CoolTan Arts!
February 13, 2010
Since graduating I have been doing a few voluntary placements in London, off the back of my dissertation. I researched how ‘the arts’ are incorporated into the education, healthcare and criminal justice system and the many benefits in each area.
‘An Investigation into the benifits of ‘The Arts’ in Healthcare, Education and Criminal Justice Establishments’
I developed a particular interest in Mental Healthcare and the outstanding benefits of art and creativity in this field. I have had the opportunity to work with a fantastic charity, CoolTan Arts, a community arts centre run by and for those with mental distress. At the moment I run a knitting group at their community centre, based on Walworth Road, in Elephant and Castle. CoolTan offers survivors of mental distress the chance to meet with others and become involved in a variety of activities that contribute to wellbeing.
Every month CoolTan runs a walk around Southwark called the Largactyle Shuffle. This is a pilgrimage to uncover the history of Southwark and aims to target the Stigma surrounding Mental illness. This walk has been named one of London’s top ten walks, by Time Out. During one of the midnight Largactyle Shuffles a film crew were invited along to document the journey, last week I attended the screening of this film and two others about the work of CoolTan at the British Film Institute, (BFI) on the Southbank. The turn out was great and the production was extremely professional and well put together. Footage from the walk was amalgamated with animations that explain what the walk is about and where the name comes from.
You can see a trailor here for one of the three short films premiered, ‘In the studio with Maggie Hambling’, a patron of CoolTan. If you are in the area definitely pop in and have a browse around their gallery and studios; a wonderfully vibrant hub of activity.
