Flourishing at the Art Gallery: The Strengthening Resilience Exhibition

Earlier in January, the StFX Art Gallery, in collaboration with Flourish@X, put out an open call for art to be displayed in their upcoming “Strengthening Resilience” exhibition. In a message sent out to the student body, the groups spoke on how mental health experiences, though personal and unique, are “rarely solitary.” Connections with people, places, and shared experiences can help students focus on their surroundings, brighten their outlooks, and feel less alone. The Strengthening Resilience display aims at helping students form these connections and at presenting the experiences fellow students have had with their mental health.

Flourish@X is a health promotion program run through the StFX Health and Counselling Centre. The program supports mental health and promotes well-being on campus through Positive Psychology. It consists of a mix of workshops, events, and activities available on campus that aim to build students’ personal development. Many students may know the organisation through the monthly programming that takes place in the Bloomfield Centre.

With the assistance of Amelia Smith, the StFX Art Gallery curatorial intern, Flourish@X invited students to submit digital photographs of their artwork and/or physical objects that reflected their experiences with mental health in relation to the self, the natural world around us, and the communities with which we surround ourselves. The goal was to create an exhibition that celebrates the connections that continue to influence and strengthen our health journeys.

The dates for submission were January 17-18, with the exhibition running from January 23-27 in the gallery in Mulroney Hall, where the art submissions will be projected on a large-screen format. The event will be a part of StFX’s Mental Health Awareness Week. Visitors will have free admission, and though masking is encouraged, it is not mandatory.

The art displayed in the gallery will also be accessible in the Angus L. MacDonald Library lounge room via an iMac monitor and on the Flourish@X and StFX Art Gallery’s social networking sites, including Instagram and Facebook. The artwork presented in all locations will be featured in a digital format. One aspect that makes this art exhibit even more unique is the featuring of artistic videos, all of which will be two minutes or less.

Students every year face hardships in their individual and academic lives that can impact mental health. It is important to recognize this, and with this new art exhibition, StFX is taking another step in acknowledging and supporting the struggles students experience. If you have a spare 30 minutes, the exhibition is definitely worth checking out to support and connect with fellow students on campus!