By Lauren Ferrone
You could say Reece Formosa was looking for a sign when he found himself driving down Adelaide’s city streets earlier this year, wondering where his life was headed.
A sign is exactly what the 27-year-old dyslexic entrepreneur and founder of home delivery company #DLVRD found.
After noticing many unused spaces on multi-storey carpark buildings, it’s then when Reece (pictured left in headline image) “got thinking”.
“Every business owner has ups and downs and, on that particular day, it was one of those ‘why do I do what I do?’ days,” Reece says.
“I was sitting there in the car, reflecting on the entire process of running a business and needed someone to give me a thumbs up to say I’m doing alright.
“So, I thought: what if that space could be used to spread positive messages around mental health and wellbeing?”
It was a thought which eventually led him to create Positive Signs, a new project to encourage people to talk about how they’re feeling.
Reece Formosa has created Positive Signs, a new project to encourage people to talk about how they’re feeling
Launching tonight (Thursday, October 13), Positive Signs creates permanent reminders of the importance of emotional wellbeing through large murals featuring inspirational quotes and images.
With support from Adelaide City Council, there are 13 planned murals featuring quotes by inspirational people who have publicly spoken on the issue of mental health.
Adelaide City Council has commissioned two 8-metre by 4-metre artworks by local artist Matthew Stuckey (pictured right in headline image) and donated the public spaces for their display inside and outside of UPark on Flinders/Pirie Street and UPark on Rundle Street.
A mural featuring a quote (featured in image above) by South African-born business magnate, Elon Musk, is already unveiled on Pirie Street.
Albert Einstein’s famous ‘if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid’ quote will be unveiled next Monday (October 17) at York Street, behind Hungry Jacks in Rundle Mall.
Reece, who hopes the project becomes self-funded, believes “the sky is the limit” when it comes to the number of Adelaide murals forming part of his project.
He has plans to eventually launch Positive Signs in every capital city multi-storey carpark nationwide.
Adelaide City Council Lord Mayor Martin Haese says mental health is “an important issue for our city”.
“One in four adults experience mental health difficulties at some stage in their lives… [and] we are proud to collaborate with Reece to spread positive messages, encourage emotional wellbeing and support good mental health,” he says.
All images by Jonathan van der Knaap
The Positive Signs project officially launches at the Minor Works Building (22 Stamford Court, Adelaide) tonight (Thursday, October 13), from 6pm to 7pm.