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Art as Therapy Opportunity


My name is Joe and I’d like to quickly tell you about an opportunity for anyone from the Wellbeing Centres, who might be interested in either developing their own creative talent or just playing around with art as a form of therapy.


So whether you’re already a trained artist, or someone who has never picked up a paint brush is not important, all that is important is that you feel that what’s on offer could help you and you’d enjoy it.


The project is for anyone who has any issues with their mental health, such as depression, anxiety, P.T.S.D and feels that spending a day doing some art in a studio would be helpful and beneficial to them.


So what’s it all about?

Well I’m a trustee (and a professional artist) working with a small group of volunteers and we applied for and received an Awards for all grant from the lottery, to set up a small art studio and run some art therapy sessions. We're a small registered charity called Arts Against Addictions Association formed over 20 years ago


So what’s on offer?

We have a reasonably sized studio, which is located in the Baltic Triangle on Blundell Street.

We have some art equipment (easels and chairs, brushes, pots, etc)


Then we also have a variety of art materials (mainly canvases of various sizes, paper, various types of paint, etc)


We also have a laptop and internet access, for those looking for ideas and inspiration regarding what they might like to paint.


We have a small fridge, kettle, cups and microwave, so if anyone wants to bring their own food and drinks that’s fine. Unfortunately, we don’t have a budget to provide meals and drinks.


There is no charge or subscription or donation requests for any aspect of the project. Everyone working on the project is an unpaid volunteer and all the rest has been paid for by the lottery.


Important info

We have the studio till the end of July and have space for 5 people from The Wellbeing Centres to use the studio, equipment and materials one day a week. There is some room for negotiation on which day of the week, the eventual group of 5 will decide what works best for them


It’s also important to be aware that I’m not a trained counsellor. These aren’t therapy sessions in terms of anyone offering counselling with their mental health, for that you need to see the experts like all the staff at the Umbrella centre. These are therapy sessions in terms of either developing your art practice or just investigating your creative potential.


However, I feel it’s maybe helpful for you to know, that I myself suffer from a variety of mental health conditions including P.T.S.D (related to numerous traumatic events throughout my life) depression, anxiety and ADHD to name a few. So though I’m not a trained counsellor, I’m fairly sure I will understand how anyone who wishes to attend may be feeling.


I’d really like some people from the Wellbeing Centres to take advantage of this opportunity, especially so, as they’ve helped me so often in the past. I attended so many of their courses I’ve lost count. For those wishing to attend the only rules will be the same kind of things that the group decide upon at the beginning of a course at the Umbrella centre. Just the obvious stuff like confidentiality, mutual respect of one another and so on.


Unimportant info

So when I contacted Nicky to try and set this up, she told me to knock up a flier with all the info and then said you’re an artist I’m sure you’ll do something great. I am a professional artist, but I don’t really do fliers! I’ve done the odd one for exhibitions but they’re just a photo, date and an address, no information needed. So basically, I just want to apologise as this is probably the worst flier ever. In terms of it being “Arty” In an attempt to show that I can actually do art, this is a painting from the collection I’m currently working on. It’s both a new theme for me (football, which I appreciate isn’t everyone’s cup of tea) and a new size that I’m working at, the painting below is 150cm x 100cm.



So How do I sign up?

Please get in touch with me as soon as you possibly can. My name is Joe and you can contact me by text on the project phone 07305 332 081. I’ll ask for some basic information, your name, confirmation that you attend the Wellbeing Centres, a little bit on your art ability (total beginner or practising artist) and what day or days of the week you have available (just so I can find one that works for all 5?).


I look forward to hearing from you!

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