Arts come together to support mental health

A Dartmouth art focus group has come up with a way to celebrate spring and help a local charity.

Nine artists from the group will be having an exhibition of their artwork from May 2 to May 31 at Sunnyside Mall and will donate 30 per cent of all sales to the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia.

The opening reception is on May 7 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The exhibit is called “Brainstorm” and came about after a brainstorming session at their monthly meeting at the Wooden Monkey.

“We wanted to hold a spring show after this long winter,” said Dartmouth artist, Violet Rosengarten. “And mental health has been in the forefront of the news lately, so we decided they would receive our support.”

Some of the artists will be bringing their easels to the exhibit.

“The public likes to watch artists at work, so this will be a treat for them to see.”

The art focus group is an informal one. Their members are from all over metro. They get together to discuss art and invite speakers to their meetings.

Rosengarten said art for sale will include a pastel of a brain called, I was thinking by Rae Smith, Courage and Kindness, an acrylic on canvas by Monika Wright and her own oil on canvas called Peony.

“There will be quite a variety of pieces. I wanted to add something bright and happy. So flowers will work. It is spring. And we need to see some colour.”

Rae Smith, Cathy McKelvey, Maritza Miari, Virginia Houston, Annemarie Johnson, Denise Lanterman, Carol Smeraldo and Monika Wright are the other artists who will have work at the exhibit.

Rosengarten began her artistic career as a fibre artist, apprenticing with the Maya in Mexico and Quatamala. Her tapestries explore colour, texture and abstraction. She has exhibited in solo and group shows in Quebec and Ontario. Her paintings can be found in public and private collections in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. Her work was featured in the short film Rosa’s Time which was invited to the Sundance Film Festival in 1996.

She has taught art at Jarvis Collegiate Institute in Toronto for many years, and in the public school system in Dartmouth.

The Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia was established in 2002, a re-imagining of The Nova Scotia Hospital Foundation created in 1986 and led by Dartmouth businessman Charles Keating.

At that time the foundation only supported clients of the Nova Scotia Hospital as well as the Dartmouth community. However by 2002, they broadened their mandate to raise awareness and support for mental health care in the Capital District Health Authority and throughout communities in Nova Scotia.

Sunnyside Mall is donating the space for the exhibition.

Rosengarten says the art focus group may have more exhibitions where they will donate part of the proceeds to charity.

“It is nice to bring all of our strengths together and support a cause.”