Training Teleconference - November 14, 2006
Art Works! Using the Arts to Counter Stigma and Discrimination
To access an archived recording of the training teleconference and presentation materials please contact the ADS Center at promoteacceptance@samhsa.hhs.gov or 1-800-540-0320.
One of the causes of discrimination and stigma associated with mental illnesses is a misperception that people who have mental illnesses lack the same interests and abilities as everyone else. Art, including the visual and performing arts, can be a powerful force in correcting this misperception. Using music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, theater, and more, people with mental illnesses can demonstrate their creativity, insightfulness and intelligence. Through art, they send the message that "I work, live, and play, just like you,” which can lead individuals to question and ultimately reject stigmatizing myths. Also, the confidence-building and peer support that can be found in arts programs can be powerful forces in recovery from mental illnesses.
This training will:
- Present the research supporting the value and effectiveness of the arts in suppressing negative attitudes and representations of mental illness.
- Describe specific arts programs and share their outcomes.
- Identify general ideas for starting an arts initiative.
Gayle Bluebird, Bluebird Consultants
Ms. Bluebird has been working on the development of a national arts network for artists, writers, and performers since 1991. A poet/writer, she helped to create Altered States of the Arts, a national organization that published newsletters and magazines highlighting artwork. Ms. Bluebird has organized many performances at mental health conferences, including the annual Alternatives Conference, the only national conference organized by and for consumers and survivors. She also has been a keynote speaker at many State consumer conferences. Ms. Bluebird trains staff on issues of seclusion and restraint at state hospitals, always recommending the integration of the arts as a key strategy and important component of healing. What Ms. Bluebird finds most rewarding is noting the increasing numbers of people using the arts as a means of producing income and using their creative voice to end stigma and discrimination.
Jane Fyer, Creative Arts Consortium
Ms. Fyer is Director of the Creative Arts Consortium (CAC), a nonprofit organization that promotes the artistic, literary, and performing art talents of persons with mental illness, and educates the community that persons with severe mental illness have great talents and the potential to integrate into the working world. CAC also is charged with promoting collaboration and cooperation between mental health clients and their families, and the development of job potential for clients. CAC has more than 1,000 client members in San Diego County. In addition to her work the CAC, Ms. Fyer is President of Schizophrenics In Transition, an affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Irene Lamb O'Neill , The Awakenings Project
Ms. O'Neill, along with Robert Lundin, is co-founder and co-director of the Awakenings Project, a grass-roots initiative run by and for artists with mental illnesses. In this position, she creates awareness of the therapeutic and empowering role of art in the lives of persons with mental illnesses by coordinating exhibits that take place at a variety of venues. She works closely with Lundin to review, edit and proofread submissions to The Awakenings Review, a literary arts journal, and also writes public relations materials and grants. She works full-time for the DuPage County Health Department in the Division of Mental Health as a recovery specialist, and is a trained Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) facilitator. She also co-owns and operates an art studio/gallery called Gallery Trio that represents the work of more than 50 local artists. The gallery offers classes in drawing, oil painting and watercolor, and hosts special exhibits, receptions and artists' demonstrations.