The specific nature of artistic work exposes those who perform it to many stressors. In recent years, the burden of the Covid 19 pandemic and the complete inability of very many artists to practise their profession has added to the burden of the creative process itself or the stress of performing art. This time has forced many artists to change their profession or focus more on educational activities.
We also have to take into account the fact that most artists and independent arts educators do their work as freelancers or are self-employed. This exacerbates feelings of uncertainty about tomorrow and increases the stresses of functioning in everyday life. Another aspect is that many people in the artistic and creative professions have acquired their knowledge and competences informally and non-formally and therefore do not have the formal training needed to apply for full-time employment in cultural institutions. Nevertheless, these people sometimes have a wealth of experience and professional knowledge to share with others.
In this module, we have approached the issue of well-being, mental health and work-life balance from two perspectives:
as a resource for artists and educators to support their artistic and professional development
as an educational resource that artists and arts educators can use in their work with their mentees.
This module provides knowledge on:
1. How to create and use tools to self-diagnose one’s well-being in the context of the professional work of artists and arts educators.
2. How to prepare a diagnostic tool for your students and mentees.
3. How to counteract your own professional burnout in your artistic work.
4. What techniques and methods to use to maintain well-being in your artistic professional life.
5. What knowledge and methods you can introduce your students to, so that they develop their well-being and work-life balance.
It includes links to further resources and self-assessment questions for you to reflect upon what you have learnt.
Click on the links in the flow chart in the left of your screen to access further Activities and Case Studies
Title | Type of resource | Description | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
Touring and Mental Health | book | This book aims to help musicians to identify, process and manage the physical and psychological difficulties that can occur as a result of touring. | |
Stress and Burn-out | blog article | Case study on how artists cope with stress. | |
Handle Stress During Stressful Times | blog article | Advice on how to counteract stress in artistic work. | https://www.artworkarchive.com/blog/8-ways-artists-can-handle-stress-during-stressful-times |
Artists Mental Health | blog article | Article on how Artists can protect their Mental Health. |
3 Ways to Deal with Overwhelm as an Artist | blog article | Discussion of overload factors in the artist’s work. | https://might-could.com/essays/3-ways-to-deal-with-overwhelm-as-an-artist/ |
5 Ways Artists Can Handle Stress | blog article | 5 Ways Artists Can Handle Stress | https://canvascultures.com/blogs/news/how-to-handle-stress-for-artists |
Mental Health Support | collection of useful links | Examples of activities to support musicians and those working in the events industry on mental health and well-being in UK. |
MalagaJam is a non-profit association whose aim is promoting culture and professionalization of the videogame industry. As its name implies, it’s physically located in Málaga, where we celebrate our events.
MalagaJam was founded in 2015 with the intention of becoming the first Andalusian headquarters of the Global Jam. At the time, there were only 7 members, a number that increased over the years, until we reached our 20 current members – all of them volunteers – which make up our team in 2022.
A Game Jam is an event which normally has a 48 hours duration, where its main goal is to develop a game from its concept to its release. With that in mind, people with all capacities are welcoming. In the end, to make a game it is necessary to write, illustrate, compose or programming skill, among other things. There are those who come with a team, meanwhile others find a new group of enthusiasts to develop a videogame and have a good time during Jams.
Since 2015, MalagaJam celebrates 2 Jams per year:
One at the end of January inside the Global Game Jam frame, and the other one in July taking advantage of the welcoming weather in Málaga. This rhythm, unfortunately, was interrupted by a worldwide pandemic, but got into activities in 2022 thanks to the constant effort and hard work of the whole team. In total, more than 350 games were released from MalagaJam… and increasing!
I am an artist and curator based in Spain and in London. I make paintings of urban life, exploring the social use of public space: how people interact with each other and with their neighbourhood. I have also made paintings of markets in Europe, Latin America and India, and a series of over 70 paintings, A Place to Live, of London’s residential architecture.
In 2016, I began experimenting with inverting colour in my paintings. Initially, it was a protest response to the Brexit vote in the UK. I developed this way of painting further during the Covid lockdown, in a series of “Elegies for Street Life” re-mixing previous paintings of vibrant streets in new inverted colour versions. These, and other paintings are featured on my website.
I regularly collaborate with other artists in curating exhibitions. These have included the touring exhibitions “In the City” (2014/2018) exploring aspects of painting cities internationally and “Where We Live” (2021-23), five artists exploring England’s social landscape in paintings.
Instagram: @trevorburgesspaintings
Website: www.trevorburgess.co.uk
My name is Dimitrios Zervas, I am 32 years old and I am a professional dance judge accredited from the Hip-Hop International Association located in the United States of America.
I started my career at the age of 22 and since then I have been actively participating in national and international dance competitions. For the last 5 years Ι have been working as a professional choreographer in Greece and Ι have been judging national competitions. In 2022 I represented my country, together with my dance crew, at the world Hip Hop International dance championship (HHI) which took place in Phoenix Arizona, USA.
I have collaborated with several greek artists and I have participated in several video clips.
You can find more about me and my team here:
https://www.instagram.com/zervinho7/
I got my university diploma with first-class honors from the painting studio at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow, later I also earned my specialty stage design diploma and I finished my postgraduate studies at the Faculty of interior design and design of the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice. In 2017 I received my PhD at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow and since the same year, I have been an employee of the Faculty of Architecture at the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice.
From 2004 to 2020, I participated as a production designer and costume designer in the production of theater, feature films, shorts films, music videos, commercials, educational films and video art.
I participated in many personal (over 30) and collective (over 270) exhibitions (many times as a curator of the exhibitions also) in Poland, USA, Ireland, England Germany, France, Hungary, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Italy, Japan, Russia, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Belgium, India, Switzerland, Albania, South Korea, Georgia, Jordan, Turkey. Including mailart projects in Spain, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Austria, Argentina, Serbia, Kyrgyzstan, Finland, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and online projects in Australia, Nepal, China, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Bolivia, Egipt, Nigeria.
I was awarded many times in painting competitions and honored with creative scholarships from the City of Cracow and the Marshal of the Silesian Voivodeship.
I’m dealing in painting, scenography, unique fabric and artistic education.
My works are in many state and private collections in the country and abroad.
IG: https://www.instagram.com/iwa_kruczkowska_art/
FB official: https://www.facebook.com/Iwa.Kruczkowska.Galeria
I’m a designer and painter. Graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow and the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan (Department of Artistic Education). I’m a member of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers, awarded a scholarship in culture by the marshal of the Silesian voivodeship as part of which I conducted a multidisciplinary project entitled “Tu odprowadzam wzrokiem słońce_Here I watch the sunset”. My works (painting, own technique) are in a number of private collections in Poland, Great Britain, Estonia, Cyprus, Austria and Germany. I have participated in more than 30 group and individual exhibitions in Poland and abroad. I have carried out a number of author projects including: “La puerta” (Girona, Spain), Danish-Sweden-Norway (Smygehamn, Sweden), POMIĘDZY_BETWEEN (Rome, Italy – Zabrze, Poland), I took part in international art projects including CURATIVE ART (Europe – USA) or SCHOOL (62 artists and 19 organisations from Europe, Africa, South America and Asia participated in this project only in 2015).
I have experience of working in formal art education (as a diploma teacher in an art school), non-formal and informal art education – first of all within the projects and activities of the ARTeria Foundation of which I am president.
Photo: Rafał Siderski
By passion and training – I’m a musician, composer, pianist and music teacher, vocal trainer
By passion and by profession – I’m a mentor, researcher, trainer.
I’m fascinated by the idea of long life learning and the implementation of innovative educational methods for adults, especially in informal and non-formal learning contexts as well as in digital environments.
I’m the creator of mentoring methods for artists and creative professionals that support them in their personal and professional lives in the world of globalisation, digitalisation and postmodernity.
I’m currently working on and implementing transnational educational and cultural projects, mainly financed by EU funds.
I’m a mature male – feminist, vegetarian and environmentalist. In a permanent, happy relationship with a woman. Fascinated by cultural diversity, yet proud and happy to come from and live in Central Europe, whose cultural and civilizational heritage is my inspiration.
Sensitive to the needs of people, animals and the entire planet in the time of crisis.
FB: https://www.facebook.com/WenancjuszVeno
Photo: Rafał Siderski
Tanja Blašković, master of fine arts pedagogy, an artist, currently operates in Rijeka across various artistic domains, including design, illustration, scenography, costume design, street art, plastic art installations, tapestries, applied arts, and informal education. She is one of the editors of the art fanzine “Superkul” and the first Croatian museum fanzine “Beni” (MMSU Rijeka). She is the owner of the sustainable fashion brand “Eston Teco” and a member of the professional association HDLU.
Her artistic work and engagement in informal education are recognized for the use and recycling of plastic as a performance material. Through her work, she places significant emphasis on ecology and concepts such as zero waste art.
