Express Yourself Exhibition

In 2014, Bridges put together the visual art exhibition “Express Yourself” celebrating Mental Health Week and in conjunction with the Crush Festival. The exhibition was a major arts-led social engagement project taking 6 months of hard work by all involved. Master classes were held with local providers, who by their own admission, revelled in the process of teaching and learning from the artists. 

The concept was born out of conversations from the previous exhibition “Behind the Mask” about how important it was to tell your story and express your experience of mental illness. The concept was also influenced by the photography and writing workshops we were working on with the ABC. Express Yourself was therefore a display of expressive art pieces using the mediums of black and white portraiture photography and art on canvas.  

Members of the community with a lived experience of mental illness were invited to contribute to the exhibition, alongside the work of participating teaching artists Dave Machen, Jennifer McDuff, Brad Marsellos and Christine Turner.

“Express Yourself” was more than an art exhibition; the process, participation, sense of ownership and achievement in putting the exhibition together all contributes to maintaining and achieving wellness.