Making it Visible – a one-day conference exploring the role of creativity and imagination in health and wellbeing will take place tomorrow (Thursday 22 November) at Platform Art Centre, Easterhouse Glasgow.

The conference is hosted by ArtFull (arts and mental health programme) and the Glasgow Arts and Health Learning Network and brings together specialists and professionals from a range of disciplines to investigate the important role that arts can play in health and mental well being.

Keynote speaker at the event is Clive Parkinson, Director of Arts for Health at Manchester Metropolitan University and project lead on the Invest to Save: Arts in Health project. His keynote presentation entitled ‘Towards Transformation: exploring the impact of culture, creativity and the arts on health and wellbeing…’ gets to the heart of the issue of the role arts can play in the health sector.

Clive Parkinson’s presentation will draw on research undertaken at Manchester Metropolitan University which asserts that engaging in creativity, culture and the arts has a profound affect on well-being, increasing individual capacity to make changes in our lives.

Speaking ahead of the conference Clive Parkinson said: “I'm so excited to be involved in the Making it Visible event at Platform on the Bridge. The work that Artfull are enabling around arts, mental health and well-being is truly inspirational and is at the leading edge of this kind of work in the UK. There's a real vibrancy about the work going on in Scotland and those of us coming from further afield, are really keen to learn more about activity that has an impact on the health and well-being.”

The Conference also marks the publication of a report from an important new piece of research by the Mental Health Foundation supported by partners Evaluation Support Scotland and the Scottish Arts Council /Artfull, which investigates the impacts of arts and mental health projects. The Participatory Arts Self Evaluation Approach (PASEA) project includes a significant piece of practice-focused research and development work with six participatory arts projects working across Scotland looking at evaluation.

The process of evaluating the impact of participatory arts projects can be challenging – the diversity of the arts activity, the subjective nature of the impacts and working with vulnerable client groups can make it difficult for arts projects to demonstrate their impact. The research supports the development of evaluation methods to capture the subjective experience of participants.

Jim Tough, Acting Chief Executive, Scottish Arts Council , who is also speaking at the event, explains –

“Making it Visible is the second in a series of regional conferences around the subject of creativity and arts participation in the field of improving mental health and wellbeing. It offers an opportunity for those involved and interested in the field to come together to find out about the latest research, to debate, to forge new working relationships and to experience some of the fantastic work that is being done in the sector.

“There has been great interest in the conference which is fully booked and we have delegates from the Scottish Government, the NHS, local authorities, further education and voluntary sectors as well as artists, performers and service users attending.

“In addition to our key speakers, delegates will have opportunities to participate in a diverse range of workshop sessions including finding out about the role of the artist in healthcare environments, Medical Humanities, arts projects in the community, a commissioned forum theatre piece around the arts and mental health, art therapies, and practical art sessions.”