Kate Craik
Kate Craik was the National Development Officer for ArtFull from October 2006 to March 2008.
ArtFull, launched in 2005 with 3-year funding, has been an initiative between the National Programme and the Scottish Arts Council to develop, promote and map the arts and the role they play in improving the mental health and wellbeing of people living in Scotland. I came into post in 2006, delighted with the opportunity of bringing together my experience and passion for the arts and the field of mental health and wellbeing. A strategy was in place with four well-defined key aims:
- Promote increased participation in arts activity particularly for those experiencing mental health problems and/or illness
- Develop more inter-agency partnerships with commitment for arts and mental health projects
- Support, develop and articulate quality artistic practice in the field of arts and mental health
- Develop a research/evidence base that helps demonstrate and promote the benefits of the arts in relation to mental health and wellbeing.
With a one-off funding pot we advertised funding for arts, mental health and wellbeing initiatives. From 33 applications we selected 11 high quality proposals for Exemplar Projects working across Scotland which incorporated our key aims. I’ve picked out three of these projects to give an indication of the work that we have funded:
In Perth, the drama worker at
Participation, partnership and high quality artistic practice have been at the heart of all the projects with each currently undertaking a creative evaluation of their work. Informal feedback already indicates huge benefits to participants with improved confidence, self esteem and interest in life, greater empowerment in decision-making, a focus on being well instead of on illness and improved capacity to cope. An in depth evaluation of the Artfull initiative will be completed and published in autumn 2008. In the meantime you can see short videos of each of the projects and information about our work at www.artfull.org.uk.
Artfull was mainstreamed into the Equalities Department at the Scottish Arts Council in April 2008. I’ve found Artfull an inspiring and exciting initiative to be involved in and while sad that Artfull is coming to an end, I look forward to continuing to work in the arts, mental health and wellbeing sector on a freelance/consultancy basis.
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