{"id":73048,"date":"2025-10-11T03:02:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T03:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/73048\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T03:02:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T03:02:10","slug":"our-vision-our-voice-exhibition-launches-in-time-for-world-mental-health-day-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/73048\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Vision Our Voice exhibition launches in time for World Mental Health Day 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Claire Garry (tutor) and Geraldine Barden (Westmeath Arts Office) on Thursday evening.<\/p>\n

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Image 1 of 2
\n Rose Harraghy, Mary Irwin, Frank Byrne, Margaret Forde, Phil O’Brien, Tom Connell and Billy Keeley from the Mullingar Ukulele Group (MUG) provided the entertainment for the launch.
\n Photo by
\n Thomas Gibbons<\/p>\n

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\n Claire Garry (tutor) and Geraldine Barden (Westmeath Arts Office) on Thursday evening.
\n Photo by
\n Thomas Gibbons<\/p>\n

\n Published:
\n Fri 10 Oct 2025, 1:54 PM\n <\/p>\n

\n Last updated:
\n Fri 10 Oct 2025, 2:02 PM\n <\/p>\n

The launch of this year\u2019s Our Vision Our Voice Exhibition by Mullingar Mental Health Association yesterday evening was timed to coincide with World Mental Health Day 2025, today, Friday October 10.<\/p>\n

Cllr Aoife Davitt, cathaoirleach of Westmeath County Council, performed the official launch in the Atrium gallery, where she paid tribute to the artist and other endeavours of Claire Garry, an independent art tutor whose guiding hand is clear in the project.<\/p>\n

Explaining the background to Our Vision Our Voice 2025, Cllr Davitt said: \u201cIn collaboration with the HSE Westmeath Mental Health Services and the Mullingar Mental Health Association, Claire has created a safe and supportive space where participants can explore their mental health journeys through art.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom May to October, people gathered, shared their stories, and found new strength, and tonight, we have the privilege of seeing that work come to life under the beautiful theme of \u2018Stronger Together\u2019. Through this project, Claire is not just creating art \u2013 she is creating community. She is helping people to express what words sometimes cannot, breaking down barriers, and changing how mental health is perceived in our society and I think you all will agree how fantastic the art here tonight is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cllr Davitt also took a moment to acknowledge Claire\u2019s parents, who were both nurses in St Loman\u2019s: \u201cI am sure they heavily influenced her career path, and though not here with us this evening, I am sure your Mam played a huge part in shaping the person you are today, Claire.<\/p>\n

\u201cClaire, your art, your leadership and your compassion continue to enrich our town. You remind us that inclusion is not just a policy \u2013 it\u2019s a practice, lived daily through creativity, kindness and connection. So, on behalf of everyone here \u2013 congratulations, on this extraordinary exhibition and on all that you do for Mullingar and beyond. We are proud of you.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is now my great honour to declare this exhibition officially open and to wish you the very best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner, Claire said that \u2018Stronger Together\u2019 \u2013 the theme for this year\u2019s Our Vision Our Voice exhibition \u2013 was inspired by a photo her father, Chris Garry, took of a murmuration at Lough Ennell. \u201cWe looked at the idea that as one person, or one starling, you\u2019re strong, but as 5,000 all working together, you\u2019re much stronger, so \u2018Stronger Together\u2019 is the theme.\u201d<\/p>\n

Claire worked with the community mental health teams in Mullingar, Athlone and Longford, the Psychiatry of Later Life team, the Admission Unit and St Edna\u2019s Unit (at St Loman\u2019s Hospital), Cluain Lir and CAMS. \u201cWe all looked at ways that our mental health can be improved by acknowledging certain things, so for me it would be walking the dogs \u2013 that kind of gets me going in the morning \u2013 and I asked the participants to figure out something that makes them smile \u2013 just those little things you do daily that help you to build up strength against mental illness or breakdown or relapse.\u201d<\/p>\n

The works produced and on display depict a range of subjects, from the dog walking Claire mentioned to beaches and other peaceful nature scenes.<\/p>\n

Julia Smyth, treasurer with Mullingar Mental Health Association, said the exhibition was timed for World Mental Health Day, and that it is supported by the Westmeath Arts Office and Creative Ireland.<\/p>\n

Julia said Our Vision Our Voice is just one of many projects Mullingar Mental Health Association leads, and others include a walking group and a drumming group is due to start soon.<\/p>\n

The exhibition at the Atrium continues till next Friday, October 17.<\/p>\n

\n Published:
\n Fri 10 Oct 2025, 1:54 PM\n <\/p>\n

\n Last updated:
\n Fri 10 Oct 2025, 2:02 PM\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Claire Garry (tutor) and Geraldine Barden (Westmeath Arts Office) on Thursday evening. Previous Next Image 1 of 2…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":73049,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[103,61,60,410,411],"class_list":{"0":"post-73048","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-mental-health","12":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}