ABOUT INSIDER ART
Arts and health is an idea whose time has come. Making art is part of human nature, because making art is:
- an essential part of how we adapt,
- how we think new things,
- how we express and contain strong feelings,
- how we can experience ourselves most deeply as individuals,
- how we experience one another more deeply and compassionately as people.
‘It is as natural for people to make art, as it is for wolves to howl’ (Ellen Dissanayake).
The arts are blooming in the health world in many ways: through changing the healing environments of healthcare, through developing humane and empathic health practitioners, and through engaging everyday people in participatory art making. These aspects of art making bring the arts out of their ivory tower, they ‘Re-enchant’ art, in Suzi Gablick’s phrase, and give them value, purpose and meaning. On our links page are links to many projects and organisations working with the arts and health in different ways.
Though the bringing together of arts and health is very active at the moment, not all the ideas are new. Insider Art work particularly with participatory visual art making, and how it psychologically and emotionally benefits health-making. These ideas have been developing for over sixty years into Art Therapy, or Art Psychotherapy. See our Art Psychotherapy page for more information.
Insider Art are based in the Southwest of England, but are active nationally and internationally. We are an independent training provider, and offer workshops, courses and an annual conference aimed at encouraging and developing dialogue, respect and understanding between people working within diverse aspects of arts and health practice.
In particular we work with artists and health professionals and counsellors to develop the creative and emotional skills to achieve the best artistic and health outcomes. Find out more about us on the ‘About Insider Art’ page.
Other information on this site includes details of the annual Exeter Arts and Therapies Conference (EATc), current courses, application forms, publications, some of them downloadable, an archive of art work and up to date news.
We hope you enjoy the site and find it useful. You can contact us through the contact us and enquiries page. All the art work is by Insider Artists (ourselves, our colleagues and contributors), or by participants at our events.
Malcolm Learmonth and Karen Huckvale, Directors, Insider Art.
Insider Art was established by Malcolm Learmonth & Karen Huckvale in 2001 as an independent training provider, building on their combined experience of over 40 years working in art education and training, community arts, as artists and as art psychotherapists in NHS., Social Services and independent capacities. Both are fully registered practioners with the Health Professionals Council. You will find CV’s/ biographies for Malcolm and Karen, and other Insider Artists, in the archive section.
'Insider Art’ is a play on the term ‘Outsider Art’, meaning the untutored art of inner necessity. ‘Insider Artists' are mostly dual trained artists and art psychotherapists, who practice in both of these deeply connected fields. Psychotherapy is an art, and like art making, a continual process of journey and discovery for ourselves as well as for those we work with.
Psychotherapy demands an ability to work with fluidity, adapting to inner worlds and reflecting on the myriad of emotions which make us human. This process is mirrored in our own art making: our images evolve and surprise us rather than follow a plan!
Insider Art events and trainings are not about training psychotherapists: they are about the areas of transferable skills that we believe underpin aspects of psychotherapy and also support safe, ethical and effective practise for participatory arts and health.
Insider Art believe that creativity and health-seeking are innately human, and are linked together as aspects of what Carl Jung identified as the ‘self regulating psyche’.
While our focus is on art-making, stories and images are essential to how human beings make sense of ourselves, of others, and the world in other ways, whether it is through books, fairy stories, films, paintings, or the stories we tell one another every day.
We chose the spiral as our image because spirals embody and symbolise growth and evolution, appearing in natural forms from snails to galaxies. Like art making, they imply a movement between inner and outer, self and others, and the potential of art making to transform conflicts into dynamics.
Insider Art work in partnership with various organisations on specific projects but do not receive core funding from any. We value our independence. We work with a wide range of contributors. Details of many people who have contributed to our courses and events can be found in the archive section.