François Leblanc – Contributor 

On Feb. 3, the ART LAB welcomed a new activity: The Wellbeing Art Workshop. This activity explores how expressing emotions, perceptions and bodily sensations artistically can contribute to positive mental health. 

Image courtesy fo Francois Leblanc

The event was hosted by Mikayla Kaminski, a psychology student who taught the attendees not only about art therapy but also about African meditative humming. Admission was open to all students. One by one, the participants introduced themselves, stating the program they were in and why they had decided to come. Students from a variety of disciplines and departments came together through their shared love of art, giving them the chance to meet others with similar interests. A student in business stated that he attended the event since art is his hobby, and he believed this workshop would be a much-needed break from stressful schoolwork. 

The workshop was divided into two activities; the first being blind drawing. To kick the activity off, the participants were blinded with white scarves. We were handed two different coloured pencils to draw figures with their thoughts and movements. There were two large drawing sheets; once participants finished the first, we moved on to the second sheet. The goal of this was to use the experience you learned from the first page on the second one. The participants learned from this experience that all first steps must be taken with experience before growing in their field after graduation in the work market. This activity was a fun and subtle reminder that improving your work skills can be done in fun ways, like through drawing. 

The second workshop was drawing alongside music. One of the musical tracks was “One’s Summer Day from Spirited Away” by Joe Hisaishi. The participants were handed pencils of all types, pastels, ink, wood, etc., to draw whatever their minds conjured. The goal of this exercise was to relieve the stress of schoolwork from people’s minds and serve as a creative outlet to escape academic pressures. 

The workshop concluded with an overview of what this workshop brought into perspective and what it taught. 

Then, all participants did the African humming and repeated words indicating that the person speaking (us) is a radiant being, made of light and well-being. One of the attendees, Mélodie Tardieu, said, “This was a very fun activity that allowed me to reconnect with moments of simplicity. Hope this activity comes back again!”