Artswell - Arts and Healthcare

Summer Survivors

July 7^th, 2009

Artswell was delighted to be part of the Summer Survivors program at the Ottawa Children’s Treatment Centre. Eight female youth age 13 – 16yrs participated in a Vision Box workshop lead by artist Mary Pfaff, founder and arts director of Artswell and with the assistance of expressive arts practitioner, Lorrie Beaton. The enthusiastic group was comprised of clients with a variety of diagnoses, including Seizure Disorders, Arthrogryposis, Autism, and Acquired Brain Injury.

Therapy Through the Arts

A unique Ottawa group that helps disabled and ill people by putting them in touch with the arts gets a major boost from a $60,000 Trillium grant, Thulasi Srikanthan writes.

Ottawa Citizen, September 1^st, 2008

OTTAWA - A blind and deaf woman painting to the vibrations of a flute. A patient with an eating disorder binding together broken pieces of a mask. A dialysis patient spurred by music to sing opera, mid-treatment.

These are some of the people that Artswell has helped since its birth five years ago. The non-profit Ottawa organization helps those living with the effects of age, illness or injury by engaging them in the arts.

“It’s not only opening up an area of the brain,” said Janet Dunbrack, an Artswell board member. “It seems to enhance people’s self-esteem because they realize, ‘I am not just a sick person or a person with a condition. I am not a problem, I am a person and look at what I can produce’.”

The organization recently got a big boost with a $60,000 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

“This Trillium grant is a major boost in terms of actually being able to hire staff for continuity,” Ms. Dunbrack said. “If it is volunteers, people work when they can, but when you have staff, you’ve got continuity, followup and greater capacity for outreach.”

Artswell, the brain child of area visual artist Mary Pfaff, has used art to improve wellness and quality of life for hundreds of people, some as young as five, others as old as 95.

There are ongoing programs at several long-term care facilities using painting and music and other arts disciplines. Two successful pilot projects have been completed at The Ottawa Hospital - for eating disorder and dialysis patients. A regular program runs in conjunction with Salus, an organization that provides housing and mental-health support services.

Ms. Pfaff said the arts help ease the depression and anxiety felt by some of those who use the program.

“It is very much about being in the moment. It doesn’t focus on what is lost or in the past,” Ms. Pfaff said. “It really focuses on the present and the strengths and abilities of each individual person and their comfort level.”

Brenda Convery is one of the people who has been helped by the program. Ms. Convery suffered from depression and, thanks to Artswell, she now finds peace by painting or sketching. “It’s therapy for me. It gives me joy, confidence and friendship.”

Musician Gertrude Letourneau has been with the organization since its beginnings.

“My goal is always to take the person out of their bubble, their discomfort and limitation and bring them to a place where it is comfortable,” she said. “When somehow you reach the part inside them that is well, the illness, the limitation, doesn’t matter.”

“The goal is not the finished product, it is really the process of doing it.”

David Atack, a neurologist at The Ottawa Hospital and a board member, said arts as therapy is an ancient practice.

“Art and health care goes back to the earliest days of medical care. If you look back to Roman, Greek, Egyptian times - creative art, music, were very much part of health care.”

© Ottawa Citizen 2008

Artswell Arts for Healing Program Receives Major Boost with $60,000 OTF Grant

August 28^th, 2008

Artswell Arts and Healthcare received a major boost today thanks to a $60,000 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF). Lisa MacLeod, MPP for Nepean-Carleton, joined OTF representative Bob Wilson in congratulating Artswell at the announcement ceremony.

“The Ontario Trillium Foundation has once again contributed to an important program for Nepean-Carleton residents,” said MPP MacLeod. “Those who receive programming at Artswell Arts and Healthcare will benefit tremendously from this contribution. I want to thank the Foundation for recognizing the important work Artswell does for the aged, the ill and the injured.”

The two-year funding will be used to increase the organization’s capacity to offer specialized arts classes and workshops to people with various medical conditions. “Arts and health programs heal, sustain and develop creative, healthier communities,” said Artswell founder Mary Pfaff. “Thanks to the generosity and insight of the Ottawa Trillium Foundation, Artswell will be able to reach out and connect with more people, expanding the transforming experience of the arts.”

Founded in 2003, Artswell is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life and well-being of individuals living with the effects of age, illness or injury. It carries out customized creative, interactive art programs, workshops and projects for the benefit of individuals living with chronic illness or those with special needs. To that end, it runs programs in hospitals, palliative care centres, long-term care facilities and community support centres. It also offers vital respite and support to families, staff and caregivers.

The Ontario Trillium Foundation is an agency of the Government of Ontario. For over 25 years, the Foundation has supported the growth and vitality of communities across the province. It continues to strengthen the capacity of the volunteer sector through investments in community-based initiatives. For more information, please visit www.triliumfoundation.org.

Artswell, the CBC and the Creative Brain

August 26^th, 2008

We all know our brains change as we get older. And for the most part we tend to think of them changing for the worse — everything from fading memories and “seniors’ moments” to degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. CBC radio’s The Current recently ran a segment on the Creative Brain in which Ottawa journalist Roberta Walker examined research that suggests that, in some ways, our brains also get better. We can develop new mental strength with a midlife that includes a healthy appetite for the arts.

Listen to this fascinating segment which includes information provided by Dr. Gene Cohen — he has written two books on the subject The Creative Age and The Mature Mind — and insight provided by Artswell.

Go to http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2007/200711/20071121.html, scroll down to Creative Brain and listen to The Current: Part 2.