{"id":668165,"date":"2026-05-27T14:09:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T14:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/668165\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T14:09:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T14:09:11","slug":"creative-catharsis-saskatchewan-art-show-brings-mental-health-into-focus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/668165\/","title":{"rendered":"Creative catharsis: Saskatchewan art show brings mental health into focus"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

Countless pairs of painted eyes peer outward from the walls of an art gallery in St. Walburg, Sask., gazes that are met by town residents who are viewing artworks that portray themes like schizophrenia, fragility and strength of the heart.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As rain drizzled down, the inside of the 105-year-old church \u2014 home of the Susan Velder Gallery & More art gallery \u2014 was brimming with laughter, conversation and contemplation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are tired of thinking of mental health issues as dirty little secrets,\u201d Deb Kerr-Goodfellow, co-founder of the gallery, located just 60 kilometres east of the Alberta border, told CBC News. \u201cThat\u2019s sort of an antiquated idea.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Invisible Winds features the work of 19 Saskatchewan artists, and is named for the forces that shape the lives of those around us, often unseen and unspoken.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Curated by artist and gallery director Dean Bauche and supported by the Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils (OSAC), the exhibit explores real life stories of mental health struggles.<\/p>\n

WATCH | New touring exhibition features mental health-focused art:\"\"<\/p>\n

Art exhibit brings mental health into focus<\/p>\n

A touring exhibition, featuring work of well-established and up-and-coming Saskatchewan artists that focuses on mental health, has blown into the church-turned-art gallery in the small town of St. Walburg, Sask., 60 kilometres east of the Alberta border \u2014 just in time for Mental Health Awareness Month.<\/p>\n

The words of decorated Canadian author David A. Robertson serve as an introductory essay to the collection. Robertson, best known for his autobiography All The Little Monsters, which details his own battles with depression and anxiety, said vulnerability is necessary to shake the stigma, and bring the invisible to the forefront.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cArt is story, and stories save lives. I know this as an incontrovertible fact,\u201d wrote Robertson. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about the art on the walls, but the lives behind it \u2014 the stories, the pain, the resilience, and the hope.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For artists like Bonny Macnab, Invisible Winds is a chance to spark conversations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ABonny Macnab, an artist based in Mervin, Sask., said using her brother as a subject was an important way to represent the nuances and stigmas surrounding men’s mental health. (Lexi Freehill\/CBC)<\/p>\n

\u201cArtists are really privileged to have art to express themselves and to be able to open up subjects that relate to other people,\u201d said Macnab. \u201cMaybe they\u2019ll relate in different manners, but it\u2019s still relatable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of her pieces, featuring her brother as the subject, delves into the marks left on children of alcoholic parents. She said the act of creating revealed a motif she hopes others can embrace.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I went to do the medium background, I used old [sewing] patterns by chance, but it was really like, \u2018Oh my gosh, it\u2019s old patterns \u2014 this is what we could also repeat if we\u2019re not aware of what we\u2019re doing.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Holly Hildebrand\u2019s woven art uses cotton thread to symbolize connections. Her artwork tells the story of her adoptive sister\u2019s search for familial and cultural ties to an identity seemingly out of reach, and her niece\u2019s battles with PTSD.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The stitched, textural portraits represent the threads of intertwined lives, while the backsides of the pieces tell another story altogether.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt kind of shows that more fragile side with all the hanging, delicate threads, and it’s to sort of speak about the different sides that we show of ourselves,\u201d said Hildebrand.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tough sides that we show to the world, the more delicate sides that we hide within ourselves.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AA second piece by Hildebrand explores the story of her sister’s daughter, who struggled with PTSD. The hanging threads and grungy, textural elements speak to the hard exterior put on to face the world,while the back side tells a more delicate story. (Lexi Freehill\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Written descriptions of the art\u2019s meanings are provided to help viewers understand the deeper themes, and the stories that inspired the creations. Audio messages featuring artists and \u00a0 subjects explaining their stories in their own voices can also be played by scanning a QR code.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kerr-Goodfellow said the community reaction on opening night was an encouraging one, and she hopes visitors will see the silver linings behind the heavy subjects explored.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think arts can heal, and I think when you\u2019re looking at some of these pictures, you get the idea of how there were struggles for this person.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you can also see the resilience and hope in a lot of these pictures.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Invisible Winds exhibit will be displayed at the Susan Velder Gallery & More until June 28, and will travel to galleries across the province for the next three years, before its stories are preserved in book form.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A list of galleries hosting the touring exhibit can be found on the Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Council\u2019s website. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":668166,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[97,259,260],"class_list":["post-668165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=668165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/668166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=668165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=668165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=668165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}