VIDEO: Film shown in mental health workshops as Dundee poster campaign launched

 

A city-wide poster campaign featuring images and words relating to mental health is to be unveiled on the streets of Dundee.

The first group at Arthurstone Library

As part of the Foolish Optimism roadshow, two young women are taking art workshops out into the community, encouraging a range of different groups to talk about and document their mental health stories.

Jacqueline Goodall, 20, a third-year fine art student at Duncan of Jordanstone College, is organising the workshops in conjunction with Jacqueline Whymark, who is a social entrepreneur, project manager, community organiser and arts curator.

They held their first two-day session with a group at Arthurstone Library last month.

After watching short clips from the Foolish Optimism film, members of the group were asked to consider its messages and jot down their own interpretation and perspectives on mental health issues, whether in words or images.

Messages collected from a diverse range of audiences will then be transformed into posters, some of which will be billboard size.

All the posters will then be displayed around the city from mid-November until mid-December.

The posters will also feature unique QR codes which will enable the public to link directly to the Foolish Optimism website.

The workshops and national roadshow follow on from the release of the film which premiered at The Steps Theatre on World Mental Health Day.

Jacqueline Goodall said: “The whole purpose of Foolish Optimism is to get people talking about mental health.

“We want to gather the views and stories of a huge cross-spectrum of society.

“We decided that it would make sense to go out into the communities and encourage debate.

“We all have mental health but everyone has a different interpretation of it.

“Some people find it challenging to express that interpretation.

“Some of us like to write words and poems while others are visual thinkers, preferring to draw or paint.

“We are going to take these varied and unique messages and make posters out of them to display around the city, spreading the word that young people are not alone when facing these challenges and to get people talking.”

All work created in the workshops will be maximised – if not on the posters themselves, then through exhibitions during the Foolish Optimism finale event next month.

Foolish Optimism was made possible by funding from the Year of Young People National Lottery Fund and the Life Changes Trust.

For more information, visit foolishoptimism.org.