Mental Health Museum launch new exhibition
An exciting new exhibition has officially opened at South West Yorkshire Partnership Teaching NHS Foundation Trust’s Mental Health Museum in Wakefield by local artist and poet, L. Marie.
‘The Errs That Bind Us’ exhibition will be on display from this summer until February 2025 and explores mental health, wellness, emotions, and senses through a variety of sketch art, short stories, and poems with audio recordings.
The Mental Health Museum is home to an extraordinary collection of objects and stories that explore mental health care history and the experience of mental health conditions.
Originally opened in 1974 at Stanley Royd Hospital, Wakefield. The Museum’s displays include objects from the early 1800s up to the present day, many of which were collected from the West Riding Asylums at Wakefield, Sheffield, Leeds, and Huddersfield.
Speaking of the showcase, L. Marie, from Wakefield said: “I write primarily, but I enjoy sketching too. I cannot speak for everyone through these pieces of work, everyone has their own journey, but people may be able to relate. I want to show that mental health impacts on us all at some point in our life, with the conflicts it can bring, and no one is perfect. Often made harder by stigmas and public perceptions, I wanted to use creativity to show we are not alone. I hope this work could help people navigate their own wellbeing in some way and take what they need from it.”
She added: ‘‘Following therapy, I decided to get back into sketching as a form of therapy replacement, the therapy centre asked if they could have copies of my work to give to other clients, at first, I was apprehensive, but then I agreed to it, if I thought it could help someone. I find the Mental Health Museum fascinating. There’s a section which showcases creative work that was produced by people having treatment there over time and it blew me away. I am incredibly honoured the Museum are showcasing this collection.”
Jane Stockdale, Curator at the Mental Health Museum said: “We are absolutely delighted to host work by artist and poet L. Marie. They are incredibly powerful works, and the poems and artworks are already proving of great interest to our visitors. The Museum is about starting conversations, exploring what we think and feel about mental health. L. Marie’s work contributes a great deal to this conversation.”
The Mental Health Museum is free to visit and is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 1-4pm. For more information contact the Museum team by emailing museum@swyt.nhs.uk, call us on 01924 316360 or visit www.southwestyorkshire.nhs.uk/mental-health-museum.
