Upcoming exhibit seeks entries from artists with mental illness, those who support them

Friday, Mar. 24, 2017

SALT LAKE CITY —  An art exhibit highlighting the gifts of artists who live with mental illness and those who support them is seeking submissions. 

The St. Dymphna Art Exhibition was put together so “people start seeing [people with mental illnesses] as individuals that contribute to their communities,” said Jacque Smithe, organizer of the art exhibit.

The show, which started as part of the Vision Voices Exhibit through NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness), was brought to the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City’s Commission for People with Disabilities in 2014.

“The Catholic diocese’s commission with disabilities was excited about having an art exhibit specifically for these individuals, and wanted to do it, so we did,” said Smithe.

The first St. Dymphna Art Exhibition three years ago drew more than 100 entries by artists with mental illness as well as other artists who were part of the Utah Cultural Alliance through the Art Access, a program that helps artists with various disabilities.

The goal was “to present the gifts that these individuals bring to our community in an effort to combat the stigma that often plagues individuals with mental illness as violent and a detriment to society,” according to a diocesan statement about the exhibit.

Carol Ruddell, chair of the diocesan Commission of People with Disabilities, said that the commission is always interested in promoting the talents and gifts of everyone with disabilities.

“The art exhibit is an opportunity to highlight the gifts and talents of everyone. Many times there is a stigma attached to people living with mental illness, and we want to share their gifts and talents and take away some of the stigmas that are attached to mental illness,” she said.

“People sometimes have a filter of what a person with a mental illness should look like, and at this exhibit they just see them as another (regular) person which, at the end, they are,” said Smithe.

By observing the artists’ work, people can find that each art piece reveals personal stories and experiences, Smithe said. “They have so much to contribute to our society and this is just a way to meet the people and see their talent.”

One of the artists who participated in the first St. Dymphna art exhibit was Oscar G. Amaya, a local Latino welder who is bipolar and a member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

 “All the pieces had a message,” he said, describing one piece that “talked about the seven character defects that every human being has, the internal struggle that the human being goes through.”

The hope is to make the St. Dymphna exhibit an annual event, Smithe said. “Hopefully it can help people see individuals more as individuals than just the diagnosis. We are hoping that people will stop defining the mentally ill by their mental illness.” 

Submission deadline for the 2017 St. Dymphna Art Exhibition is April 22. To participate, contact Smithe at 801-214-4237. The submitted work must be ready to be framed, but need not actually be framed until it is selected.

The exhibit will run from May 16 to June 13 at the Magdalene Religious Goods and Coffee Grotto, 836 East 3300 South, Salt Lake City.