NEGAUNEE — West End Suicide Prevention has announced that community voting for the LIVE Art and Word Contest is now open. Entries can be found at facebook.com/WestEndSuicidePrevention. Voting will be open until Dec. 13.

“The LIVE Art and Word Contest is a way to engage youth in the Upper Peninsula, showcase their talents and start conversations about mental health which will help bring an end to the stigma surrounding these issues,” organizers said in an announcement.

The contest was open to all high school students in the Upper Peninsula. Students could submit any form of art including: poetry, paintings, photography, song, graphic arts, or anything else that addressed the theme of mental health awareness.

Thirty-six entries were submitted into the contest and each participant will receive a LIVE Facemask and magnet set, organizers said.

The first-place winner will receive $500, with the second-place winner receiving $300 and the third-place winner receiving $100.

Each piece of artwork will be judged in three ways. West End Suicide Prevention will look at the mental health aspect of the works, while an expert panel will look at the artistic quality of each piece. The community will also be able for their favorite piece on Facebook.

“West End Suicide Prevention is a dedicated group of individuals that are committed to reducing suicide and is facilitated by Great Lakes Recovery Centers,” organizers said in the announcement. “They introduced the LIVE campaign, a positive mental health campaign, on the west end of Marquette County in the fall of 2019. Due to popular demand, the campaign was introduced to the entire Upper Peninsula in 2020. LIVE, which rhymes with ‘give,’ means to LOVE (yourself), INCLUDE (others), VALUE (life), ENGAGE (community). The LIVE Art and Word Contest is the group’s latest way to engage the community and help break the stigma surrounding mental health.”

For more information on about West End Suicide Prevention, go to www.glrc.org/LIVE.