community art

In my profession as a clinical psychologist, I have worked at an outpatient mental health clinic since 2000. At the clinic, I was fortunate to lead an art group for 15 years. The goal of the group was to engage mental health consumers in the enjoyable process of making art. Most of the consumers who attended the group had no past formal experience with art. Moreover, the notion of creating art was rather distant or even intimidating for some of them.

 

The group was named Abstracting Friday because we got together on Friday afternoons and focused mainly on creating abstract art. I prioritized abstract art because it is relatively flexible and forgiving. Likewise, I involved a lot of mixed media art and day-to-day materials (e.g., duct tape, paper clips, cardboard, plastic forks) to make the art more relatable as well as intriguing. Group members could work individually if that was their preference. However, most popular and, in fact, the highlight of our group, were the group projects.

 

The group projects were usually large scale (as large as 4' x 8'), each requiring several weeks or even months to complete. We usually worked on 2 or 3 projects concurrently to make sure participants had options and to avoid burnout. When planning group projects, I aspired for them to be as inclusive as possible. It was important that even the least skilled or least confident member would be able to contribute. I also chose some project designs that would be dynamic; I encouraged group members to deviate from the original plan and to allow the art to evolve more spontaneously. I believe that the group projects that reflected our diversity, as artists and people, turned out to be most beautiful.  

 

The group was a huge success! It enjoyed good attendance; there was a consistent core of members as well as occasional participants. The group creations decorated our clinic environment (inside and outside) and received tremendous response from our community. We held a couple of exhibitions; we also traveled with some of our art to present it in the community. The clinic took great pride in our group. I feel the biggest accomplishment was not necessarily the outcome but the process. For me, as impressive as the art creations may be, it was more compelling to empower mental health consumers through the gift of art and social support.

 

Photos of groups projects are presented below. I do not credit participants by name due to patient confidentiality. I am grateful for the contribution of each and every one of them.

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