Gippsland Southern Health Service’s annual art show will return this year as a live event and extend to both Leongatha and Korumburra hospital campuses.
The fifth annual art show will follow the theme `Everyone Matters’ and will be displayed from November 7 till December 31.
This year the community can also contribute by adding their artistic expressions to a canvas mural.
Last year the event was moved online due to COVID-19 restrictions, but this year it will return to the main entrance and halls of the Leongatha campus and, for the first time, about 30 pieces of art will be displayed in Korumburra.
There will also be an online presence with a virtual display on the GSHS website and Facebook page.
The exhibitions will showcase the creative works of people with disability and chronic illnesses and will include drawings, ceramics, book illustrations, sculptures and poems.
GSHS Allied Health Manager Vivian Carroll said about 40 artists across all mediums are expected to contribute to the show.
“This year, we’re trying to highlight the works of people from a range of different backgrounds,” Ms Carroll said.
“The theme is `everyone matters’ and if anyone says they like art, we try to hook them into this show. It’s not about the disability or the condition; the first thing people should see is the art.”
About 50 pieces are ready to display and Ms Carroll expects a “rolling display” with new pieces being added during the life of the show.
“If someone wants to buy a piece in the run-up to Christmas, we want to have another piece ready to take its place,” she said.
“Because of COVID-19, we haven’t had any art on the wall of the hospitals for the past two years except for our permanent display, so this will really brighten the hallways.”
Local artists will also do presentations during the displays and the show encourages community participation with visitors asked to contribute to an art canvas.
The art show will be formally launched with a morning tea on International Day of People with Disability on December 2.
