There's a Crack in Everything, is a group exhibition curated by local mental health and suicide prevention advocate and visual art curator Carrie Lumby.

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It has paired up leading contemporary artists with people (or in one case a goat) who have gone through mental distress in some way, with the resulting paintings, videos, photography and other works presented in an inclusive space.

Artist Tina Havelock Stevens took photographs and a video of six-week-old Lizzie the goat roaming free on her precious drumkit, to give a voice to animals who she said play an important role in mental health - providing companionship and a reason to get out of the house.

"It's also interesting that the sort of people run sanctuaries [like where Lizzie is from] and look after animals often have a relationship to trauma themselves," she said.

"I'm just giving my drum-kit over to her, I'm putting her first and not thinking about myself because one of my large features of my identity is as a drummer. So I'm making space for her, and letting her drum out her own beat."

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Lumby said she wanted to provide a supportive space for artists with personal experiences of mental distress and trauma to communicate these experiences in ways that are meaningful for them.

"People with lived and living experiences of mental distress and trauma are not only not inherently vulnerable, they have often developed more sophisticated and creative 'coping skills' due to their adverse life experiences," she said in a statement.

"I encourage you to open your heart to the stories these artworks tell and to the possibilities for hope and healing they hold. You may find your own story in them."

Other artists include Liam Benson and Caitlin Kozman, David Capra and Katrina O'Brien, plus Daniel Mudie Cunningham and Wart.

It will be officially opened at the gallery on Burelli Street on Sunday June 19, 1.30pm.

In attendance will be head of the AKT (arts-based knowledge translation) Lab at the Black Dog Institute and Director of Knowledge Translation, Maridulu Budyari Gumal -Sydney Partnership for Health Education Research and Enterprise (SPHERE); along with performances by Tina Havelock Stevens and Wart.

Free, all welcome

The exhibition continues until August 28.

If you or someone you know needs support, call Lifeline Australia - 13 11 14.

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