The Aurora Public Art Commission is collaborating with The Awakenings Project for the current Art at City Hall exhibit.

Artwork from The Awakenings Project, which is an exhibit featuring the work of artists who are living with mental illness, will be on display until Aug. 11, 2017, at Aurora City Hall, 44 E. Downer Place.

For the past 20 years, artists with The Awakenings Project have been exhibited widely in the Chicago area. Founded in 1996, The Awakenings Project had its first authentic show at the 1997 National Alliance for the Mentally Ill’s annual Illinois conference. The organizers expected a dozen artists to bring their work, instead nearly four times that many participated. In 2000, the group first published its literary magazine, The Awakenings Review, in conjunction with the University of Chicago.

The 16 artists featured in the Art at City Hall exhibit are: Peter Hallock Austin, Faith Burmania, Ryan Chacey, Sirene Christman, Trish Evers, Julie Hough, Kelsey Kowalski, Robert King Lundin, Sandy Jo Mazurek, William Eddie Nilan, Irene Lamb O’Neil, John Rakow, Mandy Rakow, Linda Stepanek, Kurt Taecker and Anton Witek.

Aurora City Hall is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

SOURCE: city of Aurora news release

• Feature photo caption: This creative three dimensional  ‘Dream Big’ art piece by Faith Burmania is on display in City Council Chambers on the second floor of Aurora City Hall. The Awakenings Project has artwork featured on all five floors for the Art at City Hall exhibit.

The Awakenings Project is a grass-roots initiative whose mission is to assist artists with psychiatric illnesses in developing their craft and finding an outlet for their creative abilities through art in all forms. The Awakenings Project also works to raise public awareness and acceptance of the creative talents of people living with psychiatric disorders who work in the fields of fine art, music, literature, and drama.

At the Awakenings studio, located in Elgin, artists have access to a “drop-in” environment providing a supportive creative environment including work space, friendship, and solitude for those who seek it.

Awakenings was the winner of the “Outstanding Contribution to Recovery by a Non-Profit Organization” award from the Irwin Foundation at Celebration Recovery in 2006. Awakenings also won a “Stigma Busters” award from Ecker Center at the Elgin Country Club in 2010, and in 2015, it was  selected for the 2015 Best of Elgin Award for Non-Profit Organization. Donate Now through GuideStar.