Brushing Stigma Away: Creating Art for Mental Health

With Mental Health Awareness Month on the horizon, we invite all artists to unleash the power of their creativity for our new art opportunity, “Brushing Stigma Away: Creating Art for Mental Health”.

Join our latest Call for Art and use this chance to convey hard-to-navigate emotions, mental struggles and/or triumphs. Let's unite to reduce stigma and paint a brighter, more compassionate future, one artwork at a time, and promote open and honest conversations about mental health and well-being through the expressive language of art. As always, you can submit more than one piece of work; we love seeing multiple ideas from participating artists. Do not forget to include the title, medium and dimensions of your works.

Cover image: Transmutation notes, (2022) by Daniela Bernal (@danielahb)

Disclaimer: This project will respect the privacy of all participating artists. When taking part in this project, information about your identity and contact details will be kept secure and will never be shared with any outside individual unless it is with your explicit consent. The copyright on the images will remain the property of each contributing artist. By submitting work, you consent for ARTIT to include your images and text in its online gallery. ARTIT may further use the images for internal publicity and reports but will not sell the images or allow other organisations to use them without the consent of the artist.

Being selected as a finalist means your artwork will be celebrated and recognised by a global audience of art enthusiasts, collectors, curators and other artists.

The selected artworks will be featured in the 18th issue of our “100 Artists” book series, which is distributed internationally, offering all finalists an opportunity to showcase their work to a wider audience. The publication aims to spark elaborate and versatile discussion, showcasing the works of 100 contemporary visionaries who confidently draw their emotions and thoughts on blank spaces and canvases, sharing a piece of themselves and their experiences through their creations.

This issue will deliver on ARTIT’s promise to be a powerful voice that enables artists to communicate their feelings and ideas and inspire conversation and action towards meaningful matters, like Mental Health and Well-Being. By featuring your artwork in our '100 Artists Brushing Stigma Away' publication we aim to recognise and honour the exceptional contributions of each artist, validate everyone’s experience and provide a platform that enables authentic art to make a lasting impact on the world. 

Along with the publication, the artists will receive a certificate of recognition and have their works promoted across ARTIT’s social media platforms and website. Your participation and inclusion in this publication will solidify your place among the visual creators shaping the current art scene. We invite you to seize this remarkable opportunity by sharing your unique artistic voice and letting your art about mental health come to life through the pages of our internationally renowned publication.

*An additional prize is to be announced, so watch this space!

The process to participate in the ‘Brushing Stigma Away: Creating Art for Mental Health’ Call for Art is pretty straightforward and user-friendly. 

Firstly, sign up to ARTIT and set up your account which will be visible to the platform users, including other artists, curators, businesses, and art enthusiasts.

Create your personalised portfolio to showcase your work. Tell us who you are, what you stand for, and how you use art to express yourself and reflect. We encourage all participants to give us a detailed overview of their artwork(s), including the title, medium and dimensions. Instead of focusing on a single submission, the jury team will be delighted to find out more about each artist, the vision of each artist and the story that inspired and informed their work, so feel free to upload more related works to your portfolio. Having said that, we ask that you be thoughtful and selective when making your submission, as we only want to see the best of your work. 

Lastly, all entries will be reviewed and you’ll be notified via email and on-platform updates about the results within four weeks of the submission deadline. Keep in mind, that you can submit your works more than once, allowing you to take part in various art opportunities that you and your work may resonate with. Good luck, artists. We look forward to admiring your creativity.

To ensure a fair and transparent selection process that aligns with our core values of love, kindness, inclusivity, and diversity, we have implemented a thorough, non-biased procedure and thoughtful evaluation system. 

We are proud to be working with a diverse team of art professionals, mental health experts and companies in the mental health industry for this art opportunity, who will contribute to our mission, by reviewing and evaluating each submission based on its artistic excellence, authenticity, originality, and relevance to the “Brushing Stigma Away: Creating Art for Mental Health” theme. 

Each submitted artwork is evaluated on its own merit, and our esteemed jury members (the team will be announced shortly!) are committed to ensuring that every submission receives equal consideration and appreciation and that the selection process is fair and objective.

"We understand the importance of giving a platform to all artists, which is why we aim to provide opportunities for artists at all stages of their careers. Therefore, we are looking for submissions from both established and emerging artists. By bringing together a diverse range of voices and backgrounds, we believe we can showcase the richness and depth of contemporary art concerning mental health. We look forward to seeing all participants spark meaningful conversations, raise awareness and explore personal narratives, reflections and broader cultural contexts, putting their artistic skill and creativity to work." - ARTIT Editorial team