Art for the Sake of Health
Aside from the well-documented connections between artistic expression and holistic health for us all, nowhere is its transformative effect more consistently evident than at the intersection between art and health care, and in mental health most profoundly. As artists and health practitioners work together toward more positive health outcomes and the wealth of research grows, the day is not too far distant when arts will be recognised as a mandatory part of the health sector.
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Robe Red Tape, a video projection created by the young people of Millicent’s Terra-Art open studio project, with artists Maria Filippow and Ian Corcoran at the Robe Customs House, May 2006. -
In 2007 Terra-Art produced Red Tape, a larger than life video projection which received rave reviews from local communities when it was viewed at the Millicent Water Tower and projected onto the Old Customs House in Robe. “In terms of what this art does for young people, sometimes it is just the fact that they are still alive. That’s the indicator.” (project artist) Image: Millicent Red Tape, a video projection created by the young people of Millicent’s Terra-Art open studio project, with artists Maria Filippow and Ian Corcoran at the Millicent Watertower, May 2006. -
Whyalla Integrated Mental Health Inpatient Unit consumers and staff worked with photographer John Murray to collect images of Whyalla that offer a picture of the future which assist new clients personalise their space through a choice of artworks, textured rugs and soundscapes as part of the admissions process. -
Room 19 is a short film made with inpatients and staff which is used with MyRoom as part of the admissions process to help navigate the unfamiliar environment. View the short film here: https://vimeo.com/172068579 -
Bringing it all together: Guidelines for Arts and Mental Health Projects is a resource developed in 2014 through our partnership with Country Health SA Mental Health which rolled out in 2014 with a series of workshops. More here: http://biat14.wixsite.com/thekit -
SPINBACK invited the Riverland community into the world of aged care and dementia through a multi art form project which aimed to raise awareness of the isolation experienced by many aged care residents unable to connect with their broader community. Sound producer DJ TR!P, performance artist Jessica Foster and dancer Tanya Voges joined forces with local photographer Terry Marter, in a ten week residency that brought students from Renmark Primary School into the Renmark Paringa Aged Care Unit, to explore the power of music to provoke memory in those with dementia. -
As part of Euphoria, Country Arts SA invited groups, organisations or individuals with an interest in mental health or those with an interest in writing, theatre or performance to meet with Playwright Emily Steel to share the experiences and challenges of living in regional South Australia and how this affects health and wellbeing. -
Undressing the Building: the demolition Symphony, Change and Adaptation, Southern Fleurieu Health Service https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqzb6W3YSWU -
Dressing the Building, an Indigenous public art project, with Medicare Local - Southern Adelaide/Fleurieu/Kangaroo Island - a mosaic mural designed by Mike Tye depicting the local Ngarrindjeri community’s journey of healing. Mike mentored local Aboriginal artist Didge McHughes throughout this project. https://www.countryarts.org.au/news/mosaic-mural-unveiled-in-victor-harbor/ -
The Arts & Health: Making the Connections forum brought together a diverse collection of arts workers with experts in health care and local government to investigate ways of working together to produce healthy individuals and communities. https://issuu.com/countryartssa/docs/arts_health2016_program -
The Jam The Mix The Gig Full Story in RAA’s book Belonging: Great Arts Stories from Regional Australia
Our first significant foray into this space came in 2002, when the suicide crisis amongst young people in Millicent prompted a partnership with the SE Regional Health Service. Terra-Art was an open studio where scores of young people received training in life skills alongside art and design. It gave them a safe place to call their own, to articulate how they felt, access to professionals to look after both art and mind, and friendships not associated with detrimental habits. In 2007, Terra-Art produced Red Tape, a larger than life public video projection with profound impact.
When a structural change in Health saw Terra-Art slip through the cracks, a new partnership with Country Health SA Mental Health was born operating out of Port Lincoln, from which emerged the publication and training program Bringing it all together: Guidelines for Arts and Mental Health Projects, still in use as part of our processes in the mental health space.
Today our partnership with Country Health has evolved to embrace our philosophy of keeping artists at the centre of everything we do, and embedded staff can produce beautiful projects like Spinback in the Riverland.
We commission bespoke participatory artworks in integrated mental health units statewide, which open up new pathways for health providers and provide solid data on the direct benefits to consumers. In 2018, playwright Emily Steel will examine the experiences and challenges of living regionally as artist-in-residence in the mental health inpatient units and in three communities to produce a theatre work to be shared across the state.
