By Amy Swain

One of the award winning submissions for Somerville’s Department of Health and Human Services and the Center for Teen Empowerment’s Art Contest, by Nina Zou.

Last Thursday, the Somerville Speaks initiative held a banquet at the Uniun. The event was the culmination of an art contest the group held including writing and visual art on the topic of mental health issues.

The event began at 6 p.m. By 6:15, the venue was nearly full. The notion that mental illness does not discriminate was represented in the crowd: different ages, ethnicities, and personalities came together.

Local band Afro D All Starz stimulated the atmosphere with their unique mix of hip-hop, jazz, and soul rock at the front of the room, while a free sandwich and snack station was set up at the back.

Several interactive stations were set up for activities like drawing, sketching, and block building. The walls were lined with drawings, paintings, collage and literature tackling subjects including depression, PTSD, anxiety, and other mental health issues.

The offerings were done by Massachusetts teens as part of a contest held by the Youth Mental Wellness Ambassador Program, a combined effort by Somerville’s Department of Health and Human Services and the Center for Teen Empowerment.

The goal of the contest was to lessen the stigma surrounding mental illness by addressing it from different angles. Youth Mental Wellness Ambassador Estefany Ramos Parada said about these types of events, “It’s important. We can’t go knocking on people’s doors and ask them if they’d like to talk about mental health, so we need to provide a place people can just get together and talk.”

Andre Green of the Somerville School Committee agrees, “We must work to destigmatize mental illness. These are not visible issues people – not just teens – are going through. It really is a question of ‘How could I not support this?’”

The event provided a fun way for people to discuss and learn about topics that aren’t always so fun to bring up. A banner, reading at first only “Make Art” hung on one wall. By the end of the night the banner was full of doodles and sketches and messages of joy and confidence.

People from all around the greater Boston area attended, and many entered the contest. Literature and information on mental health was available to grab, trivia questions issues were asked and answered, and confirmed by professionals and ambassadors so as not to put anyone on the spot, and literature on mental health was provided.

To see more events, find out how to get involved, or get some answers yourself, visit www.tinyurl.com/somervillespeaks.