Drawing as Embodied Practice: Exploring Mental and Emotional Well-Being Through Art

• In Event: Constructing Educational Possibilities: Teaching Difference Through Repetition

Abstract

The number of university students screening positive for depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and suicidal ideation, has grown exponentially during and in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic (Copeland et al., 2021; Feiler, et al., 2022; Stamatis et al., 2022). In a recent survey distributed by the Mental Health Commission of Canada, university students reported that although many campuses had returned to pre-pandemic states, students’ mental health, finances, accessibility, and learning experiences were still negatively impacted, leading to an increase in stress, anxiety, and mental and physical exhaustion (Rashid & Di Genova, 2022). In some instances, students are choosing to leave university altogether (Del Savio et al., 2022). To address the mental health needs of university students, international studies and local governing bodies are calling for fundamental changes in mental health services and incorporating a broader culture of health and wellness into university policies, systems, and day-to-day life on campus (Appleby et al., 2022; Capaldi et al., 2022; Monaghan et al., 2021; Salimi et al., 2023).

The role that art therapy can play in the resilience of university students on university campus has been well researched (Fancourt & Finn, 2019; Gillam, 2018; Li & Peng, 2022). Mindfulness based art therapy (MBAT), for example, has shown effective for university students (Van Lith et al., 2022) in which students can openly discuss vulnerable experiences and feelings through art media that provide containment, structure, and an avenue for connection with others (Sonnone & Spraggins Rochford, 2020). There is a gap in knowledge, however, for how the practices of contemporary artists working within the framework of mental and emotional health, and working outside of clinical settings, can promote a new generation of life skills, providing ongoing student support in the aftermath of COVID-19 as long-term impacts become apparent. This has crucial implications for scholarship in art education and arts-based educational research which is concerned with creating relationships between theory, learning and practice, and its applications to daily life, communities and community-building, and educational settings.

This research focuses on the role that visual art can play in the support and promotion of mental health and well-being. Drawing from my on-going personal art practice as well as my approach to teaching a 300-level drawing class to undergraduate students, I conceptualized an exercise in which mark-making, colour, and gesture become methods for promoting feeling, reflection, participation, and community engagement through and with art in an effort at reducing barriers, stigma, discrimination, exclusion and isolation, and contributing to the creation of a new public narrative, one that prioritizes the mental and emotional health and wellness of university students and faculty. These exercises have been implemented on several occasions, forming rich case-studies for which I am exploring the generative potentialities of drawing as an embodied practice to create a culture of mental and emotional wellbeing on university campuses and beyond.

Author

• Natalie LeBlanc, University of Victoria