The 27 paintings, poems and collages that brighten the walls of an otherwise sterile hospital hall carry so many hopes and dreams, even more than the works of the average aspiring artist. The artists are participants in a treatment program for schizophrenics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Therapists hope the exhibit boosts the patients' self-esteem.
The patients and advocates for the mentally ill hope that by exhibiting their art and putting their names on it, they can lessen the shame attached to mental illness . A tall order, but one that at least some patients say they're up to. It's no different from being diagnosed with diabetes or any other illness. There should not be a stigma attached, although we know there is. Every six months, a new selection of patient art will be rotated into the display.