The Fifth Exeter Arts and Therapies Conference
'The Spaces Between�.

The Fifth EATc conference continued to build on our vision of bringing together a diversity of speakers and participants from across the arts in health. Our aim is to encourage good practice, to expand theoretical horizons and to provide a networking hub for arts and health activity in the Southwest.

The sponsors.

We were delighted this year to have been able to attract an equal diversity of sponsors for the event. The Champernowne Trust for Psychotherapy and the Arts have generously supported the whole conference series so far, and continued to do so. Arts Council England also gave generous support, and Devon Partnership NHS Trust provided support in the form of subsidising places for Trust employees, carer and service users. ( This funding was spread between seven participants: one carer, three service users and three mental health workers. We were pleased with this balance.). The British Association of Art Therapists helped with publicity and mailing costs, and Insider Art loaned large amounts of time to the project. This �panel� of sponsors together reflect Arts psychotherapy, Art practice, Health service delivery, Professional Association and a local practice and training resource.

The participants.

Participants, (63 in total), came from an extraordinary spectrum of contexts. People travelled from as far afield as Edinburgh to attend the event. The participants list was in itself a useful resource, according to the feedback. Many of the participants themselves straddled different fields. For instance of the eighteen people who primarily identified themselves as working in mental health, 10 also identified themselves as working with art. Similar overlaps presented themselves between art education and mental health, (4), and art making, art education and Art therapy, (9). As well as these main groupings, we were pleased to welcome delegates working in Music Therapy, Psychology, Arts Council England and doctors. The event was oversubscribed by about 15%.

The presenters and presentations.

The participants had been attracted by presenters who are all leaders in their fields: Christopher Gardner Thorpe as Consultant Neurologist, Caryl Sibbett at the fore front of Art Psychotherapy training and research at Queens University Belfast, Sally Weston, developing Art Therapy in neurological rehabilitation, and Amrit and Rabindra Singh from art practice in this country and internationally. The presentations were uniformly excellent. The Feedback showed that each of them was someone's favourite element of the day. Maintaining the focus on the theme and the chairing were also highly appreciated by the participants. The presentations both inspired many participants to develop their own work and practice, and provided much material that not only challenged assumptions, but was at times profoundly moving. The capacity of art making to reach and transform some of the most difficult areas of human experience, and to address some of the most complex areas of ambiguity and uncertainty shone through each presentation, despite the very different angles it was being approached from.

EATc 5 also offered two separate exhibitions of art work: the first by local �Outsider artist' and service user Ronald Henriques, and the second of archive Art Therapy work from the Creative Therapies Service, Exeter. The presence of the art itself was also highly valued by delegates.

The feedback.

The response to the request for feedback was excellent: 83%. We have also never had as many follow up letters and e mails about the day expressing appreciation and making suggestions. The feedback has been carefully analysed, and a full summary made. Participants were asked to rate the event on its relevance and helpfulness to them, whether it was stimulating, what was most/ least useful, what could be improved, and any other comments or suggestions. Some typical (and they really are!), responses:

Relevance.

'Initially I was uncertain if my own art practice approach would be relevant to theme.... I have a good understanding now that it is�
�Very relevant to my work as an artist'
�I appreciated a meeting that underlined diversity and connection�
�Very to my own practice with mental health care and recovery in particular'
'Definitely, for example in relation to mental illness�

Helpfulness.

�Yes. Helped to formulate ideas about how my own art can be applied�
�Yes. Helped to formulate ideas about how my own art can be applied�
�Yes: contacts and people to exchange ideas with�.
�Yes: to meet so many in related disciplines'
'Helped my personal and professional development'
�Yes: inspiring. Something I can put into practice with clients�.
�I will be chewing this over for years to come�

Simulation.

�Yes these speakers have inspired me to think of other starting points for the development of my own art work�
'Very. The cross fertilisation... Was very powerful and creates a network to hold the ideas in place'
�Yes. There is a way to give back to the community...�
�Lots of overlaps... A conference with a difference!'
'Extremely. Each speaker had total command of their area of expertise and put it over in a clear, concise and humorous way�.
'Given me lots of new ideas for self development and training�

Liked/ Found most useful

�All the presentations, and the Introduction which helped to formulate a summary'.
�The amount of breaks, the fantastic lunch, the atmosphere
�The range of angles and perspectives�
'Synergistic approaches'
�Great to have this in the South West�
'Everything was presented at such a high level�
'Loved the format, perfect break timing, really effectively run, no sitting around: liked the chairs conclusions and observations: the participant list was interesting too�

Disliked, least useful.

�I would only have wished for two days, overnight is good for social and play'
�Time went too quickly�
�The presentation that didn�t touch directly on my work: but it they were still enlightening and relevant to other attendees�

What could be better?

�A two day conference'
�NOT a two day conference: too expensive for those of us out of reach of home�
'Practical art making�
�More time�
�There must be something...�

Other comments, suggestions.

�You�ve hit the nail on the head�
�Talks all day could be too much... But the balance worked well. Well done!�
� Brilliant, best one yet: it will be really difficult to beat!�
�Well organised and chaired. I hope I�ll come again�
�You have created a very safe and companionable space for sharing and learning�
�Great day, held my attention throughout/ stimulating and useful to take forward in my work life�
�The exhibitions are very fine. I liked the changes you�ve made, nice balance between size, informality and seriousness of focus�

Conclusion.

The organisers feel that EATc 5 fulfilled its brief to address �The Spaces Between' the mind and the brain, illness and health, the commonalties and differences between �art as art� and �art as therapy', between theory and practice, and between practitioner and service user as joint participants in the human condition. We were delighted that so may delegates at the conference clearly left feeling energised and inspired to develop their own art making, their own mental health work, and their own spirit of enquiry into what is so special about art making, and why it impacts on health, particularly mental health, the way that it can if skilfully facilitated. Many participants delighted in the opportunity to network across disciplines, and some strong alliances were clearly formed. An eloquent testimony to the effectiveness of the EATc events to forge these sort of connections was borne out by the fact that the group initiating an �Arts on Prescription' project in North Devon held their own informal meeting at the need of the conference, the idea having sprung from a presentation at EATc 4.

We hope that the EATc events can continue to be a catalyst for the development of the arts in health, of innovative, informed and high quality art making, and of the arts psychotherapies in the Southwest.

We would like to thank our sponsors, our speakers and our participants for the energy and support they contributed to making this event possible, and to express a hope that we will work together in future as EATc continues to develop.

We will be working on developing ideas for next years event, and as these reach fruition they will appear on the EATc web site.