Proudly Presenting
Registrations Now Open for the 10th Art of Good Health and Wellbeing Conference
13.07.2018Registrations are now open for the 10th Art of Good Health and Wellbeing Conference, presented by the Australian Centre for Arts and Health (ACAH), to be held from 12-15 November 2018 at the Sails Hotel, Port Macquarie.
The Art Gallery of NSW continues its conference partnership with ACAH in 2018, with AGNSW artist educators presenting arts for health art-making workshops at the conference. The conference will continue its exploration of ‘Mental Health and Resilience through the Arts’, as the overarching theme, with three specific areas of focus:
- Mental Health, Creativity and Resilience
- ‘Arts and Health’ Programs in Hospitals, Palliative Care, Healthcare Services, Health Promotion, Community Services
- Creative Ageing across the lifespan
Confirmed Speakers & Guests
- Gary Glazner, Founding Director, Alzheimer’s Poetry Project, New York and Poet in Residence at the conference. Poetry programs in aged care homes, community health services and prisons (presented 2013, 2015).
- Dr Gary Christenson, Psychiatrist and Chief Medical Officer, Boynton Health, the health service for students, staff and faculty, University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, USA. (presented 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013)
- Archie Roach AM, Singer, Songwriter, Musician and Advocate for Aboriginal rights – Special Guest, 10th anniversary conference dinner, Wednesday 14 November.
- Alice Thwaite, Co-Director, Equal Arts, Gateshead UK. International expert and pioneer in creative ageing programs, arts on prescription models and artists in healthcare training (presented 2011, 2013).
- Dr Persephone Sextou, Newman University Birmingham, UK. Addressing the impact of intimate theatre performance on children’s hospital and hospice experiences in the UK.
- Anne Gallacher, Director, Luminate, Scotland’s creative ageing organisation and founding director of the Luminate creative ageing festival (established 2012).
- Elaine Burke, Advisor, Hull UK City of Culture 2017; Manager, Larkin with Toads public art project; arts and health specialist in hospital arts strategies and evaluation and innovative schools programs (presented 2012).
- Dominic Campbell, Producer, Creative Ageing International and former artistic director, Bealtaine creative ageing festival, Ireland (presented 2013, 2015, 2016).
- ACAH’s Patron, Professor the Hon Dame Marie Bashir AD CVO is attending the full conference in Port Macquarie
Further speakers will be announced shortly including presentations on veterans health and the latest research in the arts and health field.
Port Macquarie
Port Macquarie was the site of the first Art of Good Health and Wellbeing conference in 2009 so it is exciting to be bringing the conference to its regional origins in 2018 for its 10th anniversary. Since 2009, Port Macquarie has become established as a leader in Australia in the integrated field of arts, health and creative ageing. With a high ageing population, aged care and healthcare are prominent sectors in the community.
The creative industries are dominant on the Mid North Coast with a growing community of professionally trained artists working in health and ageing. Annual creative ageing festivals have also been held in the region since 2015.
Specific sessions will be offered at the conference to assist in the development of:
- creative ageing festivals and local government
- arts and health programs in hospitals and health services
Port Macquarie is also a ‘university town’ with an increasing focus on health and wellbeing. Tertiary institutions include Charles Sturt University, UNSW Rural Medical School, Newcastle University and North Coast TAFE.
For more information visit www.artsandhealth.org.au or email info@artsandhealth.org.au.
To register to the conference, click here.