During 2011, On-Track consumers created a mural at the Mental Health Connections Centre at Tweed Heads and this week it was official opened.
The mural is aimed at encouraging people living with mental illness to work together to achieve a common goal.
It has strengthened their support for one another as they transition back into the community.
The mural was brought into being by Connections Art Director, Lorraine Abernethy, in consultation with members of Connections, who had direct input into both the design and painting of the mural.
Lorraine Abernethy, artist and also co owner of Kingscliff’s pop up Art Space K Gallery, said everyone involved was very proud of the end result.
“I have been working with consumers at Connections for approximately 12 years, encouraging and supporting their creative journey to wherever it may lead,” she said.
“In 2011 we started creating a mural to cover the outside wall of the art room. The inspiration for the mural was to give as many of the participants a chance to be part of the overall design and ownership of this positive image.
“My role was to coordinate and complete the final design of the mural using all of the contributed drawings that represent living at South Tweed Heads by the river. We are all very proud of the final result, as it is a very colourful and positive mural depicting the diversity of our local area, ‘a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow’ where creativity is continually incubating.”
The Connection Centre is part of the Day to Day Living Program (D2DL) which provides a recovery model of case management support for individuals living in Tweed Heads, Byron Bay and Mullumbimby areas.
The program aims to improve the quality of life for individuals so that they can live at an optimal level of independence within the community. Increasing community participation by assisting consumers to develop new skills, develop social networks, develop confidence, participate in community activities and accomplish personal goals are also objectives of this program.
