Mental Health Arts Network: Building Structures of Care in the Arts with Tracy Gentles

Information

The Mental Health Arts Network is a new year-round initiative by the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival to bring together a community of artists interested in making creative work about mental health. Over the next three years, we are curating a series of gatherings, each exploring a different topic or theme in partnership with guest experts, while also providing opportunities for artists to meet and talk.

Our second gathering will include a one-hour in-depth workshop by Tracy Gentles, artistic director & CEO of SICK! Festival, called Building Structures of Care in the Arts, followed by an informal chat and networking session.

Tracy will explore how to embed mental health support into the foundations of artistic and institutional practice. Drawing on over 20 years of championing marginalised voices and driving social change, she will share learnings from her work at SICK! and previous roles as founder of The Sick of the Fringe and Something To Aim For. This session will unpack innovative models of care, discuss barriers to sustainable support, and offer practical tools for integrating well-being into creative structures. Participants will engage in critical reflection and collective problem-solving, building new strategies for resilience and systemic change in the arts.

If you would like to hear about future Mental Health Arts Network events, keep an eye on our website, join the festival’s mailing list, or follow us on Facebook or Instagram.

We also recommend Performing Anxiety, our resource for people making creative work about mental health, which includes in depth interviews with numerous experts including Tracy Gentles.