling with anxiety and eating disorders may have.
“There is so much going on in this picture and I could explain it forever, but these are the main parts of it,” Crone said in her submission. “It’s king of a mess, but that’s how I wanted it, because when someone struggles with these issues, it feels like a mess."
In past years, the artwork was collected by school staff and displayed at RVS’ Education Centre in Airdrie, where they were voted on. However, because the pandemic has resulted in the closure of the facility to the public, Allison Blake, RVS’ success coach, is collecting submissions digitally.
“Stigma is one of the major barriers that prevents people from seeking help for mental health issues,“ Blake said. *This art contest gives young people a creative voice to express themselves regarding mental illness and stigma in a way that is impactful to others
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Neetz said RVS is still working out the details as to how voting will occur.
The winning artwork will be displayed on the Stepping Stones to Mental Health (SSMH) social media pages for the public to view.
For more information on MHOL, visit rockyview.ab.ca and search "Art Contest."
Scott Strasser, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @scottstrasser19
