Recovering Creativity: The Art of Mental Health Recovery [Exhibition Catalogue]

This exhibition catalogue showcases artwork made by participants in the Recovering Creativity research project, an initiative of Flourish Australia and Western Sydney University. The project, Recovering Creativity: Understanding the role of art in mental health recovery through the voices and images of people with lived experience of major mental illness, was conducted from 2015 through to 2016. The research team - Associate Professor Sheridan Linnell, Dr Joy Paton and Professor Debbie Horsfall of the School of Social Sciences and Psychology at Western Sydney University together with Ms Jane Miller and Dr Ching-I Hsu of Flourish Australia – investigated the role of art in mental health recovery, seeking to extend knowledge of how arts-based interventions contribute and what role is played by community-managed mental health organisations. The research explored how art making within a supportive context influences the recovery, identity and social inclusion of people with lived experience. The artists shared their knowledge of recovery, assisting the researchers to develop a deeper appreciation of the relationships, ideas, values and practices that can sustain and be significant for people with lived experience. The resulting artworks emerged from a collaborative arts-based exploration of how creativity can inform the recovery process. Flourish Australia and Western Sydney University are grateful to the artists for making a significant contribution to the understanding of and evidence for arts-based recovery. Initially shown at the end of 2015, the Recovering Creativity exhibition was co-curated by Dr Joy Paton and Ms Jane Miller in collaboration with the artists/participants and chief investigator, Associate Professor Sheridan Linnell. This catalogue has now been produced to accompany the release of the Recovering Creativity research report which documents the project’s findings. The Report provides clear evidence that art making in a group context supports the goals and principles of mental health recovery, and also makes recommendations targeting mental health policy, service delivery and professional practice. The Report is available at: http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/uws:3538