“It gives me an opportunity to express myself and it gives my brain a rest because while I am concentrating on painting I am not thinking about something that causes me stress. What we are doing here is fantastic.”
A lot of our work is done in the community; supporting artists to be creative and to feel less socially isolated. All Arts & Minds events and workshops are open to everyone. We welcome people with mental health issues.
Arts & Minds is involved in two community projects that meet on a monthly basis: Connect & Create and Culture Club. We also run events every three months. Contact us, or come along to a group or event if you have an idea you’d like to explore.
VISUAL ARTS
Arts & Minds supports many projects that offer courses, workshops and groups to artists with experience of mental health issues and/or learning disabilities. The following organisations offer a great opportunities to visual artists: Artlink West Yorkshire, East St Arts, Inkwell, Pyramid of Arts, Skippko, Space 2, Swarthmore, Aire Place Studios, Fabrication. You can search for a visual arts group to suit you on our Get Creative page.
Arts & Minds works with different groups to put on exhibitions such as the Behind The Scenes exhibition produced in partnership with Leeds Art Gallery and the Art Doctors. Arts & Minds also puts on an annual members exhibition.
PERFORMING ARTS
The following projects offer great performance opportunities in Leeds and welcome people with mental health issues: Leeds Music Hub; Cloth Cat music project; choirs such as Singing on the Edge; and Fall Into Place drama group. You can search for a performing arts group to suit you on our Get Creative page.
There’s a range of Arts & Minds opportunities members can get involved with: come along to Culture Club to see shows: perform or be entertained at Instrumental’s monthly music gig.
Arts & Minds also supports and partners with many organisations that that welcome people with mental health issues. We have worked with Yorkshire Dance, Northern Ballet, and dancer Gerry Turvey on a range of projects. We also have a long-standing partnership with Leeds College of Music; and run events and workshops together.
CREATIVE WRITING
Arts & Minds supports and partners with some of the many creative writing groups across Leeds that welcome people with mental health issues. There have also been creative writing groups based at Inkwell and Swarthmore. You can search for a creative writing group to suit you on our Get Creative page.
Arts & Minds worked with Poet Andy Craven-Griffiths over a series of Kindness Writing workshops in which members learned different creative writing techniques and how to construct poems. The poems written by members have been compiled into a publication titled ‘Unmute‘.
FILM
For several years Arts & Minds ran ‘Films to Change’, making films about mental health with the people who know about it best. Some of our films are available on YouTube. Members of Film to Change have set up a social enterprise, Mojo Films, that takes commissions and helps people with mental health issues get professional experience and a route into employment.
“I felt good joining in and learnt something new”
You can contact Arts & Minds in the following ways:
Email: [email protected]
Please follow and share our social media networks. All Arts & Minds workers are part time so please be patient and we will get back to you when we can.
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Join Arts & Minds:
Joining the Arts & Minds Network is free! Once signed up you will receive a membership card in the post and we will add you to our mailing list to receive our weekly eBulletins and our quarterly newsletter. We signpost members to creative opportunities that promote positive mental health and we work with local arts suppliers and other businesses who give discounts to Arts & Minds members. Click here and fill in the form to join…