There's a powerful piece about anxiety, where a man is holding on for dear life at a Port Coquitlam bus stop but a rider only passes him a water bottle without looking his way.
There are other artworks highlighting the plight of homelessness and even a few focusing on racism and the inner struggles that teens face on a daily basis in the community.
These are the stigmas or hidden challenges that students at Archbishop Carney, CABE, Dr. Charles Best, Gleneagle, Pinetree, Port Moody, Riverside and Terry Fox secondary schools plus Seycove in Burnaby wanted to expose in the first-ever Mindfulness in May art and writing exhibit.
Curator and visual artist Diane Moran, a PoCo resident who is a board member of the Friends of Leigh Square Society, which is sponsoring the April 30 to May 14 display along with the BC Schizophrenic Society, said the response to the call-out was "phenomenal."
"We have clay, paper mache, paintings, drawings, sculptures and poems that show what it's like to be judged for a physical, mental, emotional or social stigma," she said.
Moran wanted to tie the youth exhibition with three designated weeks happening across Canada next month: National Mental Health Awareness Week, Youth Arts Week and Youth Week.
And, with the city of Port Coquitlam's permission, Moran hopes Mindfulness in May will become an annual show. "We really want to marry these three national events into one exhibition."
Meanwhile, Friends of Leigh Square will host an opening reception on Saturday, from 2 to 4 p.m. where cash prizes will be handed out to students with the best artworks.
And, on May 4, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Gathering Place at Leigh Square, a free talk will be held about how to end mental health stigma.
