Students, Education and Community Outreach

Creative Works Studio inspires students from the University of Toronto Department of Occupational Science and Therapy and most recently York University’s Community Arts Program.

At University of Toronto we have conducted creative experiential workshops for first year Occupational Therapy students with a focus on art and mental health. Through a series of creative labs students surprise themselves by creating songs, murals and getting their hands in clay all in one morning session. The students discover the value of creativity through the transformations they make in this collaborative learning approach.

Research and developing knowledge-based tools is a very important part of our program. We have conducted arts-based research, qualitative and work in partnership with scientists from St. Michael’s Hospital as well master candidate research occupational therapy students from the University of Toronto.

This year we will develop and present to a wider possibility of settings using our newly completed film, What’s Art Got to Do With it? Thanks to our Bell Let’s Talk Community Grant, there will be amazing new opportunities for outreach.

Its great to see that there is a growing awareness for mental health issues and for valuing the power of creativity and art to both change lives and our ways of thinking.

Awards

• 2010-2011 St. Michael’s Hospital’s Health Disciplines Clinical Excellence Award, Isabel Fryszberg, Occupational Therapist
• 2011 Advancing Occupational Therapy Practice Award Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy University of Toronto

Presentations and Conferences

• 2012, CAOT National Conference, Quebec City, Paper Presentation
• 2012, Lryic Theatre, Belfast, Ireland International Arts Care Sustainable Creativity in Health Care, Workshop Leader and Film Presentation
• 2011, Mount Sinai Hospital; First Canadian Conference on Medical and Health Humanities; Creating Space for Arts and Humanities in the Education of Health Professionals, Presenter
• University of Toronto; Dalai Lama School of Public Health; The Art of Public Health; Featured Workshop Speaker, October 1, 2010.
• Baycrest Centre of Geriatric Care; Social Work Clinic Day; Bringing Creativity into Clinical Practice with Older Adults; Featured Workshop Presenter, November 12, 2010
• Creative Spirit Toronto; Art and Disabilities Conference; Key Presenter, Oct 22, 2010

Films

• 2010-2013 What’s Art Got To Do With It? Made in partnership with Keenan Research Centre at SMH with financial support from Canadian Institute of Health Research CIHR, Bell Let’s Talk Community Initiative, ELJB Foundation, and Toronto Arts Council
• 2009 The Honourable Michael Kirby, Chair of the Mental Health Commission of Canada, Visits the Creative Works Studio
• 2008 Creative Recovery ll
• 2007 Creative Recovery l

Festivals

• June 20, 2013 The Female Eye Festival Carlton Theatre Toronto, ON.

Publications

• THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR THE ARTS IN SOCIETY, VOUME 3, NUMBER 2, 2008 http;//www.arts-journal.com. ISSN 1833-1866/ Understanding the Experience and Impact of a Community Art Studio Initiative for Adults with Serious Mental Illness through Narrative Explorations @ Common Ground, Amanda Dam, Isabel Fryszberg, Bonnie Kirsh (Peer Reviewed)

Outreach

• June 6th Nuturing Creativity for Health and Wellness for staff at St. Michael’s Hospital.
• May 2013 ,Marc Garneau Collegiate, Toronto, ON
• November 2012 West Credit Seconday School, Mississauga; Peel School Board, ON
  “Congratulations for your successful presentation at West Credit. The staff sincerely thought you brought important insights and they will be building on what they learned.” – Natalie Mathews, Secondary School Educator
• October 2012 Friends & Advocates Peel, a non-profit Adult Mental Health organization, Consumer Survivor Network, Peel ON.