MONROE, La. (AP) — A group of local artists is raising awareness about mental health and beautifying a corner of downtown Monroe at the same time.
Members of the Black Creative Circle of Northeast Louisiana painted a mural as part of Northeast Delta Human Authority Services’ “Rise Above Stigma” initiative.
The mental health mural is on the outside gallery wall, facing the front of N. 2nd Street, in Monroe’s Art Alley. The mural’s design is abstract, incorporates the Northeast Delta HSA colors (purple, red, yellow, and orange) and features the organization’s eagle symbol.
The Rise Above It Stigma initiative aims to help increase access to behavioral health services, provide mental health awareness, and increase culturally and linguistically appropriate training for people living in Northeast Louisiana.
Northeast Delta HSA serves citizens with mental health, addictive disorders, and developmental disabilities in the following districts: Caldwell, East Carroll, West Carroll, Ouachita, Lincoln, Madison, Franklin, Morehouse, Jackson, Tensas, Richland, and Union.
Brandon Virgil, vice president of Black Creative Circle, said the mural and the collaboration with Northeast Delta HSA grew out of a conversation among the group of artists.
“The message that we were trying to send is that people can go online and create whatever problem-solving tools and whatever they need to get through the (mental illness) sigma,” Virgil said.
The group has also painted murals addressing mental health in Grambling and Lake Providence.
Earlier this month, the groups hosted a gallery showing of the mural in Art Alley, featuring Monroe city officials Carday Marshall and Kelsea McCrary and spoken word artists.
“As we know, public art is much more than just painting a wall,” McCrary said. “We know that art has that something that is difficult to express in words, but that means that its level of importance is more than we can identify. Murals not only provide community identity, they provide a place for community expression. They provide a place to feel, not only for the wall they are restoring, but also for the community in which they are painting it.”
