The gallery will premiere in October 2024 as a participant in Fall Art Scene and will feature art created by persons with serious mental illness. The purpose of the gallery is to support the visibility of the arts for the community, increase access to the arts for those with serious mental illness and to collaborate with individual artists and mental health providers. Artists will be asked to submit statements about what the art means to them and how it contributed to their recovery. These statements will be included in the gallery guide. All attendees will be asked to sign in and summarize their experience upon leaving the gallery. Collaborating partners include NAMI Northern Illinois, Shelter Care Ministries and Rosecrance who assist with mentoring artists, helping them gather and design works of art, and assist with some of the overhead costs including work pace, supplies, gallery space and staff salaries.
