A ribbon will be cut to mark the opening at 11am, with Greater Southern Area Health Service cluster manager for Albury mental health service’s Keith McCulloch given the task.

The exhibition, with the theme Appreciate the Little Things in Life, will feature works including painting and poetry, with all entries made by those dealing with mental illness.

The works will be for sale and the exhibition at the Wilson Street Gallery will be on show from next Tuesday to Friday to mark Mental Health Week.

Albury Community Mental Health spokeswoman Shirley Birney said the exhibition aimed to increase awareness of mental health in the community.

“We’ve had quite a few entries come in,” she said.

“We’ve got things like paintings, poetry, even embroidery.”

She said the service hoped the exhibition would promote the issue of mental illness and also “promote social inclusion.”

“I think it’s to de-stigmatise mental health, to show people that people with these illnesses are very talented in certain areas,” she said.

“We hope to normalise mental illness, to show that these people are good at certain things.”

It’s the first time an exhibit of this kind has been held on the Border after being hosted in Melbourne in 2005 and 2006.

The show will be open between 10am and 4pm at the gallery on the corner of Wilson and David streets.