Art for Health & Wellbeing
My latest art news on a personal level, is that my Art for health and wellbeing talk at The Buxton Fringe festival. It was a last-minute decision in early spring feeling the need to share the good news about how and why art is so good for us in many ways, I just didn’t feel I should keep it all to myself any longer…. I demonstrated its effects and benefits through case studies and testimonies that I have been a part of and witness to, during my years working alongside children and adults as a Creative Mentor and Art Psychotherapist.
The historic pump rooms in Buxton next to the Crescent was full and turned out to be a wonderful evening. Thank you for all your positive feedback. I was so thrilled that so many of you felt encouraged to get back to art that you once loved or inspired try something new. I will be adding clips from my talk on my Instagram posts over the next few months on Instagram @makeitbuxton and @claire_parker_artist. You can install the app on your phone and follow when you find me.
I have been and continue to be inspired by many individuals in my own creative journey- these include local pioneers of arts for health throughout the 80’s and 90’s Peter Senior and Langley Brown who’s work alongside his colleagues and wife Adrienne Brown brought peace and healing through art to so many, introducing artists into hospitals and interventions for mental health services. Many of their creative arts projects and case studies are now documented and archived with the Welcome Collection.
In my talk I also discussed the recent work of Dr Daisy Fancourt who has used the work of artist’s and researchers such as Langley’s at a local level, and collated 30000 with data and analysis behind how the arts must now become a health behaviour. Her new book ‘Art Cure’, it is really worth a read and it might just change your life! Her various talks and interviews are worth watching too, she’s great, so full of enthusiasm and passion for what she does.
If you feel you need some encouragement to reignite that enthusiasm and passion for all thing creative, my new offer of Creative Mentoring one to one support may be for you..
