Jamal Durant and Suriya Walcott have been adjudged the top winners in the inaugural Massy art competition in support of suicide prevention and mental health awareness.
Durant and Walcott won the senior and junior categories respectively. Durant won $60,000 and Walcott $30,000, a release from Massy Guyana said yesterday.
Tia Adolphus, another competitor in the senior category, and Jermain Garnett, who entered the junior
category, both placed second and were awarded $40,000 and $20,000 respectively. Massy Guyana also presented the winners with plaques. There were more than 38 entries to the competition.
The release said that the Massy Group launched the art competition on August 8, 2022 in collaboration with the E.R. Burrowes School of Art. Participants were required to illustrate the theme `Creating Hope Through Action’ on their canvas paintings.
During the handing over of prizes yesterday, Durant said “Prior to this, I had never participated in an art competition even though I paint. So, I am very happy to have won the senior category.”
Durant said he entered the contest because he saw how useful his talent could be in highlighting matters affecting society, including mental health and suicide, with emphasis on the male population in Guyana.
Walcott said, “I am honoured to be the winner of the junior category. Since Guyana is within the top three countries with a high suicide rate, I was inspired to do the painting because I felt I could help prevent this from continuing in some way, and I can do it through art.”
Adolphus expressed pride in her painting. “I feel so honoured to be part of the competition and to be chosen second place. Art is a form of expressing one’s emotions and I wanted the piece to reach those who are also suffering with their mental illness and bring more awareness to suicide prevention because I feel as though mentally unstable persons often get neglected.”
She added, “Our mental health is just as important as any other condition, and I want those who are feeling alone and helpless to know they are not alone and they should never give up on themselves”.
Garnett said he was honoured and happy to have placed second. “Thanks to Massy for this competition and to my family who told me I was capable and should stop limiting my talent to modelling clay and play dough, I now have a different view having won something with my first painting”, he related.
Garnett said he also entered the competition to help remove the stigma from mental health issues and to contribute to suicide prevention because “many people do not realise that mental health is one of the leading contributors to suicide. Mental health problems are real, and I want people to know that not only adults experience issues but children and teens do too.”
The winners received their cheques yesterday at an event at Massy Motors’ Ruimveldt compound.
The release added that since 2018, the Massy Group in Guyana has continuously advocated for suicide prevention and mental health awareness through partnerships with government agencies and non-governmental organizations.
The Group has also included its over 800 employees in its campaign by coordinating mental health awareness sessions facilitated by the Mental Health Unit as well as Life Skills Assessments by Dr A. A. Anand, a certified psychiatrist from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in Bangalore, India.
The Massy Group is encouraging members of the public to educate themselves on the telltale signs of suicide and to reach out and help. If you or someone you may know may be at risk for suicide, seek help by calling the lifelines: 223-0001, 223-0009, 600-7896, or 623-4444. Information can also be obtained on the social media pages of the Group’s operating companies, the release said.
