A group designed to teach art skills to people who have experienced mental health or substance abuse issues isn't letting COVID-19 stop it.
In March, the Art Fix Art Training program, a free art training collective for people 18+, closed its physical doors at the White Water Gallery and shifted online.
"So, in a time when we were asked to stay home, we knew it was especially important to find ways to connect with each other safely and make art," Lindsay Sullivan, Art Training Program Coordinator told BayToday.
"This meant a switch to online programming, instead of our usual in-person courses and open studio at the White Water Gallery in downtown North Bay. It also meant artist facilitators switched to online platforms of art training."
The group is using Zoom workshops and art training tutorial videos to keep the program alive.
“These have been tricky times to plan within, that’s for sure," explains Sullivan. "But, our creative collective has been dedicated to offering a wide array of fun and meaningful art-making opportunities. The amazing artist facilitators have really adapted to online methods of teaching that keep our program moving, and folks engaged in art-making and creativity. We have seen some familiar participants as well as folks who hadn’t previously been involved in Art Fix.”
One Art Fix participant told Sullivan that the variety of online workshops were stimulating and informative.
"This Fall 2020 season we will be offering even more free art training opportunities online: from learning how to make your own podcast, an intro to improv course, en plein air painting, beading, digital art, creative writing and scriptwriting for film, we have inspiring programs to keep folks tapping into their creativity even as we continue through these times."
She adds, “We witnessed the creation of amazing art this spring and summer, and I’m excited to see what’s to come this fall!”.
Registration for Art Training programming is open to folks 18+ who have lived experience of mental health and/or substance use. Registration begins on September 14 until September 18, and interested folks can email [email protected] or call 705-491-1926 to register!
The Art Training program is being hosted by Art Fix of Nipissing with mentorship from Workman Arts, a Toronto-based organization that has been hosting such programming for over 30 years, as part of the Workman Arts Scaling Project. The project is funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
Through this initiative, the project partners want to raise awareness of the prevalence of social isolation in people with lived experience of mental health and substance use issues and the benefits of participating in the arts as an effective way to increase the sense of belonging to a community, expand social networks and build social skills.
