On this week’s “Blank Canvas” we’ll be talking about art therapy and how that can heal us in the difficult days after Hurricane Dorian. As part of the NAGB”s “We Gatchu: Sanctuary After the Storm” initiative, the NAGB Education team, with art therapist Susan Moir Mackay, facilitated “Create Space.” These specialised art sessions are designed to release emotions or find quietness. Working with art materials after a crisis can be an excellent tool for restoring a sense of safety, connection and rebuilding agency and grounding for individuals and communities.
Mackay is a professional artist and Art Psychotherapist who is an impassioned advocate of art and believes in its benefit to individuals and communities. She spent more than twenty years in Grand Bahama, investing her time and talents in art education projects, facilitating art, as well as developing her own artworks and exhibitions. She returned to Scotland in 2015, where she continued her education, completing her Masters in Art Psychotherapy (with Distinction). Subsequently, she was employed by NHS (National Health Service) to implement three different pilot Art Psychotherapy interventions.
Also joining Amanda and Susan in the studio, are Zearier Munroe, NAGB’s Community Outreach Officer, and Blake Fox, NAB’s Education Assistant, who worked closely with Mackay to organise and produce the sessions.
Blank Canvas airs every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. on Guardian Talk Radio, 96.9 FM.
