Let's Connect! (June 2023)

The Intersections of Arts & Care

You are invited to Let’s Connect! where artists and community stakeholders can engage in dialogues on arts engagement and participation. Continuing last edition’s focus on arts and well-being, we will hear from representatives from diverse sectors on how the arts provides a caring space for people to improve their well-being through individual expression and social connection. 

In addition to speakers’ presentations in the morning, participants can look forward to gaining deeper, more practical knowledge and perspectives through afternoon workshops and networking opportunities. The workshops will delve into various aspects of arts and well-being including art therapy, emotional and mental health.   

Part of Wellness Festival Singapore, Let's Connect! (June 2023) is organised by the National Arts Council, in collaboration with National Gallery Singapore, LASALLE College of the Arts and Singapore Art Museum. National Gallery Singapore is also the venue partner for the event.

Date and Time

Monday, 19 June 2023, 9.30am to 4.30pm

Venue

[Presentations & Panel; Networking Showcase]

The Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium and Foyer, National Gallery Singapore

[Workshops]

Rooftop Studios and various locations at National Gallery Singapore

Engine Room, Singapore Art Museum at Tanjong Pagar Distripark

This is an in-person event. You may register for either the morning panel or afternoon workshop, or both. Do note that workshops are concurrent and you may choose one only.

We hope that all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, can engage and participate fully. Singapore Sign Language (SSL) interpretation will be provided.

To request an accommodation or for inquiries about accessibility, please contact us.

An Aesthetic of Knowledge Translation: Using the Arts to Create, Share Health Knowledge and Enhance Well-being 

Katherine Boydell, Professor of Mental Health, Black Dog Institute (Australia)

Professor Boydell will present on her research programme that involves participants using art to share their lived experience of a health issue. Exemplars of such activities will be shared including photovoice and body mapping research with marginalised women, digital storytelling with young people and a digital installation of the Covid experiences of health leaders.  In particular, the talk will demonstrate the efficacy of using the arts via increased mental health literacy, enhanced empathy, decreased stigma and overall mental health and wellbeing.

Professor Boydell is an internationally recognised leader in qualitative inquiry and arts-based knowledge translation in mental health care. Currently, she is Professor of Mental Health and Director, Arts-based Knowledge Translation Lab (AKT) at the Black Dog Institute and School of Psychiatry and Mental Health at the University of New South Wales, and Director, Arts-based Knowledge Translation [AKT] Lab, Australia. She has published over 265 articles in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters and two books: Qualitative Methods in Early Psychosis and Applying Body Mapping in Research.

Simplicity as An Anchor in Creating Safe Spaces for Accessibility and Expression in Art-Making

Mary Bernadette Lee, Visual Artist and Educator

Mary will expound on her methods that enable her participants to share their personal stories, thoughts and feelings safely. In doing so, she softly encourages her participants to come closer to themselves, be curious about the creative process and be more confident in expressing. 

Her workshops provide scaffolding for self-directed processes with different mediums that can help participants understand themselves better, clarify their thoughts, and gain a clearer understanding of their circumstances or relationships with others. Her participants come from different socio-economic backgrounds and include children with special needs, youths-at-risk, senior citizens and young working adults.  

Mary is based in Singapore and has been practicing since 2014. She is an artist, educator, illustrator, co-creator through collaborations with communities. She is currently an adjunct lecturer at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. 

Towards Equal Access and Creative Care in the Arts – Journey of Club Rainbow Arts Development 

Elaine Yeoh, Manager, Arts Development, Club Rainbow (Singapore) 

Club Rainbow (Singapore) is a non-profit organisation and charity with a mission to support and empower children with chronic illnesses, and their families. Armed with the firm belief that every child deserves equal opportunities to lead a fulfilling and independent life, Arts Development is one of five core pillars of support seeking to enrich the children’s lives through arts engagement and exposure programmes of various art forms, providing opportunities for immersive artmaking experience and avenues for them to develop their interest towards independent living and community inclusivity.  

Elaine will share Club Rainbow’s efforts in arts engagement to empower children and enhance their quality of life, and stories of the growth of selected children in their journey with Club Rainbow. 

Elaine has over 15 years of experience in arts-based programming, audience development and events management within the arts, educational and government sectors. She joined Club Rainbow in 2019 to lead the Arts Development team in broadening engagement with communities at-large through the arts.

Moderator

Joanne Yoong, CEO and Principal Economist, Research for Impact 

Joanne is an applied micro-economist and interdisciplinary researcher working on consumer and household decision-making in vulnerable populations. Dr Yoong holds multiple faculty appointments and is the author of over eighty peer-reviewed articles in leading economics, medical and public health journals.

Hosted by Sharda Harrison.

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Come view exciting work in the arts and well-being space by LASALLE, Singapore Association of Mental Health, St Luke’s Eldercare, Yeo Boon Khim Mind Science Centre (a research centre of National University of Singapore and National University Health System), and Ng Teng Fong General Hospital. Have a chat with the friendly organisation reps over lunch to learn about their work and connect with potential collaborators!

Enhancing Mental Health and Wellbeing through the Arts: Introduction to Qualitative Arts-based Research

Katherine Boydell and Singapore Art Museum

Engine Room, Singapore Art Museum at Tanjong Pagar Distripark

Art is often created to stimulate critical thought and start a dialogue. It also has the potential to provide a deeper knowledge of the human experience (e.g. the experience of living with an anxiety disorder or the experience of receiving treatment for psychosis). In a world filled with misinformation and sceptical views of the value of facts and science, communicating science results to society is filled with challenges. Arts-Based research is a set of methodological tools used by qualitative researchers across the disciplines during all phases of social research, including data collection, analysis, interpretation, and representation. These emerging tools adapt the tenets of the creative arts to address social research questions in holistic and engaged ways in which theory and practice are intertwined.

Join Katherine Boydell for an overview of the field of art-based knowledge translation while she provides pragmatic examples of her work. This will introduce workshop participants to qualitative arts-based research, particularly how art may be used for data collection, analysis, interpretation and/or dissemination. Workshop participants will receive hands-on experience using an art genre to represent research findings. This will provide participants with the tools they need to use art to disseminate their research findings to a wide audience.

Limited to 40 pax, on a first-come-first-served basis. Please only register if you are able to make it!

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Welcome to the Table: Emotional Well-being Recipes – The Art Therapy Blend

Ronald P.M.H. Lay, Programme Leader, MA Art Therapy, School of Creative Industries, LASALLE College of the Arts Singapore 

Rooftop Studios, National Gallery Singapore

A palatable and tantalising discussion begins with assembling key thoughts and ideas extracted from a range of distinct personalities and perspectives. This dynamic workshop, informed by the principles and practices of art therapy, optimises the use of metaphor - recipes, ingredients – and artmaking to stimulate collaborative discourse on what is meant by emotional wellbeing through creative community arts engagement. The workshop models an approach that invites everyone to the table, initiates connections and networks, leading to innovative projects with impact. 

Ronald P.M.H. Lay MA, AThR, ATR-BC is the Programme Leader of the MA Art Therapy programme at LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore; the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, asserting its strategic positioning in progressing the discipline in ways that are culturally relevant and responsive in Asian and global contexts. The postgraduate art therapy students design and facilitate collaborative art-based community projects as part of their training, and evidence 816+ hours of structured and supervised clinical placement.

Limited to 35 pax, on a first-come-first-served basis. Please only register if you are able to make it!

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Strength Through Art - Developing a Generation of Emotional First-Aiders through Art 

Kng Mian Tze, Senior Manager, Learning & Outreach, National Gallery Singapore &

Nicola Choo, Education Facilitator 

National Gallery Singapore, various locations (Meeting point: Coleman Entrance Visitor Services Counter)

Strength Through Art is an art programme that develops adolescents’ mental resilience through visual and emotional literacy. The programe uses artworks in the national collection to enable adolescents to identify their emotions and generate strategies to help cope with negativity. It also empowers them to tap into their creativity for self-care. The team will share the process and learning gathered so far through presentation, artwork discussion and hands-on activities.  

Mian Tze is an artist-educator who is interested in engaging the public in her art. She has been commissioned privately and publicly before joining the Gallery eight years ago and is now looks after art & wellness programmes.  

Nicola is part of the adjunct faculty in the National Institute of Education, NTU, where she teaches the drawing, pedagogy and children development modules. Her interest is in cognitive and developmental psychology, with a focus on how the visual arts drive learning and support growth from childhood to adulthood.  

Limited to 30 pax, on a first-come-first-served basis. Please only register if you are able to make it!

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

National Gallery Singapore, 1 St Andrew's Road, Singapore, Singapore