Arts: The Other in Mother 29/01/18
The Other in Mother is a visual arts project we are running this year to explore the mental health impacts of motherhood – the maternal transition. Arc has commissioned artist Sarah Greaves to research this area, to work with mums and to create a large scale installation which will tour in the Autumn to places including Leeds, Manchester and Crewe. We are passionate about the benefits of creativity and the arts to vulnerable mums’ mental health and this a great opportunity for Arc to reach beyond Stockport and connect with perinatal mental health networks across the North of England with support from Arts Council England, Manchester Art Gallery and the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation.
Click to visit www.TheOtherinMother.co.uk | Click for more about the upcoming seminar “The Role of the Artist in Perinatal Mental Health”
I am delighted to have been commissioned by Arc for the project ‘The Other in Mother’. I‘m currently in the research stage, and I have met with some fascinating specialists and academics from perinatal psychology, women in work, midwifery and counselling, seeking out the theory of what happens to women during the transition into motherhood and the shift in their identities.
I’m currently working with a group of wonderful mums who have all experienced mental health issues, exploring their personal experiences through art and creating a visual language for the issues women face.
We visited Manchester Art Gallery in January to explore the theme of motherhood in their collections with the Head of Learning, Children and Families.
The women have been extremely generous in sharing their thoughts, and have created some amazing and thought provoking pieces at Arc’s studio that will feed into ideas for the installation. It’s a very exciting project and I’m honoured to have been commissioned by Arc to make work that will hopefully open conversations and explore mental health issues for mothers further.
by Sarah Harrison Greaves, lead artist
by Jacqui Wood, artistic director, Arc
