Out of Mind - Into Creativity: Mental Health and the Arts Symposium | Special Events

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William Kurelek: The Messenger

Out of Mind - Into Creativity: Mental Health and the Arts Symposium

Thursday November 24, 2011
Friday November 25, 2011

Historically speaking, we can point to many artists such as William Kurelek who have dealt with the debilitating effects of mental illness. Although their stories have since been canonized as part of a larger and well-known narrative of the “tortured artist” or “artist as mad genius,” mental illness within contemporary society remains a topic of deep-seated social ignorance and mental health consumers still face rampant social stigma and marginalization.

Presented in partnership with Artbeat Studio, a Winnipeg based mental health consumer-initiated program focused on individual recovery and empowerment through artistic expression and creative endeavour, Out of Mind—Into Creativity will explore the relationship between individual creativity and artists’ mental health, shedding light on the links between social inclusion and the participatory arts, and providing a forum for subverting the myths, stereotypes, and stigma around that continue to haunt discussions of mental illness today.

Out of Mind—Into Creativity: Mental Health and the Arts will feature a lineup of speakers and panelists from Winnipeg and abroad. The keynote address will by Jenny Secker, Professor of Mental Health at Anglia Ruskin University, Essex, UK.Dr. Secker has won numerous awards for her research in the area of mental health and social inclusion, with a particular focus on creative endeavour and the participatory arts. In 2009, she received an Arts and Health Award from the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) for the study Mental Health, Social Inclusion and the Arts: Developing the Evidence-base.

Click here to see the symposium schedule. To register, please complete this form and email it to awiebe@wag.ca, fax it to 788-4998, or mail it to Attn: Anna Wiebe, Head of Education, Winnipeg Art Gallery, 300 Memorial Blvd, Winnipeg, MB, R3C 1V1.

Symposium Panelists

Nigel Bart, Founder and Studio Facilitator, Artbeat Studio Inc.
Mary Jo Hughes, Chief Curator, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
Shawn Jordan, Visual Artist
Lisa Brown, Founder and Executive Director, Workman Arts
Jenny Secker, Professor of Mental Health, Ruskin Anglia University, UK
Fran Schellenberg, Executive Director, Manitoba Health, Department of Mental and Spiritual Health
Chris Summerville, CEO Schizophrenia Society of Canada; Executive Director, Manitoba Schizophrenia Society
Tanis Dick, Art Therapist, Tanis Dick Associates
Elaine Mordoch, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Nursing, University of Manitoba
Gillian McIntyre, Adult Education Coordinator, Art Gallery of Ontario
Ryan Smoluk, Visual Artist
Megan Brown, Visual Artist

Symposium Moderators

Michael Shaen, Strategist, Public Inc., Toronto
Diana Thorneycroft, Visual Artist, Winnipeg
Thomas Sparling, Executive Director, ACI Manitoba
Rick Lussier, Director of Community Grants, The Winnipeg Foundation

Special Offer! All delegates will receive free admission to the film screening of William Kurelek's The Maze on Saturday, November 26, at 2pm. Filmmaker Nick Young will be present for a Q&A following. Tickets are $10.

Located conveniently across the street, Holiday Inn and Suites at 360 Colony St. in downtown Winnipeg is the official symposium hotel. Visit www.hiwinnipegdowntown.com to book your room. On that site simply click the Book online box on your left, add your dates and click “ have A Group Code” insert WAG in the box then view rates to book.

Generously supported by Eli Lilly Canada Inc, Manitoba Health, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and The Winnipeg Foundation.