Tag Archive | mental health in the arts

New Book: “Not Guilty But Not Free” by Zerom Seyoum

A New Book by ‘Write From The Heart’ Graduate
Zerom Seyoum:
Not Guilty But Not Free
An insight into mental illness from 20 years of personal struggles in and out of a psychiatric hospital.
price: $17.50
purchase from author:
phone: 604-565-5515
cell: 604-828-8130
ze***********@ho*****.com 

March 12 – Funny in the Head and Fado

…the opening performance of the Kickstart Festival 2010!

She Laughed, She Cried
Friday, March 12  8pm

Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC
6265 Crescent Road
Vancouver

She Laughed, She Cried is an evening of fado and comedy that will move you
from tears to riotous laughter! The evening features two extraordinary and
very different artists who share a common ability to touch your heart.

Fado singer Sara Marreiros and her band open the evening. Dark and brooding or
gloriously ethereal, Sara’s sultry, sexy vocals are steeped in the passion of
saudade – the feeling of yearning that is part of the Portuguese soul.

Funny in the Head, a one-woman show by comedian, storyteller, writer and
mental health activist Jan Derbyshire. The show is the rollicking story of a
bipolar comedian’s fight to stay funny. She ultimately finds an answer to the
pressing question, “Is appearing normal a mental health act?”

Tickets: $22 ($16 students, seniors & fixed income) plus charges
www.ticketmaster.ca
604.280.3311

www.chancentre.com/whats-on/she-laughed-she-cried

Directions, Parking, Transit, Ticket Sales, and Accessibility at the Chan Centre:
www.ticketmaster.ca/Chan-Centre-For-The-Performing-Arts-tickets-Vancouver/venue/139280

…………………………………………………….

Kickstart Festival 2010 March 8 – 27
Art exhibitions, dance, music, theatre, workshops
www.kickstart-arts.ca/kickstartfestival.html

KICKSTART IS NOW ON FACEBOOK! JOIN US!
www.facebook.com/pages/Kickstart-Disability-Arts-and-Culture/318968627521?v=wall

Coming up next:

EarSighted Audio Description of a performance of SPINE, March 16 8pm
www.kickstart-arts.ca/audio-description.html

………………………………………………………………

Meg Torwl

Community Outreach Coordinator
Kickstart Disability Arts and Culture

www.kickstart-arts.ca

BrainStorm Poetry contest for consumers!

Eighth annual BrainStorm poetry contest

ImageEnter the storm and speak your mind:
NISA’s eighth annual BrainStorm poetry contest opens Jan. 4, 2010

The Northern Initiative for Social Action (NISA) is pleased to announce its eighth annual BrainStorm Poetry Contest, which runs from Jan. 4 to March 19, 2010 and is open to poets worldwide.

The annual contest is an effective way for NISA to showcase the work of its readers and other mental health consumers. This year, NISA hopes to receive more submissions from poets outside North America, in order to raise awareness and to educate the public on the realities of mental health in different geographic regions. Subject matter is entirely open and needn’t focus on one’s struggle with mental health; however, the BrainStorm contest is open exclusively to consumers and survivors of mental health services.

The contest is intended as a fundraiser for NISA’s literary magazine, Open Minds Quarterly, as well as a way of supporting consumers and survivors of mental health services by awarding prizes to the top three winners. Learn more about contest regulations and download entry forms here. Inquiries may be directed to Dinah Laprairie at
n
op*******@ni**.ca

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

or +1-705-675-9193 ext. 8286.

Call for Submissions about Employment & Disability

Dear OMQ Contributors,
Please find below a call for submissions for first-person accounts about disability and employment. Open Minds and NISA aren’t affiliated with reachAbility, but it sounds to me like a good opportunity for our writers, so I’m passing along the news.
Wishing you all the best,
Dinah Laprairie
Editor, Open Minds Quarterly
Be inspired. Be moved. Be part of the change.
A publication of
NISA/Northern Initiative for Social Action
680 Kirkwood Dr., Bldg. 1
Sudbury ON P3E 1X3
Canada
(705) 675-9193, ext. 8286
OMQ is now a part of the Facebook community
_______________________________________

reachAbility, a Canadian nonprofit association that fights for equality of rights for all Canadians with disabilities, is asking for submissions for a book to be published this year. The goal of the book is to raise awareness of the need for equality, break down barriers, and offer strategies and solutions for inclusion.
The submissions are first-hand accounts of employment experiences, and can be submitted in a variety of formats. Topics can include (but are not limited to) how your disability affected your getting a job, feelings of acceptance or exclusion from staff and management, and barriers encountered at work. Submission deadline is March 15, 2010.
See “The First Person Project,” February 5, 2010, at www.blogs.usask.ca/dss.

March 12: Jan Derbyshire performs Funny in the head!

Fado and Comedy

SHE LAUGHED, SHE CRIED

Fado with Sara Marreiros & Comedy with Jan Derbyshire
Friday, March 12, 2010. 8:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: Telus Studio Theatre – Chan Centre for the Performing Arts. UBC

Opening the performance stream of the Kickstart Festival 2010. Fado singer
Sara Marreiros and her band bring music steeped in the passion of Portuguese
saudade (yearning). Jan Derbyshire performs Funny in the Head, the rollicking
story of a bipolar comedian’s fight to stay funny.

Tickets: $22 ($16 students, seniors & fixed income)
http://www.ticketmaster.ca/section. 604.280.3311

Kickstart Festival 2010 presented in partnership with
the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.
http://www.chancentre.com/whats-on/she-laughed-she-cried

Directions, Parking, Transit, Ticket Sales, and Accessibility at the Chan Centre:
http://www.ticketmaster.ca/Chan-Centre-For-The-Performing-Arts-tickets-Vancouver/venue/139280

Kickstart Festival 2010 March 8 – 27 Art exhibitions, dance, music, theatre,
workshops
http://www.kickstart-arts.ca/kickstartfestival.html

……………………………………………………………………………………….

KICKSTART FESTIVAL 2010 MARCH 8 – 27

Kickstart: join us on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kickstart-Disability-Arts-and-Culture/318968627521?v=wall

Register by MARCH 4th for Breath, Voice and Movement Workshop on March 14 and 19
http://www.kickstart-arts.ca/comingevents.html#workshops

BRIAN – BC Regional Integrated Arts Network Meeting March 13
http://www.kickstart-arts.ca/BRIAN.html

EarSighted Audio Description of Performances SPINE March 16
http://www.kickstart-arts.ca/audio-description.html

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

More about: She Laughed, She Cried:

FUNNY IN THE HEAD, is a one-woman show by comedian, storyteller, writer and
mental health activist JAN DERBYSHIRE. The show is the rollicking story of a
bipolar comedian’s fight to stay funny. She ultimately finds an answer to the
pressing question, “Is appearing normal a mental health act?”

“Jan is an artist who is wildly talented, imaginative, and energetic… Jan’s
plays are rooted in a deep fascination with a good story… Her style is very
confident, funny and energizing.”
– Playwrights’ Workshop, Montreal

Jan’s previous shows include: Under the Big Top; Audition of the Embarrassed
Woman; The Opposite of Everything is True; Turkey in the Woods; The
Brotherhood of Mothers, A Modern Woman’s Guide to Female Impersonation;
Ingenious Speculations. Jan recently directed Kickstart’s Human Writes Story
Creation lab; Meg Torwl in That’s so gay!; the Massey Theatre’s Winter
Spectacular; and Herd of Women in Small Acts of Saying So.

Jan Derbyshire online: http://colossalsquid.blogspot.com/2008/12/inklings.html

FADO singer SARA MARREIROS and her band open the evening. Dark and brooding or
gloriously ethereal, Sara’s sultry, sexy vocals are steeped in the passion of
saudade – the feeling of yearning that is part of the Portuguese soul. A
professional musician and bandleader for 15 years, her recordings include the
albums Minhu Luz, Uma da Terr,  and Saltwater.

“Sara’s voice transports us to Portugal…to smokey bars and riversides…she
takes us from delight to despair and back again with the music and the
emotional scope she brings to her singing” – Sheryl McKay, CBC Radio

Sara Marreiros online: http://www.members.shaw.ca/lmarreiros/#

Telus Studio Theatre
Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
6265 Crescent Road, UBC
$22 ($16 students, seniors & fixed income)
Tickets:  www.ticketmaster.ca
or 604.280.3311

Directions, Parking, Transit, Ticket Sales, and Accessibility at the Chan Centre:
http://www.ticketmaster.ca/Chan-Centre-For-The-Performing-Arts-tickets-Vancouver/venue/139280

Meg Torwl

Community Outreach Coordinator
Kickstart Disability Arts and Culture

http://www.kickstart-arts.ca/

Opening at Havana “Reflections on Dreams and Shadows” a showing of Art Studios paintings

Please join The Art Studios for their opening of  a show of paintings
Reflections on Dreams and Shadows
at The Havana Gallery on
Sunday January 24th from 4-7pm.
Cate Curtis
Rehabilitation Assistant
The Art Studios
2005 East 44th Ave
Van BC V5P 1N1
(604 871 9788 ext 227

‘Frames of Mind’ January 20 Screening: Boy Interrupted

The Institute of Mental Health, UBC Department of Psychiatry and Pacific Cinémathèque present:

Boy Interrupted

Wednesday, January 20, 2010 – 7:30pm
USA 2008. Director: Dana Perry
Every parent’s worst nightmare is, unquestionably, the death of their child — the very event experienced by Dana Perry in 2005 with the suicide of her 15-year-old son Evan. A documentary filmmaker by trade, Dana sought solace by creating a film to try to understand the mind of a boy who asked in his suicide note “only to be forgotten.” In this, her “Mother’s Lament,” Dana takes us back through 15 years of home movies and photographs to paint a portrait of a child who was different — and even obsessed with death — from a very early age; the “darkest of souls,” she calls him. Home movies of Evan at seven show him demonstrating how he might hang himself from his bunk bed. His first suicide attempt, at age 11, landed him in a treatment facility, where he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder — an echo of another family tragedy, the suicide of an uncle, years earlier. For Evan, medication and therapy seemed to be helping; as he moved into adolescence, things seem to be going well for the first time in years. The blow, when it comes, is devastating. “Mournful, pained and beautifully put together” (John Anderson, Variety). “Deeply absorbing . . . Boy Interrupted is hard to reckon with, but even harder to shake off” (Scott Foundas, LA Weekly). Colour, 92 mins.
Post-screening discussion with Judy Davies, Jude Paltzer and Dr. Jana Davidson.
Ms. Davies is a Child & Youth Suicide Clinician with Vancouver Coastal Health and has been working in the realm of crisis and suicide intervention for more than 15 years. With a passion for suicide intervention and the belief that is possible to help keep people alive, she provides suicide consultation and education to community agencies within Vancouver; and numerous First Nation communities.
Ms. Platzer, a “survivor” of her son’s untimely death, is the executive director and founder of The Josh Platzer Society, a non- profit organization whose mission is to educate British Columbia youth and those around them about prevention and awareness of suicide.
Jana Davidson, MD, FRCP(C) is a child psychiatrist actively involved in clinical care, education and research. Dr Davidson is a Clinical Associate Professor, Psychiatry, UBC; Medical Director, Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Addiction Programs at BC Children’s Hospital and Program Head, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Dept of Psychiatry, UBC.
Moderated by Dr. Harry Karlinsky, Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia.
Co-sponsored by Mood Disorders Association of BC (MDA), The Josh Platzer Society, the Crisis Centre and the Child & Adolescent Response Team (CART), Vancouver Community Mental Health Services.
Frames of Mind is a monthly film event utilizing film and video to promote professional and community education on issues pertaining to mental health and illness.

For more information, full reviews, trailers and ticketing information, visit our website or facebook page
www.framesofmind.ca | Facebook | Twitter

West Coast Mental Health Network–Arts, Crafts and Cultural Group

SOME CHANGES COMING UP:
LATERN MAKING WORKSHOP:
West End Community Centre will not have a latern-making workshop, so instead we will be going to the Gathering Place, 609 Helmcken Street, Wednesday, Dec. 16th.
We will meet just inside the doors at 1:45pm, workshop starts 2pm sharp!  If you come to this workshop you will recieve a “free” membership for the coming year.
We’ll go for coffee afterwards, if you wish.
Trout Lake doesn’t seem to know what they’re doing….so…We will be going to Dr Sun Yen Gardens and march around with others with our laterns(you don’t need a latern, but it’s more fun).  Sun Yet Sen Gardens are at 578 Carroll St. on Dec. 21st (Winter Solstice) at 6pm.  There will be Chinese artifacts, Entertainment and free hot tea!
Hope to see you at both events…

‘Frames of Mind’ December 16 Screening: When Medicine Got it Wrong

The Institute of Mental Health, UBC Department of Psychiatry and Pacific Cinémathèque present:

When Medicine Got it Wrong

Wednesday, December 16, 2009 – 7:30pm
USA 2009. Directors: Katie Cadigan, Laura Murray

VANCOUVER PREMIERE! Director Katie Cadigan’s name will be familiar to long-time “Frames of Mind” patrons from People Say I’m Crazy, a film about her brother’s struggle with schizophrenia, which we presented in 2004. Her heartbreaking encounters with elderly parents after screenings of that earlier film prompted Katie to make When Medicine Got It Wrong, a hard-hitting documentary providing historical context for our contemporary mental health care crisis. In 1974, when it was still accepted medical practice to blame parents for their children’s schizophrenia, a small group of parents in California were the first to publicly challenge this belief. They formed Parents of Adult Schizophrenics (a forerunner to the National Alliance on Mental Illness), and openly challenged the medical establishment to recognize the medical nature of the ailment. Their committed activism led to increased research into the physiological origins of mental illness and significant changes in how schizophrenia is understood and treated. These battles were waged during a time of deinstitutionalization; mental hospitals all over North America were being closed, but the community care meant to replace them never materialized. Many of the severely ill ended up on the streets or in jails. Although these activist parents helped build an important new awareness of mental illness, a visit to Vancouver’s own Downtown Eastside serves as a strong reminder that government and society have yet to fully catch up. Colour, Digibeta video. 53 mins.
Post-screening discussion with Joan Nazif and Susan Inman, members of the Family Advisory Committee of Vancouver Community Mental Health Services, and Dr. William MacEwan, Clinical Professor and Director, Schizophrenia Program, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia.
Moderated by Dr. Harry Karlinsky, Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia.
Co-sponsored by the Family Advisory Committee, Vancouver Community Mental Health Services.

Frames of Mind is a monthly film event utilizing film and video to promote professional and community education on issues pertaining to mental health and illness.

For more information, full reviews, trailers and ticketing information, visit our website or Facebook page
www.framesofmind.ca | Facebook | Twitter

Men-tal’-i-ty call for submissions

Magazine Showcases Creative Works of People with Mental Illness [back to top]
men-tal’-i-ty, a full-colour quarterly publication showcasing the artistic works of individuals withy mental illness, is going national. Over the past year, men-tal’-i-ty, produced by the Missing Lint co-op, published its first five issues. As part of their efforts to go national, the Missing Lint co-op is selling subscriptions and advertisements for men-tal’-i-ty, and putting out a call for submissions. Subscriptions are $20 + gst for individuals. For more information, or to subscribe, visit www.mentalitymagazine.ca.