In Kara Stone’s (BFA Spec. Hons. ’11) winning artwork for York’s Mental Health & Wellness contest, hope grows as herbs and flowers in old anti-depressant pill bottles.
A master’s student in the York & Ryerson Joint Graduate Program in Communication & Culture, Stone photographed a series of empty pill bottles filled with earth and the tiny new beginnings of plants, titled Little Pharm. The series has won her the top prize of a $100 York University Bookstore gift card in the Mental Health & Wellness contest.
This is what mental health and wellness looks like.
The idea of the contest was to have York University members share their views on how they interpret mental health and wellness, to share that with the wider community and to promote dialogue. It was also hoped that works produced would challenge some of the negative stigmas attached to mental health issues.
The York community was asked to enter the contest by submitting a creative piece of writing, art or poetry, an image or several, or a video that captures what mental health and wellness looks like to them. The contest was open to all York University students – both full- and part-time – staff and faculty members.
Stone, along with nine runner-ups, will also have the opportunity to have tea with York’s President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri.
The runner-ups are Stephanie Lamonaca Caputo, Farhana Haque, Laura Armstrong, June Pottinger, Emily Hughes, Brinti Prashanth, Vineeth Sam Sekharan, Alana Gennara and Samira Basir. They will each receive a $20 coffee card for Second Cup in York Lanes.
Submissions will be posted on the Mental Health & Wellness website.
For more information, visit York’s Mental Health & Wellness website at www.yorku.ca/mentalhealth.