"This Is What It Looks Like: Intersections of Art & Mental Health” is an in-school visit program and partnership between the Mead and the Amherst Regional Public School District that combines hands-on art making with Social Emotional Learning (SEL) frameworks to culminate in a group showcase of student-submitted artwork.
When concerns about youth mental health are at an all-time high, this project aims to support teachers’ SEL curriculum by engaging students in embodied and creative conversations about mental health to destigmatize mental illness through discussion and art-making.
The project and curricula are developed and co-taught by Mead Art Museum Educators and Erin Edinson, Clinician at Summit Academy, the therapeutic day school for the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District. Using artworks from the Mead Art Museum Collection to inspire our conversations and delve into an inquiry into how artists use their practice to reflect on emotions and their mental health, students will then engage in a mindfulness inspired art-activity.