Without knowing anything about them, on viewing Windy Day, Summer by Vivaldi, and the series of paintings that surround them, it’s possible to imagine that they’re all the work of a singular, bold hand, unafraid of the canvas, expressing a singular vision. In fact, those paintings are the result of a group effort. As a note explains, they’re collaborative pieces done by students in Chapel Haven Schleifer Center’s Expressive Painting class. ​“Inspired by music and movement, moving around a large canvas,” the artists ​“make their expressive, respectful marks.” Then ​“as a group, we step back and discuss what was created and decide if it is complete or not and what a fitting title might be.” The exercise fosters individual expression, critical thinking, and camaraderie among the painters. It also creates intriguing art.The group paintings are part of ​“Arts in Action,” running now at the Hilles Gallery at Creative Arts Workshop through Nov. 2, with a reception on Friday, Nov. 1 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The paintings, located near the entrance to the gallery, are an apt introduction to an exhibition that celebrates the power of individual expression while also making the strong case for the arts as a core part of treatment for mental illness and improving people’s quality of life. The show was organized by Parents’ Foundation for Transitional Living, a facility on Broadway in New Haven which has the mission statement to ​“provide individuals with serious mental illness a supportive living environment where they can live and grow.” It was founded in 1992 ​“through the united efforts of families, adults struggling with mental illness, and mental health professionals,” its website states. At the time, ​“there was simply no residential organization that afforded the peace of mind they desperately desired. All that was available was institution living. Our founders set out to design a home alternative to an institutional existence; one that would provide a warm and supportive home in which residents could move toward greater independence, self-expression, and a happy, fulfilling life.” Today, Parents’ Foundation aims ​“to foster independence and address the stigma surrounding serious mental illness diagnoses,” according to the show’s program. ​“Residents flourish in a loving home and engage in activities that would not otherwise be available to them,” while their families ​“have a greater peace of mind, knowing their loved one is being cared for with dignity and respect.”For the Parents’ Foundation, art is an integral part of their residents’ lives and treatment. ​“As a community that supports mental health and art, we are excited to share the work that has made such an impact on us,” the program states. ​“Art is a way to cope, spread happiness, showcase emotions and creativity.” The show is held in memory of Shauna Devlin, who died in 2022 at the age of 37 after being struck by a car in Hamden. She had worked at Parents’ Foundation for Transitional Living as a recovery and enrichment specialist. ​“Shauna’s love, passion, and dedication to her work at Parents’ Foundation for Transitional Living will never be forgotten. She truly made a difference in many people’s lives.… Shauna made it her mission to ensure that the residents at Parents’ Foundation had every opportunity to experience the beauty that art brings to life.”The show includes artwork from residents of Chapel Haven Schleifer Center, a Westville nonprofit that ​“teaches adults with developmental and social disabilities to live independent and productive lives through a nationally accredited transitional living program and approved private special education school,” according to the show’s program. Its mission ​“is to empower adults to live independent and self-determined lives.” It also involves art from East Street Arts in East Rock, ​“a social enterprise of Marrakech, Inc.,” which is ​“dedicated to fostering creation of art through artisan training programs, workshops, and community interactions for people of all abilities. Securing professional artists and designers, support staff, and volunteers, East Street Arts provides instruction, assistance, product development opportunities, and shop for the artists who attend to create and sell their products.”Where the group paintings from Chapel Haven combine multiple voices in one image, the works of the artists from Parents’ Foundation are clustered together, allowing the viewer to take them all in almost at once — the leaves on a tree, a cloudy sky, a human face, the outside of the building where they live.A table displays Comfort Cubs, made by Catherine, who has ​“schizophrenia but I don’t let that stop me from living the life I want to live,” she writes in an accompanying note. She describes herself as a ​“major animal lover” and is studying to be a vet tech. She also loves to crochet and sew and is ​“very much into drag and musical theater.”“As someone with schizophrenia, I often have trouble grounding myself and regulating my emotions so I’m always looking for new coping skills,” she writes. When she moved to the area, she joined MakeHaven and learned to sew there. She decided to make stuffed animals and remembered how she had found her center once using a heatable rice bag. She combined the two ​“and Comfort Cubs was born.” They can be used for cold, heat, or pressure therapies. She hopes the Comfort Cubs will be centering for other neurodivergent folks; more broadly, she ​“would love to live in a world where talking about mental health is the same as talking about physical health, and it is up to us as neurodivergent people to get the conversation going.” (Find Comfort Cubs on Instagram or Etsy.)East Street Arts’s pieces on the second floor of the gallery in a way combine the approaches of the Parents’ Foundation and Chapel Haven. ​“The East Street artisans have collaborated together on this series of contemporary canvases with block-printed textiles, each artist adding an important component of the series,” an accompanying note explains. Taken all together, the show has something to say about the role of the arts in helping people cope with mental illness. It helps people connect with a community, but within it, it also helps them find a place, and a voice, they can call their own.“Arts in Action” runs through Nov. 2 at Creative Arts Workshop, 80 Audubon St., with a reception on Friday, Nov. 1 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.