Twenty-seven local artists displayed their work at a consumer-based art show called "Creative Expressions" Friday at Provena Behavioral Health Center in downtown Champaign.

Along with their passion for art, all artists in the exhibit had something else in common: Each is recovering from mental illness.

"There is a lot of strength and creativity in recovery," said Sue Keller, a psychosocial rehabilitator at Provena Behavioral Health Center and co-organizer of the exhibit. "And we want to show the positive aspects of the people in recovery."

For the past three years, the center and the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD) have organized art exhibits that feature local and national artists struggling with mental illness, Keller said. This year, the paintings of the national artists are on display through Oct. 30 at Aroma Café in downtown Champaign.

Many people show interest in the exhibit, but there is still a lot of stigma in the community, Keller said.

According to the NARSAD Web site, an estimated 22.1 percent of Americans ages 18 and older — about 1 in 5 adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. The recent Surgeon General's Report on Mental Illness states that stigma prevents many people who suffer from mental illness from finding employment, housing and general acceptance into community life.

"The art exhibit is a positive, non-threatening way to teach the community about mental illness," said Dennis Cockrum, community outreach supervisor at the center. "We would like to see that people who experience mental illness are not treated differently."

Mary Kay Bosch of Mahomet, Ill., one of the featured artists, said she is proud to receive visibility and recognition. For the past several years Bosch has been struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder. Severe social anxiety and constant fears have made her life unbearable, and painting is one of the few things that keep her going, she said.

"Those are the pieces from the inside and they are very revealing. It's really hard to have them out there," Bosch said, pointing at her three canvases in black and grey titled Fear and Bewildered, Reveal and Shades of Darkness.

Bosch, who has been painting all her life, hopes that her art will help those who are also struggling with depression and anxiety.

"This exhibit lets people know that even though we have mental illness, we also have feelings," she said.