let the talking begin

Here's something I have been meaning to get off my chest...


Dear Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane

As an art therapy educator, I am deeply concerned at the negative attitude towards art therapy ('the butt of jokes in the art world') - displayed in your current exhibition Let the Healing Begin. Who says art therapy is anathema to art? Mike Parr?  Is his (and other male artists and critics on your Talking Cure panel) the only voice to be heard?

The fact is, art therapists are also artists. Not only are we the butt of jokes in the art world, we are also the underdogs in the psychotherapy world, as we are still fighting for recognition of our qualifications, skills and experience, in an arena dominated by CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy) and the medical model. However, we struggle daily to make a difference in the lives of many traumatised, unhappy and wounded individuals (children and adults) who genuinely want to improve their mental state.

Art therapy makes both therapy and art accessible to many who would not otherwise benefit from either. I cannot understand why some artists feel threatened by this largely female, and totally benign, clinical practice. Art therapy seems to represent the shadow side of art.

Mike Parr's performance art shocks and traumatises people - fair enough, if that is the statement he is wanting to make.  However there is an alternative perspective on this, which you have apparently ignored.