The Mental Health Network (MHN) held the Embrace Your Mind Art Gala on April 9 at the Abdul Ladha Science Student Centre to celebrate the different ways people can express their mental health through art.
“The whole reasoning behind Embrace Your Mind was to have a message that can be applicable to 40,000 students on campus. Everyone’s mental health is different. We didn’t want to be telling people 'mental health is this.' We didn’t want to focus strictly on illness. Sometimes people can’t relate to that, so we wanted to do it in a creative way since that’s something we can always relate to and find meaning in,” said campaign co-manager Amika Shah.
Through the Gala, MHN hoped to reach out to the larger student body beyond the community affiliated with their club members. Visitors saw over 20 works of paintings, sculptures, photographs, live music and a forum theatre performance.
MHN encouraged visitors to explore ways to maintain a positive, balanced state of mind through the three step approach called ABC: awareness, balance and celebration. In following the cycle of ABC, MHN hopes people will become more aware of their mental state, find their own personal balance and reflect upon and embrace the well-being of their mental health.
“The conversation doesn’t just start or stop at mental illness. Everyone experiences different things. I hope visitors will connect with other students,” said Shah, who saw the Gala as an invitation for everyone to think, relate and connect with their mind.
MHN is an independent club separate from the AMS or UBC that acts as a mediator to facilitate promotion and collaboration between their members. The Gala was the combined initiative of MHN and their other club members that include a wide range of mental health resources and campus representatives such as AMS Speakeasy, the Graduate Student Society and the UBC Yoga Club. The event is supported by the U-Town Community Wellbeing Grant.