CANCELED: Avivo ArtWorks: artist reception

Join us for the Avivo ArtWorks artist reception located in The Gallery at 900 Hennepin and the Jack Link’s Legend Lounge. ArtWorks is part of Avivo’s Community Support Program in Minneapolis and supports artists living with mental illness as they create art, build community, and fight stigma around mental illness.

Through a community-focused and recovery-based approach, ArtWorks offers a multi-faceted art studio and programming that help artists set and reach their professional goals. Goals include making new art, connecting with other artists, and accessing exhibition and grant opportunities.

About the artist

Gary R. Melquist has been creating visual art since 2011 when he became a participant of the Avivo ArtWorks program. He didn’t know he had the ability to draw until he was 65 years old, first starting with pencil drawings. Since establishing himself as an artist he has shown his work with People Incorporated, Courage Kenny, and Avivo.

Art has helped Gary enjoy life more than he ever dreamed possible. Art has been therapeutic for him. His life was impacted by severe depression and isolation, beginning in his teens, and he didn’t expect life to be so good in his elder years. Gary is a mental health advocate, having received a Stigma Buster award in 1994 from the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Minnesota. He’s also received recognition for his creative writing. Themes he explores have been mostly related to mental health, showing the range of emotions he has felt. Gary is a long-time resident of Minneapolis.