AHA! CONNECTS!
November 1, 2023
November is Arts-Health Month, “an internationally-recognized month to celebrate and raise awareness about arts’ contributions to health, healing and wellbeing” (from the former Arts Health Network Canada). This site has a lovely video introducing Arts Health Month: https://capacoa.ca/en/2016/11/arst-health-month-2016/
AHA! has previously celebrated Arts Health Month by offering community playshops (fun, playful workshops), described more fully in the April 15th post. This year, we are excited to be working with a couple of artists on public murals. In October, Fenn Martin, Chair of Antigonish Culture Alive (ACA), announced that this years’ winner of the Town of Antigonish mural competition is Noella Murphy. This year’s theme celebrates the value of arts engagement for personal and community health, in recognition of AHA!’s 10th anniversary. According to the press release, “Noella’s piece blends her botanical paintings with a still-life of ‘Queen Mary’, a revered visual arts teacher and advocate for arts throughout her 100+ years. Mary is seen drawing with others, gathered around a table, visiting, sharing, and creating together. Mary’s age does not impact her enjoyment of community, self-expression, and joy in creating and sharing beautiful work. Her age and community surrounding her at the table are an invitation for any person to gather and celebrate making art together.” We are so very excited to see Noella’s art come to life in the downtown area.
Thanks to ASAP (All-of-us Society for Arts Presentation) and ACA, AHA! has also been given the opportunity to work with an artist-in-residence, Andrea Pumphrey on a second mural. All those who have worked or volunteered with AHA! were invited to a retreat at Fireloch with Andrea this past weekend to share AHA! stories to inform her mural creation. What a fun day – and a lovely way to launch November as Arts Health Month.
The locations of both community murals will be announced in the coming days. AHA! is most grateful to ACA and ASAP for their continued support and is thrilled to have in our community, these very public reminders that engaging in the arts is good for our health.
Art Larks! is now in full swing and seniors across the province are enjoying meeting each other and playing through the arts together. Professional artists and music therapists are facilitating online arts programs twice daily Monday to Friday, including dance, music, poetry, writing, laughter yoga and painting. Any of the program offerings can be joined at any time; choose the arts that you love! If you or someone you know might be interested in accessing this program, even if you perceive there to be barriers to their/your involvement, please email ahartlarks@gmail.com. Check out our facebook page to meet some of the artists and for the fall schedule: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=852719756855998&set=a.473327948128516
The New in Town team’s exciting news is that the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax will be featuring this project
in a series of podcasts. The podcast producer is coming to Antigonish to meet the team in the coming weeks. The radio version of their performance will be aired on CJFX on Wednesday, November 22, at 7 pm. Mark your calendars!
New in Town has also just released a short video of their Guysborough trip, created by David Overmars: https://www.dropbox.com/s/s8m6woaqgcsfeso/The%20New%20In%20Town%20Crew.mp4?dl=0
Promo for New In Town Radio Play
That’s how we are celebrating Arts Health Month this year. And how are you celebrating?