1. The LoveMail Project

LoveMail is an ongoing mail art experiment that underscores the importance of mental health support with a series of uplifting, crowdsourced phrases, illustrated as envelope-sized “pandemic pick-me-ups” by artist Aquil Virani. Interlocking doodles emerge from crosshatched pen sketches. If you look hard enough at the artwork, you’ll find something encouraging. Participants will receive a free print and a return envelope to send back a letter, quick drawing(s) or artwork of their own!

Let’s be real – I won’t solve the economic and emotional stressors of the pandemic that fall disproportionately on the caregivers in our lives and impact disproportionately those who are already marginalized. But I was looking to do something – anything within my control – to reach out and chip away at the isolation and dullness of pandemic life that is affecting so many of us.

For a list of 10 free mental health resources sourced from the Canadian Mental Health Association, click here. For more art projects that promote mental health awareness, check out TwentyTwentyArts.

2. Some of the responses so far.

Your return mail has yielded some wonderful creativity! Folks have sent back a delightful variety of envelope-sized packages – a multimedia painting and collage artwork, a letter from a friend covered in heart stickers, a spontaneous drawing of a hand that says, “reach out,” a thank-you note with an origami heart made of patterned paper, and a poem, written by a mom for her son.

3. Sign up below using the Google form.