Voices, an experiential art exhibit that represents the work of more than 30 young people touched by mental health challenges, will be on display on Sunday, Oct. 9, when an opening reception will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Branford Art Center, 1227 Main Street, Branford.

The art will be on display until the evening of Friday, Oct. 14. Several of the pieces also will be displayed on Saturday, Oct. 15 at the conference, Living With OCD, which is sponsored by OCD CT, and will take place at the Yale Child Study Center in New Haven from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The goal of this exhibit is to expose and destroy the myths surrounding mental illness, thereby helping to reduce the stigma, negative attitudes, and hurtful behavior toward youth living with mental health challenges, says the exhibit organizer, Ann Nelson of Ann Nelson Advocacy, a Branford-based organization that raises awareness about mental health issues, and works to reduce the stigma related to mental illness.

“These artists are like any young person in that they long for purpose, connectedness, and belonging. Additionally, like many young people in contemporary society, they also struggle with self-acceptance, difficulty sustaining healthy peer relationships, body image issues, substance abuse, self-injurious behavior, and other mine fields found in navigating the battleground of adolescence and young adulthood,” says Nelson.

Nelson says the art work will be divided into four themes, Faces, Feelings, Fight or Flight, and Freedom.

“I designed it this way intentionally to focus on the continuum of mental health and recovery which is universal to all of us. The Faces section speaks to how those touched with a mental health issue often look no different than anyone else from a public vantage point. There is no overt sign that would invite empathy or compassion as would be so with a cast, or a wheelchair, for example,” she says. “Some of the faces represent the way the individual feels inside or how they are perceived by the world.”

The Feelings section expresses the variety of feelings that everyone experience, “but moves it into a more intense expression of those universal sensations.” The goal of this section is to normalize the lived experiences of the artists, she says.

“Fight or Flight captures the response to emotional discomfort, with most of these pieces representing unhealthy coping strategies that any of us might seek to squelch the pain—alcohol, relationships, drugs, sex, cutting. Some of these pieces can be quite intense as the feelings and concomitant behaviors are a result of a desperation to be relieved of the pain,” she says.

Finally, the last section, Freedom, “speaks to healthy coping strategies and even the gifts that might be found in living with a mental health issue,” she says.

Nelson organized the show with the support of the National Association of Mental Illness (NAMI) Shoreline, and the Branford Art Center.

For more information, contact Ann Nelson at annnelson17@comcast.net or at 203-645-2689.

For more information about the Living with OCD event, call 860-415-6233 or email Ct.ocdf@gmail.com.