Living Well Art Competition

Late last year I was in Brisbane and visited with Dr Gary Foster, Manager of Spiritus Sexual Assault Services. Gary has long been a strong advocate for men who have experienced sexual abuse and assault. We advertised this great competition in an earlier newsletter to support Sexual Violence Awareness Month (SVAM) that best expressed the theme:

‘Sexual abuse is something that I experienced… It’s not who I am.’

According to Gary the entries generated much discussion and helped expand our thinking in relation to the variety of ways to name and address the theme. The entries were sometimes direct while others were subtle. The collection of posters highlighted the subject of men’s unwanted experiences of sexual abuse and complex questions of personal identity.

The competition panel, in making their decision, acknowledged and honoured the People’s Choice award and to thank everyone in supporting greater community awareness of the problem of sexual abuse of males. As a testimony to the quality and closeness of the competition, the panel decided to award two runner-up prizes.

1st Prize Lucy (UK) Awarded $1000