Art exhibition showcases artwork by Sunrise Melton program participants, exploring connection and togetherness

The exhibition showcases artwork by Sunrise Melton program participants and explores what connection and togetherness means to each participant, and celebrates the collective impact of the Sunrise Melton Group over the last year.

GenWest Sunrise Melton Community Art Project

Togetherness & Connection is a collaborative exhibition celebrating creativity, belonging and the strength of community.

Created by participants of the GenWest Sunrise Melton Program, these artworks explore personal stories, relationships, identity and the importance of feeling connected, supported and included. Through ceramics, screen printing, painting and mixed media, participants have explored different ways of expressing their experiences, emotions and connections with others. Each artwork reflects an individual creative journey while contributing to a shared story of friendship, resilience and community.

The Sunrise Program provides a welcoming and inclusive space for women, trans, gender diverse and non-binary people living with disabilities, chronic health conditions and mental health challenges. Through creativity and shared experiences, participants have built confidence, developed friendships and strengthened their sense of belonging.

Togetherness & Connection celebrates the uniqueness of every individual and reminds us that, while our stories may be different, we are connected through our shared need for acceptance, understanding and community. Togetherness & Connection was facilitated by Anna Kolusniewski – Aa is for Art.

About Sunrise Social Groups

Sunrise has been running for 30 years. In 2024, GenWest implemented a new Sunrise model and in 2025, in partnership with Mind Australia and Western Health, Sunrise developed and delivered a new six-week pilot program this year at the Melton Local Mental Health and Wellbeing Hub. Following the success of the pilot, the program was extended to December 2026.

Sunrise Melton Program aims to provide more integrated, trauma-informed, and accessible mental health pathways. The program supports participants to build friendships and a support network, get information about local services, and connect with their community. The sessions included craft activities and excursions, health education, and opportunities for participants to connect with support services.

Visit the exhibition

The exhibition is open Thursday, 15 October - Thursday, 29 October 2026 at Mental Health and Wellbeing Local in Melton. If you'd like to visit, register via Eventbrite: bit.ly/sunrise-exhibition

Opening event speeches

Sunrise Melton participants, Dianna and Tara, spoke at the opening of the art exhibition last week. We share their speeches here, with their permission.

Tara's speech

When you first hear the name 'GenWest Sunrise Group', it sounds bright. It sounds like warmth, growth, and hope. But until you actually sit in that room—until you pull up a chair and join that circle—it is almost impossible to put into words just now much light that space truly holds.

Mental health journeys can be profoundly isolating. It is so easy to fall into the quiet trap of believing that your struggles belong only to you, feeling like you have to carry your heaviest burdens behind closed doors.

But the moment I stepped into the Sunrise Group, that isolation began to dissolve.

We came together as women and gender-diverse people, from all different walks of life. Yet, week after week, as we gathered in that safe space, something remarkable happened. As we opened up, shared our truths, and picked up paintbrushes, clay, and paper, the barriers between us fell away. We realised we were never truly alone.

Our guiding theme for this artistic process was 'community, togetherness and love'—three words that are simple to say, but deeply profound to experience. In our group, love wasn't an abstract idea; it was an action. It was present in the way we listened to one another without judgement, in the gentle nods of understanding, and in the steady encouragement that filled the room while our hands were busy creating.

When words weren’t quite enough to explain our journeys, making art together gave us a new language. The artwork you see here today is a direct reflection of that process. Every stroke, texture, and shade carries a bit of my own path toward healing, alongside the collective energy of the entire group.

An extraordinary space like this doesn’t just happen on its own—it is built with intention, care, and dedication.

I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to GenWest and Mind, along with all the associated organisations whose support made this possible. Thank you for believing in this vision, taking a chance on the initial pilot program, and nurturing it through to this incredible first full year of the program. Your commitment has changed lives and from all of us here today we hope it can continue for others to enjoy.

To our incredible program facilitators—Fofi, Beth, and Fiona—thank you. Thank you for holding space for us with such patience, grace, and tenderness. You created a sanctuary where we felt safe to drop our armor and show up exactly as we were.

Thank you as well to all of our guest speakers who visited throughout the year, bringing wisdom, inspiration, and fresh perspectives to our circle.

And most importantly, to my fellow attendees and group members: thank you. Thank you for your vulnerability, your laughter, your tears, and your courage. Looking at these finished works, I don’t just see art—I see your warmth and support reflected back at me.

Through this program, I learned that real, lasting healing happens in community. I hope that as you look at these pieces today, you feel the deep love and resilience that went into making them, and that you are reminded that whatever you are carrying, there is always light, and there is always strength in togetherness.

Dianna's speech

I would like to extend my gratitude to Melton Local and GenWest for the work and opportunities provided in our Sunrise Group.

This program has provided a tool that ordinary measures of counselling and psychology does not meet – that of social interaction.

As we grow old we find ourselves socialising and playing less, and feeling isolated.

This program has helped bridge that gap by forming a community of peers in our own backyard.

Therefore we have noticed positive improvements in our mental health with such positivity in our lives as the focus has been on building friendships, learning to relax and play – have fun and we have had loads of that.

I developed a macrame art piece depicting the Tree of Life and dolls representing the diversity of everyone within this group and the beautiful connections we share.

It represents the support we give one another through friendship, stories, laughter and care while celebrating the individuality and differences that make each of us unique.

Together, these elements reflect the strength, warmth and sense of belonging we create as people supporting people.