Four arts projects chosen to tackle mental health stigma

Posted by See Me, 21 December 2022

Four arts projects have been selected as part of the 2022-23 Anti-Stigma Arts Fund.

Now in its second year, the Anti-Stigma Arts Fund provides grants of up to £5000 for organisations and individuals in Scotland to deliver projects which tackle the issue of mental health stigma through art.

This year we received more than 40 applications from a range of organisations and individuals across Scotland.

Research has shown that the arts can offer a powerful platform to share experiences, and show what the reality is for people living with mental health problems.

This year’s Anti-Stigma Arts Fund awardees will aim to create a comic, two films and a spoken word showcase.

These groups and individuals will be working with a diverse range of participants, keeping lived experience at the centre of their pieces.

SAY Women will be working with participants to create a comic which will explore, map and illustrate the particular difficulties faced by survivors of sexual abuse in relation to mental health stigma and discrimination.

The Hear Me Out project will work in collaboration with three men who are suicide survivors who are who are passionate about de-stigmatising the topic of suicide.

A film will be created to tackle stigma around the topic of men and suicide by providing a glimpse into the lives of the participants.

Icebreaker Dundee will host a spoken word performance, sharing pieces on experiences of mental health problems and, specifically, on the intersection between mental health and perceived gender.

And the Exposing Stigma project from Bazooka Arts pledges to create a high-quality community film that will also provide a therapeutic environment for people to explore their own experiences of mental health related to stigma.

It is hoped that the finished film will have an impact on the wider community, exposing stigma in all its forms, raising awareness, generating discussion, reflection and leading to change in attitudes and behaviours for audiences.

Maeve Grindall, project officer for communities and priority groups at See Me, said: “‘The first year of the See Me Anti-Stigma Arts Fund gave us so much in terms of wonderful resources and fascinating insights into how we tackle mental health stigma using the arts. This year, we are so excited to be supporting a new set of diverse projects, all designed to empower and support people to build connections and understanding of mental health and stigma.”

Work on the projects will get underway in the New Year.

Find out more about the Anti-Stigma Arts Fund.