Authors: Alan Johnson, Carole Gant
Year: 2017
Event: 2017 TheMHS Conference
Subject: Reducing Stigma and Discrimination,Community, Culture, Society,Wellbeing,Lived Experience, Recovery
Type of resource: Conference Presentations and Papers
Abstract: Art(ful) Futures is a strategic regional partnership project developed between arts and mental health organisations committed to consulting with, supporting and mentoring a cohort of 8-12 mental health service users through the processes and skills development needed develop art practice outside institutional avenues.
For this group of artists/clients, their wellbeing and sense of self lies partly in being able to develop their skills and confidently identify as artists in a ‘future full of art’.
The level of support needed to achieve this can only occur through a partnership, structured to gather a raft of expertise within the creative space of the gallery. The partnership comprises Arts In Recovery (AIR), Newcastle Community Arts Centre (NCAC), mental health service users, project artists Jo O’Toole, John Cliff and Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery (LMCAG).
An integral component of the project is a public exhibition ‘Of the Mind’, at LMCAG featuring a body of work created by the artist/clients, project artists and arts-trained mental health workers.
The project is an intensive series of 26 workshops during which clients/artists will be working with project artists, gallerists, mentoring artists and art trained mental health workers to develop art-making skills, professional practice skills, exhibition and curatorial/critical knowledge.
Learning Objectives
Learning Objective 1: The audience will gain an understanding of the partnerships between the organisations and people involved, which have worked together to produce a long term project for skills development, what the project involves and the meaning for those involved, through anecdotes and narrative set to pictures.
Learning Objective 2: The topic is relevant to mental health in terms of stigma reduction, mental health promotion, innovative projects and working, best practice, and most importantly meaning and well-being for those involved.
References
S.Colbert, A Cooke ,P. Camic, N.Springham, (2013) The art-gallery as a resource for recovery for people who have experienced psychosis. The Arts in Psychotherapy 40 250–256
P. Camic, H. Chatterjee (2013) Museums and art galleries as partners for public health interventions. Perspectives in Public Health. Vol 133, No 1
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