2023 Pre-conference: Shaun McNiff

2023 BATA

Pre-Conference

September ^7th, 2023

In Person at Ursuline College

8:30-5:00 pm

The Studio as a Therapeutic Community of Art

This day of art making will address how group studio environments can energize artistic expression and further understanding by witnessing and affirming others. With painting as a primary medium, participants will explore how to relax controls, turn resistance into fuel for creation, express themselves more from movement than from mental expectations, open to the unexpected, and experience quality as personally unique, natural, and authentic expression.

Shaun McNiff

Shaun McNiff is internationally recognized for furthering universal access to artistic expression as a source of creative well-being and human understanding. University Professor Emeritus at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Journal of Applied Arts and Health for his leadership in advancing art as research and the Honorary Life Member Award of the American Art Therapy Association. An exhibiting painter who leads art studios, lectures, and teaches throughout the world, Shaun’s writings have been translated into many languages and his books include Art Heals: How Creativity Cures the Soul; Imagination in Action: Secrets for Unleashing Creative Expression; Integrating the Arts in Therapy; Trust the Process: An Artist’s Guide to Letting Go; Art as Medicine; and Art-Based Research.