“in SANITY”, The Story Behind the Wall @ Scotiabank Nuit Blanche

Workman Arts Presents:
“in SANITY”, The Story Behind the Wall
@ Scotiabank Nuit Blanche
Saturday, October 3rd 2009 from 7pm – 7am
@ the Workman Theatre, CAMH, 1001 Queen St. W., Toronto, ON M6J 1H4

The Story Behind the Wall is a mixed-media and cross-disciplinary art-making project taken on by artists of the Workman Arts Project of Ontario.  Six artists chose six former patients from the Toronto Hospital for the Insane as depicted in the book Remembrance of Patients Past – Patient life at the Toronto Hospital for the Insane, 1870-1940 by Geoffrey Reaume. Their goal was to create figurative sculptures to creatively and expressively tell the stories of these individual patients.

Geoffrey Reaume’s careful research though the Archives of Ontario was an attempt to understand the patients as people first rather than a diagnostic label.  Working from Geoffrey’s place of respect, the six artists from the Workman Arts Project chose six patients from his book and further investigated these individuals by relating to them as people, artists, and, as people who have experience with mental health as well as the confines of the Psychiatric System and the prejudice of society.

Inspired by a conceptual installation at the Museum Het Dolhuys in Amsterdam, Workman Arts will take this unique opportunity to transform the CAMH space, which has housed the Workman Arts office and Workman Theatre for 20 years and will be demolished later this year as part of the CAMH site redevelopment.

The Workman Arts Project of Ontario Inc. (WA) facilitates aspiring, emerging and established artists with mental illness and addiction issues to develop and refine their art form through its arts training programs, public performance/exhibit opportunities and partnering with other art organizations. As well, WA promotes a greater public understanding of mental illness and addiction through the creation, presentation and discussion of artistic media.

For more information please contact:
Project Administrator: Lisa Kennedy @ 416-583-4339 or lisa_kennedy@workmanarts.com
Scotiabank Nuit Blanche is a signature event produced by the City of Toronto.

Workman Arts ? 651 Dufferin St. ? Toronto, ON ? M6K 2B2 ? p: 416 583.4339 ? f: 416 583.4354 www.workmanarts.com

A Proud partner with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

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