An Illinois group that helps those who are dealing with a gambling addiction is asking artists to submit work for an annual competition.
Anita Pindiur is executive director of Way Back Inn, which offers gambling disorder treatment. She said the journey for gambling disorder recovery can be captured with art. She explained a previous entry in the Illinois Department of Human Services' "Are You Really Winning?” campaign.
“I believe it was a 19-year-old gentleman who did this wonderful little piece of art,” she said, “where he had the different slot machines and kind of the strings like on a puppet, and it looked like, you know, there's a puppet master controlling you and the machines.”
She said the chosen works will be displayed across the state.
“Including the State Fair and different colleges when we came out to do activations and through conferences,” she added. “We were really able to show a variety of art. So, some of it was digital, some of it was acrylic. Some of it was needle point work.”
Pindiur said poetry and other written art is also accepted.
This is the third year that the group has worked on the campaign with A5 Branding and Digital and IDHS.
The “Are You Really Winning? Public Art Competition” is open to artists 14 years of age and older. Stipends up to $2,000 will be awarded. Requirements can be found at areyoureallywinning.com. The submission deadline is March 31.
