Get creative for Mind Matters

Art can be a fantastic form of therapy, either to deal with personal struggles or to share joy, love, stress and despair. You can use it to express yourself, destigmatise your feelings and inspire positivity in others.

Our Mind Matters Student Art Exhibition is an online gallery and a physical exhibition showcasing student artwork influenced by a personal mental health journey or caring for someone with a mental health issue. It is inspired by our commitment to student mental health and our Mind Matters campaign.

Submissions to the exhibition are open all year round, and you don’t have to be a seasoned artist to enter. We accept original artworks in any medium, as long as they can be uploaded as a digital file. You could submit painting or drawing, a digital artwork, a sculpture, a poem, a song recording, a photograph or a musical/dance performance.

New submissions will be selected to be uploaded to the online gallery in Week 4 of Trimester 3 each year. Some submissions suitable for physical display (photographic reproduction on a poster to be hung) will also be showcased in a physical exhibition on our campuses the year after (exact dates TBC). Terms and conditions are below.

Browse the online gallery

Submit your artwork

Terms and conditions

1. Selection criteria

A selection panel will determine the suitability of each submission for the online gallery and the physical exhibition. Not all submissions will be included, and the physical exhibition may have space limitations. We will be using the following criteria to assess which pieces are included:

How well it gives voice to living with your own mental illness or caring for someone who has a mental illness.
How well it conveys the process of managing mental wellbeing.
How evocative and thought-provoking it is, without being offensive or distressing to the viewer.

2. Artwork/composition specs

Submissions can be in any medium – for example, painting, drawing, mosaic, photo, computerised image, the written word (poem), music, music sheets/compositions, sculpture and performance art (dancing, acting, comedy acts, magic performance). The chosen medium needs to be suitable for photographic reproduction on a poster to be hung for the exhibition, or able to be uploaded as a digital file.
Original pieces of art will not be accepted. Submissions must be in the form of a high-resolution (300 dpi) photo of the artwork or as an audio (MP3, MP4 or WAV) file with a file size of 10MB or less.
Submissions can be existing pieces or be created especially for this exhibition. You can choose to have your work displayed anonymously, although you will need to supply your name when you submit your art.
As part of the submission form, you will need to include a short statement (400 characters or less) that explains your overall vision and how it connects with the concept of mental health. It should include the medium/process used. This statement may be edited for clarity, length or tone.

3. Terms and conditions

Applicants can submit more than one submission, provided each entry has its own individual application form.
All entries must be suitable for publication; the design/composition must not include any defamatory, offensive or unlawful content.
Entries must be entirely the applicant’s own original work and must not breach any copyright or third-party rights. Deakin will not be made liable for any non-original work submitted by the applicant.

4. How to submit

Eligible participants are required to complete the application form located on this page and to submit their artwork/composition as outlined above.
Entries are open all year round.

5. Selection of submissions

Artwork/compositions will be selected by a panel of four independent people – two managers, Student Psychological Programs and Services; Director, Student Experience and Engagement, Division of Student Services; and Visual Arts teacher, Faculty of Arts and Education – based on the selection criteria listed above.
Submissions will be assessed after Week 4 of Trimester 3 each year. Submissions received after this date will be assessed the following year.
Deakin’s decision is final – no correspondence will be entered into. Deakin accepts no responsibility for late, lost or misdirected submissions or other communications. Submissions will be deemed void if forged, manipulated or tampered with in any way.
By submitting their artwork/composition, applicants who meet the selection criteria consent to their artwork being published in the online gallery, on Deakin Life blog and social media channels, or in the physical exhibition. If you do not wish your artwork to be displayed in the future, please complete our form and request that your submissions are permanently excluded.
Deakin reserves the right to cancel this expression of interest at any stage,or change any of the rules or procedures for any reason.
Applicants will be deemed to have accepted these rules and to agree to be bound by them when making a submission.

Privacy collection, use and disclosure statement

Personal information provided to Deakin University by entrants will be used to notify the winner of the competition and to publish their name in accordance with the terms and conditions of this competition.

Deakin University complies with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic.) in its treatment of personal information. Entrants have a right to access their personal information held by the University. Requests for access to personal information are managed under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic.).

View the University’s information privacy policy online or contact privacy@deakin.edu.au.

Banner image: Social Media Anxiety – Jessica Wiseman (2022)