White Coat Black Art CBC, Stories Will be Missed

posted by: Cheryl McLean
Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal

Unfortunate news about the CBC programme "White Coat Black Art" hosted by Dr. Brian Goldman. From what I read, it looks like the show has been cancelled. I have posted about this show before and linked to a podcast interview with Goldman and "Dr. Cunningham" who spoke
about alcoholism, "the God complex" and his own spirituality. Hear podcast with Dr. Cunningham

Recently the show focussed on end of life issues and physician/patient communication.

As described, the programme, " explores the tension between hope and reality: between what patients want, and what doctors can deliver. Doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals explain how the system works, and why, with a refreshing and unprecedented level of honesty."

If you haven't had an opportunity to catch the programme the podcasts are still available at the CBC website.

If you like what you hear send an email to the CBC encouraging them to continue the programme "White Coat Black Art" again in the future.

Wishing "White Coat, Black Art" a quick return to the airwaves.

C. McLean.

Picks from the Bookshelf. New section added at CCAHTE "Crossing Borders" blog

posted by: Cheryl McLean
Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal

Hope you are all enjoying the holiday season! I've added a new section to our "Crossing Borders" blog. Check out the sidebar at the right and scroll down to "Picks from the book shelf" Here you'll find an eclectic collection of a few recommended books. Among them "Performance Ethnography a Critical Pedagogy and the Politics of Culture" by Norman K. Denzin.


(excerpt from the book jacket)
"Performance Ethnography is divided into three parts. Part 1 covers pedagogy, ethnography, performance and theory as the foundation for a performative social science. Part 11 addresses the worlds of family, nature, praxis and action employing a structure that is equal parts memoir, essay, short story and literary autoethnography. Part 111 examines the ethics and practical politics of performance autoethnography anchored in the post 9/ll discourse in the United States."



"For anyone interested in qualitative research and performative social science or ethnodrama in health this book is highly recommended. Dr. Denzin also includes several of his own performance texts in part 11 of the book. They are rich, multi layered and insightful stories grounded in history and personal experience. This is more than a book. It is a gift from one of the world's leaders in qualitative research for those of us interested in writing performances that educate and challenge while advocating for change."

Cheryl McLean, Publisher, Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal (CCAHTE)

(after taking the book out from The University of Western Ontario Library about 20 times, I was pleased to receive my own special copy as a gift for Christmas. CM)

Another gift.
If you haven't already subscribed to The Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal (CCAHTE) you can subscribe without charge with an email to ccahte@cmclean.com "please subscribe". We look forward to hearing from you!

Digital Storytelling, Digital Mythology Offers New Opportunities for Embodied Cultural Learning

Garry Oker

Ancient Mythology Meets Digital Technologies

posted by: Cheryl McLean
Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal

Digital Mythology Progressive New form of Cultural Education, Dreamer's Stories Live for Future Generations

We recently heard from Garry Oker who is a member and past Chief of the Doig River First Nation near Fort St. John, BC.. Garry works in both traditional and modern settings and can speak the Dane-zaa language, facilitating communication between First Nations and an international business audience regarding complex land issues.

He is also a musician and artist who uses digital storytelling and narrative methods in action and practice as a form of embodied cultural learning in education.

In his new collaboration with music producers, video game developers, and animators he will be animating traditional mythological characters into a video game that will teach tribal stories and songs to future generations.

Garry was one of the leaders involved in the Dane Wajich, Dane-zaa Stories and Songs: Dreamers of the Land project which brought together elders, youth and leaders who worked collaboratively with ethnographers, linguists, videographers and web designers to document the history, stories and songs that connect the Dane-zaa people to the land.The theme for this exhibit, “Dreamers and the Land,” was inspired by the return of a Dreamer's drum to the community.

Quotes from the website: “On June 28th, 2005, a group of Dane-zaa elders, young people, linguists, and anthropologists met at our Doig River First Nation's Cultural Centre to plan a website. Chief Garry Oker came to the meeting carrying a drum skin that had been in safe storage in his home for many years.”

“Some of the elders at the meeting recognized the drum as one made by the Dreamer, Gaayea, who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and who was a teacher for Charlie Yahey. They remembered stories about Gaayęą's life, and the story of his death. Dane-zaa Dreamers like Gaayęą received songs from Heaven in their dreams and often drew maps of their visions on tanned moose hides and on the skins of their drums. “

Garry’s work, sharing the stories of the Dreamer’s songs, continues today through digital technologies.

In our recent communication he reports, “I have recomposed traditional Dreamer’s songs while maintaining the original structure, melody and rhythm as narrative melodies to encapsulate the essence of the Dreamer’s Story. The Dreamer’s songs will be retold through animated characters (swan people) transported from ancient times into a video game to develop a multicultural perspective while simultaneously respecting traditions and shaping the future. These animated swan people will help others imagine, observe, imitate and practice Dreamer’s melodies in future ceremonies. . Dr. Gregory Cajete has written in his book “Look to the Mountain” that “tribal myths contain tremendous potential for illuminating the education of both the individual and the community through creative, linguistic and visual forms that are emotionally affective for members of a tribe.” (1994, pg. 115) I believe my research and development work in digital mythology will help traditional people to continue to learn about themselves through a critical analysis of the sharing of tribal knowledge.”

“I have many stories that require translation and I am willing to work with educators who want to push the boundary of learning using multiple disciplines. My goal is to transport ancient characters from stories and make them come alive through interactive learning workshops.”

Garry Oker recently presented his research “Digital Mythology” at the World Indigenous Education Conference in Melbourne Australia.

Visit his website

Visual Sociology, Participatory Video and Photography Methods Used in Research

I connected recently with The International Visual Sociology Association and discovered The Visual Voice Project by Vincent O'Brien, Principal Lecturer in Public Health at The University of Cumbria UK. The group works with communities using participatory video and photography methods in research and for community development.

The very comprehensive Visible Voice website shares information and video excerpts of the work in action and practice.


See video here

more info here

"Don't follow your dream. Live it...."

Ted Rogers, Canadian communications icon and creative visionary
1933-2008
Died Dec. 2, 2008

See interview Ted Rogers Indigo Entrepreneur Series at Youtube

Beatboxing Flute and Cello, Cool Music for a November Night

Featured artists:

On a cool night in late November I bring you the beatboxing flute and cello of Greg Patillo and Eric Stephenson at the Union Square subway station in New York City. (first film clip by Taiki Sugioka)

check these guys out at:

Youtube

and more here! Bravo!

hope you enjoy their music as much as I did! Definitely different and crossing musical borders classical/jazz.
CM

More info below:

"Greg Pattillo and Eric Stephenson define themselves as “acoustic instrumentalists” which, incidentally, is a “nice broad genre.” Avoiding confinement, the duo slide from classically inspired music to rock rhythms and even to some hip-hop "flutations". Greg, A.K.A. Beatboxing Flute, comes from Seattle and started flute lessons in the fourth grade. Although a righteous soul, he admits that he works for the man when he’s not playing music and laments that a person has “gotta get health insurance somehow.” Eric, a full time musician, hails from Kentucky. Initially starting on the violin, Eric decided at age three that he preferred the cello....Greg explains the market economics driving their musical innovation: “people pay for what they like." Eric and Greg’s Influences – Charles Mingus, Gustav Mahler, Led Zeppelin, Ludwig Van Beethoven

You can book them for a gig info:

Greg: Pattillostyle@gmail.com

Eric: Celloeric@gmail.com

Thanks to Concretebeat for the above description.

Shanghai World Expo 2010 Call for Canadian Artists

Shanghai World Expo 2010

As part of the 2010 World Expo that will be held in Shanghai, China, from May 1 to October 31, 2010, Cirque du Soleil is pleased to be the producer of the cultural program for the Canada Pavilion.

Under the theme "The Living City: Inclusive, Sustainable, Creative," the program will include works and productions in fields as varied as dance, music, theatre, literature, visual arts and media arts.

To reflect the dynamic nature of Canadian culture, Cirque du Soleil would like to invite emerging and renowned artists and creators from across the country to apply to take part in the Cultural Program. The application process will take place from October 27 to December 15, 2008. The Canada Council for the Arts will join Cirque du Soleil in the evaluation and selection process.

More Info:

Fifth International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry

The Fifth International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (QI2009)

ADVANCING HUMAN RIGHTS THROUGH QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

The Fifth International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry will take place at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign from May 20-23, 2009.

The theme of the 2009 Congress is “Advancing Human Rights Through Qualitative Inquiry.” This theme builds on recent human rights initiatives taken by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Education Research Association, previous Congresses, as well as the American Anthropological Association, the American Psychological Association, The American Nurses Association, the Center for Indigenous World Studies, Scholars at Risk, and the Society for Applied Anthropology.

It is clear that in these troubling political times qualitative researchers are called upon to become human rights advocates, to honor the sanctity of life, and the core values of privacy, justice, freedom, peace, human dignity, and freedom from fear.

Sessions will take up such topics as: the politics of evidence; alternatives to evidence-based models; mixed-methods; public policy discourse; social justice; human subject research; indigenous research ethics; decolonizing inquiry; standpoint epistemologies. Contributors are invited to experiment with new methodologies, and new presentational formats (drama, performance, poetry, autoethnography, fiction). Such work will offer guidelines and exemplars showing how qualitative research can be used in the human rights and policy-making arenas.

excerpt above from the website.

Visit the website for more information.

Metis Artist Gives Life to Knowledge Builds Bridges to Understanding

Art by Leah Dorion


We were pleased to receive news today from Metis artist and educator Leah Dorion from Saskatchewan.

"I would like to be placed on your subscription list. I am currently doing a study on the impacts of arts based learning on First Nations and Metis students at the Saskatchewan Urban Native Teacher Education Program. I am a practicing visual artist."

Above you will see a sample of Leah Dorion's work called, "Givers of Life" which was recently commissioned by The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada. The painting was created to celebrate their programme while symbolizing the power of women to give life to the next generation.

Leah views her Metis heritage as a unique bridge for knowledge between all people.

She describes her painting, "Givers of Life",

"The woman of many different cultures all stand under the sacred tree of life holding and nurturing the babies. The midwives and grandmothers are visually represented to acknowledge their important role in bringing forward new life and supporting the mothers. The roots of the sacred tree provide the women with the strength and grounding and fortitude to stand strong.
The large sun in the background represents the "hope" and "warmth" that is a foundation for the work that the society undertakes with its work with the world's women." Leah Dorion.

Click here for more information about Leah Dorion and her work.

Centre for Urban Health, Arts informed Research, Body, Technology, Installations Featured at Seminar Series

Environmental Health Justice in the City

2008-2009 Seminar Series

Arts-Informed, Embodied Research Installations

Presenter: Dr. Geoffrey Edwards

Nov. 13th, 2008 from 2pm‐4pm

University College Room 248 - University of Toronto

St. George campus (15 King’s College Circle)

Free!

Beginning with some concrete examples of Resonant Installations currently under development, we shall explore some of the underlying principles concerning embodied experience and visceral knowledge; talk about technology toolkits that support the work, and do"body‐storming" exercises that favor the development of transformative design principles. The seminar will be a mix of theory, embodiment exercises and a practical work focused on installation design.

Geoffrey Edwards is a senior scientist who has long worked at the interface between disciplines. Since being awarded the Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Geomatics in 2001, he has concentrated his efforts towards the elaboration of cognitively‐informed tools for situating the body in space.

For the past five years, Dr. Edwards has been working with a performing artist, Ms. Marie Louise Bourbeau, on the development of new media installations that explore the body in space as it relates to issues and challenges in physical rehabilitation and public health.

These Transformative or Resonant Installations explore visceral embodied experience as it relates to personal identity and a sense of personhood.

Dr. Edwards has led several major initiatives in collaborative research over the years, including roles as director of the Centre for Research in Geomatics at Laval University and of the GEOIDE Network of Centres of Excellence.

More information:

Faculty Position Art Education

The School of Art & Design in the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University invites applications for a full-time tenure-track faculty position in art education, beginning Fall 2009.

Students in Art Education at Syracuse University are dually enrolled in the College of Visual and Performing Arts and the School of Education. Syracuse University Art Education degree programs are in the midst of a transformation aimed at rapidly increasing the national status and
international reputation of our department. Art Education degree programs provide students with a professional expertise in the development of arts-based and design-oriented curricula linked to national and New York State learning standards for the visual arts, while promoting multiliteracies, inclusivity, critical inquiry and social responsibility.

Given the emerging importance of the arts in University K-12 urban education and community initiatives in the Syracuse and Central New York region, we seek a new faculty member with expertise in arts education pedagogical strategies and a dynamic and innovative research profile
that augments and enhances the current strengths of our faculty.

Applicants must show evidence of an active and promising research and/or artmaking practice, as well as an established and ongoing record of publication in peer-reviewed journals.

For complete information and to apply for this position visit https://www.sujobopps.com

"Curiosity did not kill this cat."
Studs Terkel
May 16, 1912 - October 31, 2008.

Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival in Toronto November

photo from the website at http://www.rendezvouswithmadness.com/

Rendezvous with Madness

November 6 - 15
Toronto, Ontario
Info: 416-583-4339

Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival is an annual film festival that presents features and shorts touching upon the facts and mythology surrounding mental health and addiction. Each program focuses on a different theme. Post-screening panel discussions involve filmmakers, artists and people with professional and personal experience with mental illness and addiction.

See the programme here

and I've included for you below a link to an animation created by Henry Banger Benvenuti
"Rendezvous with Madness" produced in 2006 by Workman Arts...
front row seats at Youtube
see it now here

and visit the artist's website here

Johnny Saldaña New One-Man Autoethnodrama "Second Chair"

I had an opportunity today to connect with Johnny Saldaña Professor and Associate Director, Katherine K. Herberger College of Fine Arts, School of Theatre and Film, Arizona State University, Tempe. Johnny is the author of the book, "Ethnodrama: An Anthology of Reality Theatre" , and is considered a leader in North America in the research based theatre genre "ethnodrama". We are pleased to inform you about his newest autoethnodrama project, "Second Chair". CM

Johnny Saldaña at Arizona State University (ASU), developed a 30-minute, one-man autoethnodrama titled "Second Chair," which explores the reminiscences by an older adult of his high school band years and his quest to become first chair clarinetist through an epiphanic challenge.

The play is a metaphor for the feelings of lesser status experienced by the marginalized individual in a competitive mainstream society.

The play was commissioned for performance at the second annual Narrative Inquiry in Music Education conference in February 2008 at ASU. Since then, Saldaña has performed the piece for a Phoenix valley LGBTQ youth group, and at the September 2008 Seventh Qualitative Research Conference in Health and Social Care at Bournemouth University, UK. He has also been invited to present "Second Chair" as the keynote address for the Arts and Learning Special Interest Group meeting at the April 2009 American Educational Research Association conference in San Diego.

The full play script and related commentary will appear in a future issue of the journal "Research Studies in Music Education."

Photo Gallery October

For me, photography is art and therapy...a chance to get out in nature and observe my surroundings closely. It's good medicine. The first 3 are from a series called "the blue egg", and below a few others.

All photos copyright c. mclean

the first photos were reflections through a coloured glass ball, I like the
dreamlike quality of the shots viewers can fill in their own stories, next
the Dahlia has the painted, surreal quality I try for, next what I call a "found" visual metaphor a natural reflection on the pond which for me immediately suggested childbirth..even the small roundish reflection in the lower left corner looked a bit like an infant's face, 2nd photo from left I came across a pile of recycled scrap at the local dump...the horse, a memory of childhood, reluctant to go, has its own story to
tell, photo 3 the wedding chairs found lined up "the morning after the wedding" at Elora Mill, next leaves in water, leaves in mud and a feather floats by..a bit of fancy.

Digital Arts and Humanities Conference

CHArt Conference 2008
Seeing.... Vision and Perception in a Digital Culture

November 6 to 7, 2008

The Clore Lecture Theatre

Clore Management Centre

Birkbeck, University of London

Torrington Square, London, WC1 7HX.

"This year's CHArt conference takes seeing as its theme and the associated questions of vision, perception, visibility and invisibility, blindness and insight - all in the context of our contemporary digital culture in which our eyes are assaulted by ever greater amounts of visual stimulus, while we are also increasingly being surveyed, on a continual basis."

"What does it mean to see and be seen nowadays? How have advances in neuroscience or developments in technology altered our understanding of vision and perception? What kind of visual spaces do we now inhabit? What new kinds of visual experiences are now available? And what is lost or no longer possible? How does the increasing digitalization of media affect the experience of seeing? What and who might be rendered invisible by the processes of digital culture? What are our current digital culture's blindspots? What are its politics of seeing? The 2008 conference investigates such questions." (from website, read more here)

Performance and the Global City

ATHE Conference, New York, 2009 Call for Papers
“Performance and the Global City”

We invite proposals for papers investigating the intersections of urban issues and performances of all kinds in cities beyond the Anglophone West. “Performance and the Global City” at the ATHE 2009 Conference in New York City will comprise a series of paper panels hosted across several working groups; papers will not be clustered according to geographic region, but will rather be grouped around the urban policy and culture issues that each addresses. We are especially interested in the relationship among theatre events, both formal and informal, and any number of urban culture issues, including: urban policy (its making and its implementation); civic architecture (both utopic and resistive); discourses of municipal and state power; underground city-building movements; homelessness and other forms of dispossession; racial tensions; other embodied tensions. The panels will ask the broad but focusing questions:

• How does performance intervene in the making of the contemporary non-Western city?
• How is that city “global,” and in what ways do theatre and performance help to shape the understanding of that term, and mitigate its defining tensions, outside of the Anglophone West?
  
  Specific topics to be addressed may include (but not be limited to):
  
  • performance, the urban, and mobility studies
  • border studies
  • east asian urban development
  • utopian architectures in “third world” global cities
  • performance and the Mediterranean city, past and present
  • traditional performances in contemporary urban contexts
  • indigenous peoples and the urban (in both Western and non-Western city spaces)
  • architecture and design for refugee communities
  • the civic impact of civil and global war
  
  Please send 250-word abstracts, a 50-word bio, and your contact information to: dhopkins@mail.sdsu.edu; morr@mail.sdsu.edu; and ksolga@uwo.ca NO LATER THAN 24 OCTOBER 2008. Successful participants will be notified by 31 October 2008.

Convened by D.J. Hopkins, Shelley Orr, Kim Solga

More info about ATHE
http://www.athe.org/about/faq

Americans for the Arts Webinars

Americans for the Arts would like to share with you information about their upcoming Webinars. Webinars are 90-minute online seminars on a current topic, issue, or trend. This new media platform enables a high level of interaction with the presenter, other attendees, and the content. To join a webinar, you will need access to high speed internet and a phone line for at least 90 minutes. Some webinars may have advance reading assignments or post event follow-up items.

In early October Americans for the Arts presented the Webinar "Creative Aging the Untapped Demographic" with presenters Gay Hanna and Susan Perlstein, National Centre for Creative Aging.

Here are just a few of Americans for the Arts upcoming Webinars:

• Leadership Succession in the Arts
• Public Art for Administrators
• New Technologies for Professionals Networking in the Arts
• Secrets of Success in Rural Arts Communities

and more see http://eo2.commpartners.com/users/afta/

Americans for the Arts is the leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in the U.S.

Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Congress 2009

Mark your 2009 calendar for:

The Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences

Congress 2009

Carleton University, Ottawa

May 23 to May 31, 2009

"Capital Connections Nation, Terroir, Territoire"

See more info here

Arts and Science Converge Through Dance, Ferocious Beauty: Genome

I would like to share with you today a video of the presentation about the performance by Liz Lerman' s Dance Exchange troupe exploring knowledge of the human genome through dance, "Ferocious Beauty, Genome". This presentation describing the performance process took place through Case Western Reserve University at the Renaissance Hotel on May 2, 2008. CM

From Youtube:
"Choreographer Liz Lerman discussed and showed excerpts from her highly acclaimed performance project, Ferocious Beauty: Genome. From folk tales to scientists as choreographers, the piece takes an unconventional look at the nature of the genome and its impact. Lerman asks tough questions about the ethical, legal and social implications of genomics: ....If we have the capacity to select what we want in our genes, what will happen to diversity? If perfection is possible, who decides what it is? "

"The development of Ferocious Beauty: Genome initiated an unprecedented collaboration between dance and science, as the Dance Exchange partnered with a group of scientist and humanities scholars from institutions such as the University of Chicago, University of Illinois and Princeton and Stanford universities, as well as Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the National Institutes of Health and the Genetics and Public Policy Center. Many of these advisors appear in the performance in videotaped interviews, representing viewpoints on the uses of genetic research that range from curing disease to maintaining bio-diversity to fighting terrorism.
Dance Exchange members and scientists learned from each other as the work evolved. Scientific collaborators provided accurate and objective information and the Dance Exchange filtered the information through their methodology for making dances, a process in which the company members engage as full collaborators."
above quote from Press Release


Sit in on this interesting lecture with video clips from the performance.Front row seats now at Youtube:

Watch it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF_JYiPQToU

More info at: www.danceexchange.org.

AERA 2009 Meeting Announcement, ABER Dissertation Award

2009 AERA (American Educational Research Association) Program Theme

Disciplined Inquiry: Education Research in the Circle of Knowledge

"At a time when knowledge creation and use requires spanning boundaries between academic disciplines, education researchers can take pride in their long tradition of multi-disciplinary work. AERA's 2009 annual meeting will celebrate this tradition, and look ahead to assess new ways that education research and disciplinary inquiry might be more effectively integrated.

The 2009 annual meeting will be an opportunity for renewed discussion and expansion of the role of education research as a hub of interdisciplinary scholarship. Special attention will be paid to proposals for papers and sessions that demonstrate the value of interdisciplinary research, the significance of multiple methodological perspectives, and interactions between education and its sister disciplines in the sciences and humanities."

For more information see


2009 ABER Dissertation Award at Masters and Doctoral Levels

The Arts Based Educational Research (ABER) special interest group for the American Educational Research Association (AERA) would like to announce its sponsorship of the ABER Outstanding Dissertation Award for the best Doctoral Dissertation that explores, is an exemplar of, and pushes the boundaries of arts based educational research.

The award is intended for students who have graduated in the year preceding the award. One award will go to a Doctoral student.The winner will receive an "Outstanding Dissertation" award at the ABER business meeting at the 2009 AERA annual meeting. The winner will also be invited to present highlights from their dissertation at this meeting.


more news about this award

Arts Cuts in Canada an Issue, Think, Discuss, Vote!

We received this message by way of the Candrama list serve on behalf of Bruce Barton, University of Toronto, CM

The Arts and Election 2008: A Call for Educator and Student Engagement

The upcoming federal election on October 14th will be an important one for many aspects of Canadian society. Health care, the environment, and the economy are major areas of focus. Another topic of considerable controversy -- if limited general public attention -- is the range of changes the current government is making in terms of arts funding. A variety of programs, primarily related to the touring and showcasing of Canadian artists abroad, are being cut or significantly reduced. Both the nature of the cuts and the ways they are being implemented have proven to be the subjects of often heated debate.

It is not the place of educators or educational institutions to endorse specific political parties or politicians, nor to impose particular ideological positions on students. It is entirely fitting, however, for educators to encourage their students to be informed and socially engaged. The undersigned wish to encourage all citizens of voting age to explore the information available regarding these policy changes as they relate to the place and potential of the arts in Canadian society, to consider it carefully, to discuss the issues with others and ask related questions of their local candidates, and to express their position on this topic, among the full range of relevant issues, through their constitutional right to vote on October 14.

The short of it for Canadian arts educators: encourage your students to get the facts, think about them, talk them up, and vote.

Bruce Barton, Toronto
Pil Hansen, Toronto
Stephen Johnson, Toronto
Ric Knowles, Toronto
D.D. Kugler, Vancouver
Glen Nichols, Moncton
Shelley Scott, Lethbridge
Guillermo Verdecchia, Toronto
Jerry Wasserman, Vancouver

Arts Informed, Community Based Research

Arts Informed, Community Based Research, Stories for Change

Homelessness and Solutions from Lived Experiences is a collaborative exhibit of eight participatory, arts-informed, community-based research projects featuring stories about people at risk of or with experiences of homelessness. A report synthesizing shared findings and recommendations will be released at the Launch. The exhibit will be on display on Tuesday September 30 to Friday October 3, Toronto, Metro Hall Rotunda, 55 John St. See the PDF here

These projects were conducted by peer researchers, community agencies and academics working with people with experiences of homelessness. Together, these works represent an important body of evidence on the lived experiences of homelessness.

Street Health Stories will be one of the presentations featured.

About Street Health Stories.

"In 1986 a group of homeless people in Toronto met to discuss health care issues they were facing. They felt discriminated against within the health care system, and given their circumstances they were often unable to follow prescribed treaments. The group identified nurses as the people they would feel most comfortable going to for health care.
Upon learning of the initial discussions, a group of volunteer nurses opened the first Street Health nursing station in September, 1986 at the Toronto Friendship Centre drop-in, in the All Saints Church at Sherbourne and Dundas. Other nursing clinics followed, located where homeless people congregated, in order to provide hands-on health care and assistance in accessing and navigating the existing health care system."
From http://www.streethealth.ca/aboutus.htmtm

Street Health Stories, Picture of Homelessness in Toronto

"Street Health Stories is an NFB Filmmaker-in-Residence project.The exhibit was sponsored by Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital. Street Health Stories opened alongside the release of the Street Health Report 2007, which reveals a picture of homelessness in Toronto that demands immediate action. Community-based healthcare organization, Street Health, surveyed 368 homeless adults in Toronto about their health and access to health care. The Street Health Report 2007 presents the findings.

The National Film Board of Canada’s Filmmaker-in-Residence program presents the Street Health Stories installation which gives a human face and voice to Street Health’s statistics."

Photo and info from http://www.nfb.ca/filmmakerinresidence/blog/?page_id=87

See Youtube video clip from "Street Health Stories"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-omQ5rr3GUk

See Homelessness and Solutions from Lived Experience PDF Flyer

Homelessness and Solutions from Lived Experience Presentations and Exhibit, Toronto

The exhibit will be on display from Tuesday, September 30, 2008 to Friday, October 3, 2008.

Read this post for more info:

http://ccahtecrossingborders.blogspot.com/2008/07/homelessness-and-solutions-from-lived.html

That's My Time, Canadian Comedy Writer and Comedian Irwin Barker Chronicles Journey with Cancer

A reminder to our blog visitors to catch the special "That's My Time" featuring Irwin Barker on CTV, Saturday, September 27 at 7:00 p.m.

Below an excerpt from the post at CTV.ca

"You have just been diagnosed with terminal cancer and given one year to live - what do you do? If you are Canadian comic icon Irwin Barker, you set out on a courageous and inspirational cross-country comedy fundraiser tour for cancer research. Shot by award-winning Halifax filmmaker Adamm Liley, "That's My Time" chronicles the past year of Barker's journey with cancer, revealing a man's determination to find hope and humour in the gravest of human situations. "
(read more here)

If you would like to inquire at CTV about a tape of the programme information here.



See Toronto Star article here.

I hope you had an opportunity to see "That's My Time" last night. I found it inspiring to learn how Irwin Barker has used creativity and humour as a hopeful way to live with cancer. Comedians from coast to coast came together to support the man who has been a mentor to many of Canada's best up-and-coming comics. Barker has used the story of his illness as material for his cross country tour and raised 50,000 for cancer research. CM

New York University Drama Project Recruiting for Participants

A notice today from Joe Salvatore, New York University:

Recruiting Participants for New Drama Project About Class and Socioeconomic Status

I am writing to ask for your assistance in recruiting potential participants for a research project that I am conducting on class and socioeconomic status.

I am inviting NYC-based participants to take part in an interview theater project to learn more about how people living and/or working in New York City feel about class and socioeconomic status. I am the principal investigator, and I'm working with a team of nine student researcher/actors to create the work. Following the interview process, we will create a performance script from the interview transcripts, and "The Class Project" will be presented as a theatre piece in the fall mainstage slot for the Program in Educational Theatre at the Steinhardt School.

The performance dates will be October 24-November 2, 2008.

Contact: Joe Salvatore, Teacher, Program in Educational Theatre

New York University at 212.998.5266

email: _js1655@nyu.edu_

Caregiving and Alzheimer's Disease, Researchers at University of Toronto Put Caregiving on the Map

Putting Care on the Map
Portraits of Caregiving and Alzheimer's Disease Across Canada

A Research Exhibit

Ardra Cole

and Maura McIntyre

September 22 - 27, 2008
Toronto City Hall

This experiential exhibit features photographic portraits of family caregivers, audio recordings of stories of care and emblems and artifacts that speak of the caregiving experience.

We recently heard from CCAHTE subscriber Maura McIntyre, a researcher at The University of Toronto, about an upcoming exhibit to be held at Toronto City Hall. We are pleased to bring you news today about this arts informed research exhibit.

"We are researchers from the University of Toronto working on a study about caregiving and Alzheimer’s disease sponsored by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. In Putting Care on the Map we are interested in raising the profile of care and caregiving across Canada. The Alzheimer’s Project is a seven-piece art-research project about caregiving and Alzheimer’s disease that pays tribute to those with the illness and those in caregiving roles. One purpose of the exhibit is to make Alzheimer’s disease more familiar to a wide public audience. Another aim is to provide opportunities for those directly affected by the illness to feel affirmed and supported. We used two and three dimensional images and objects to represent, communicate and educate about aspects of caregiving and Alzheimer’s disease, while also inviting the audience to experience and make meaning of the work."

"We are seeking to understand more about the emotional complexities of Alzheimer’s disease and what it means to care. We want to show Canadians where care lives and what it looks like for family members caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease. "Putting Care on the Map" is a tribute to family caregivers and to the worthiness of care and caregiving in general. We invite you to help us put care on the map. "
Maura McIntyre, Ardra Cole

View the PDF invitation to "Putting Care on the Map"

See Video clip
"Front row seats" for Ardra Cole & Maura McIntyre presentation

Visit Ardra Cole's website

CCAHTE. Open Access. Creative Research for the Real World.

Planning a conference?

Invite The Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal (CCAHTE) to present at your event or conference.

Progressive.Open Access. Interdisciplinary. International.

Creative research for the Real World.

We have a story to share.

Design above from http://wordle.net

Suggested topics:

• Open Access Academic Publishing, The Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal (CCAHTE) The story of a Canadian based, international and interdisciplinary open access peer reviewed journal of the arts in health, training and education.
• Creative Research in Action and Practice. Telling Research Stories for the Real World.
• Creative Communication Strategies for Networking and Marketing Your Bright Ideas in the Digital World
• Creative Responses in Death and Bereavement. How a progressive university course using distance education and new technologies helped create a unique community for healing and a place to learn about the many applications of the creative arts in grief, healing and health training.
• Living Stories of Hope and Change. The story of "Remember Me for Birds" a research ethnodrama about aging, mental health and autonomy.

Contact CCAHTE, The Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal at ccahte@cmclean.com or by phone 519-268-8786 for information about these CCAHTE presentations.

Wordle Makes New Creative Connections

To see our CCAHTE Wordle design click
the sidebar to your right under the heading " CCAHTE Wordle."

What a difference a wordle can make. Create some text, maybe a number of words that define a project you are currently working on, or try highlighting some words from a course, a lecture or a speech. Working on your research? Try some "independent brainstorming", list some questions, concepts or ideas. This cool text tool can act as an idea starter or a great launch point for new ideas. Try wordling...I think you'll like it.

From the Wordle website:

"Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends. "

Check out the Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education WORDLE:

A really creative tool. Thanks to Wordle at: http://wordle.net/.

OnTheRoadMedia Penetrating Journalism, Stunning Simplicity, Stories for Change

Photo from OnTheRoad Media site C. McLean

Yesterday I received an email from Laura Lo Forti requesting a subscription for The Canadian Creative Arts and Health Training and Education Journal. As I often do, I checked out the website information provided and found myself at the site of "OnTheRoadMedia" the multi media production and storytelling team founded by Lo Forti and photojournalist Justin Mott.

Laura Lo Forti is an Italian freelance journalism and multi media producer based in New York and is involved in several compelling digital storytelling projects designed to empower

disadvantaged communities. Justin Mott is a photojournalist who currently resides in Hanoi Vietnam. His personal assignments have been featured in "Time", "Newsweek" and "The New York Times". Also part of this progressive media team is Ehrin Macksey who helps handle multi media design for OnTheRoadMedia.

There are three powerful examples of projects available to view at the website;

"Third Generation Agent Orange", "4 Monks and a Baby", "Facing a Wall Nu's Story".

Breaking through the modern day "info overload" with raw and stunning simplicity, this talented team of young and progressive artist journalists have brought to light those stories that seldom have a voice. Moving black and white photography, superb sound production quality reflecting the sounds of the people places and environments, simple facts and statements in white print against a black backdrop drive the story powerfully forward....clean outstanding communicating, cuts to the heart of it. This work can be painful to witness but it is hopeful work. Digital storytelling at its best opening the road for social change. CM

Check out the website here:

See Justin Mott's photoblog .

Narrative and Story Featured in Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal

Photo by C. McLean "Reclamation"

Cheryl McLean

Dr. Rita Charon, Director of Narrative Medicine at Columbia University, an internist and literary theorist, writes; “I realized that the narrative skills I was learning in my English studies made me a better doctor. I could listen to what my patients tell me with a greater ability to follow the narrative thread of their story, to recognize the governing images and metaphors, to adopt the patients’ or family members point of view, to identify the sub-texts present in all stories…any doctor, any medical student can improve his or her capacity for empathy, reflection and professionalism through serious narrative methods of study in reading, writing, reflecting and bearing witness to one another’s ordeals.”

We published an article in the September 2006 issue of The Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal "The Poetry of Practice" written by Maureen Rappaport MD FCCFP, McGill University, Montreal Quebec. She writes about the creative writing course she teaches as an elective to fourth year medical students. The group was created to help offer a safe place for students to express their feelings about their experiences with patients in the hospital. In the article Rappaport writes, "one cannot watch death and suffering and not be touched but these feelings are hard to express, hard to articulate and many times impossible to acknowledge as students run around the hospital not quite sure of what they're supposed to do as student doctors. Poetry offers a language to express the inexpressible. For those who wrote, shared and listened in this context, these moments of bearing witness became medical acts."

In the book “Grief and the Healing Arts” and the chapter, “To Know of Suffering and Teaching of Empathy” by Sandra Bertman and Melvin J. Krant, it is also suggested that creative literature such as fiction and poetry may help “promote a humanistic or empathetic grasp of the hurt and pain that often accompanies illness”.

Narrative and story can offer a place to communicate those difficult thoughts and feelings that may have few other channels for expression. This also holds true for the stories of the caregiver or patient advocate. In our September 07 issue of CCAHTE , we featured an article written by Jadranka Novosel (CCAHTE Publisher's Student Support Program Feature Story pg. 26 - 32).

Jadranka Novosel was 29 when her husband David, 33 years old, died of terminal cancer. She expresses her feelings in the article;

"My entire identity as "the wife of a terminal cancer patient" was gone. My other "selves" as student and employee I had let slip long before. I was an empty shell without the luxury of being dead."

Through this powerful narrative Jadranka Novosel chose to share her personal story with the world as an act of love, recounting her personal experience, as she had lived it, to help others.

She closes with the words,

"in the end, the joy, hope and exuberance I credited to my husband remains alive in me. That I choose to remain is my legacy and the greatest love story of all."

Hope lives through the power of story. Through our work with The Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal there is perhaps no greater goal than to provide an opportunity for a worldwide community to join in the circle and bear witness to the universally human stories we publish, to offer these stories a place and to help in our way to make the inexpressible, expressible.

Full article is available to read at:

http://cmclean.com

September 06 CCAHTE issue

Subscribe free at ccahte@cmclean.com "please subscribe"

Humour in Healthcare

Much has been written about the values of humour for health and healing. It has been suggested that laughter can be a significant factor in the healing process and in pain control.

I recently received this note about Dr. Bernie Warren's upcoming event/workshops from Glenys McQueen Fuentes, Fine and Performing Arts at Brock. CM



Dear Cheryl,

First of all, as a subscriber (to CCAHTE Journal) I want to take the opportunity to send along many thanks for providing such a comprehensive and enlightening journal!! It is a needed and appreciated addition to both theory and practice!

Please find attached a poster (click poster for details) for an upcoming event that we are having at Brock University. As it says, on Friday, Sept. 12th, Dr. Bernie Warren, Director of the Drama in Education and Community Program at the University of Windsor, will give a lecture and extended talk-back on the history, theory and practice of Clown-Doctoring.

Bernie is also an expert in Eastern martial arts, and he will be giving two workshops in Qigong, a healing martial art form. One will be directed mainly at Dramatic Arts students from Brock, but the other, a sit-down stress-reliever, will be conducted for faculty, staff and students from across the university, as well as other interested participants.

More Info:

Glenys McQueen-Fuentes
Associate Professor
Department of Dramatic Arts
School of Fine and Performing Arts
Brock University
email: gfuentes@brocku.ca

Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal (CCAHTE) New Book Review Policy

An open letter to authors, editors and publishers from Cheryl McLean, publisher ,The Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal (CCAHTE)


I am pleased at the number of requests we receive weekly at The Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal (CCAHTE) from authors, editors and publishers requesting book reviews.

At CCAHTE we receive hundreds of requests for book reviews. As we are so frequently approached to review many excellent new books and texts related to the creative arts in health, training and education , and our limited schedules cannot accommodate all of the requests we receive, we have developed a new policy with regard to book reviews.


1. first step, you will be asked to read this post.

2. next, send us a synopsis about your book to ccahte@cmclean.com and link us to any news about it. A sample chapter would be ideal.

3. Based on the synopsis you could be asked to send your book directly to the CCAHTE Office.

A payment by certified cheque or money order of $100 to cover administrative costs should be sent with your package.

C. McLean, Publisher CCAHTE Journal
c/o 165 Huntington Cr.
Dorchester, Ontario
NOL lG3

Once we receive your book we will complete a formal book review. The review will be published in our upcoming CCAHTE, Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal issue in our book review section.

In addition, we will also arrange to publish a summary post about your book at the Arts and Health "Crossing Borders" BLOG at ccahtecrossingborders.blogspot.com. Our blog is accessed daily by international visitors specifically interested in our interdisciplinary field.

Why do we charge a fee for reviews? We are an open access journal available and accessible free worldwide and we do not charge for subscriber memberships or subscriptions. Services such as reviews help sustain our publishing operations.

Background for Editors and Publishers:

Established March 06, CCAHTE Journal is the Canadian based international and interdisciplinary open access, peer reviewed journal of the creative arts in health, training and education. Our ongoing mission is to disseminate quality information and research about the creative arts in action and practice in health, training and education. In addition to our qualified network of professional subscribers, CCAHTE, The Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal, is accessible worldwide and is listed with DOAJ , the internationally recognized directory of academic open access journals.

Our CCAHTE Journal Advisory Board is made up of leading scholars, educators, healthcare professionals and scientists as well as artist/researchers active in the arts, health, training and education.

Who accesses CCAHTE Journal?
Among our "by request" subscribers are physicians, psychiatrists, social scientists, researchers, academics, nurse educators, activists, dramatists, visual artists, music and dance therapists, professional musicians, teachers, adult educators, social workers, mental health professionals, counselors, chaplains, therapists, students as well as those involved in education, health policy and social change... our subscribers also represent universities, schools of education, colleges, leading medical schools, hospitals and health organizations in Canada the U.S. and internationally.
Thanks sincerely to all of you for your interest in CCAHTE Journal. It is very encouraging to know so many new books are being written about the creative arts in health, training and education. This I believe is another important indication demonstrating the worldwide interest in the work in action and practice.

Thanks all and hope you are enjoying these precious summer days in August,

Cheryl McLean, Publisher CCAHTE Journal

Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal

The Canadian based, international and interdisciplinary open access peer reviewed journal of the creative arts in health, training and education.