A new mural, painted in bright shades of purple, blue and yellow, could help spur conversations about depression and other forms of mental illness.
At least that’s the hope of the artists, health officials and doctors from Kaiser Permanente, who together unveiled the mural on the side of the Avis car-rental building at Broadway and East 19th Avenue in downtown Denver on Tuesday. The artwork is part of Kaiser Permanente’s campaign, which seeks to encourage people to talk more openly about mental illness and to seek treatment when needed.
Dr. Jennifer Ziouras, a Kaiser internal medicine specialist, said good mental health is important to a patient’s overall health and shouldn’t be neglected because of fear or embarrassment.
“Just like you would go to the doctor for your sore elbow, you should go to your doctor when you’re not feeling (mentally) well,” she said.
Denver artists Pat Milbery and Jason Graves painted the mural, with help from volunteers of several mental health advocacy groups and kids whose lives have been touched by suicide. Amid the mural’s bold colors are three equally bold messages: “You matter,” “You are brave” and “You are enough.” The mural also includes the URL for — letstalkco.org — a statewide campaign similarly focused on mental health.
“The message behind this is intended to encourage people to ask for help,” Graves said, “and not feel bad about it.”
