PRIMAL MENTAL HEALTH PRODUCTION ASSOCIATION
Methodology
Since it’s inception PMHPA has been conductinga broad based survey of individuals with a history of severe and persistentmental illness and has integrated them into it’s activities as participantsin general creative expressions predominantly in music, poetry and art.
It has become clear that one of PMHPA’s uniqueness lies in the mix ofthe personnel and participants. It is an integrated society taking in theentire bell curve of mental health\illness and participants:- those whohave illness and those who do not , so called normals, and professionalsfrom the arts and mental health industry.
Hence, from this mix comes our concept of "Partnerships in Progress".
PMHPA has the purpose of making productions out of the mix of the combinationof amateur, professional, able and disabled performers coming togetherin the common interest of a particular reverence for poetry, music andfine art. It is in the creative arts that the mentally ill come from aposition of strength. Many of our cultures creative arts icons are beginningto publicly disclose their own excursions into mental illness.
The idea is to achieve. The achievements are expressed in products manufactured,published, or performed. The achievement lies in the creation of products.A tangible product one can hold in their hand like a cassette tape or abook or a painting for the wall. Products are only achieved by going througha production process .
The process includes funding, running a non profit society, programimplementation, board meetings, committees, renting performance spaces, running an office, managing volunteers , buying equipment etc. etc. etc.PMHPA is a production society and as such its position is unique and itfaces extra ordinary challenges. The principal challenges are to evolveart to production capabilities, and to develop distribution in a culturalclimate where all but the strongest artists in Canada are encounteringeconomic hardships not seen since the 1930’s.
It can not be emphasized enough that PMHPA’s constituents are of threetypes. People who are clients of the mental health industry and are consideredto be chronic, persistent, and severe. The jargon for these people usedby the industry is “consumers”.
We also attract amateurs and professionals in the arts and mental healthindustry and the mentally able. These people tend to be seen as eithercontractors or volunteers. They tend to be seen as helpers. There is alsoa gray murky area in which we are involved with people.
This grey area invoolves people who are not diagnosed and do not atall fit the description of “consumer” nor are they professionals but ratherseem to be in somewhat of a crack and may be gathering information aboutwhich way to jump. Manyhave severe housing problems and can be sad to be“part of the street. They too are part of why we are here. They providesocialization, talent, and in some cases real help. They have come to bereferred to as “in the gate”. This is our mix and in this mix lies thetrue uniqueness of PMHPA.
Artists in Canada tend to do three main activities. They perform, (doart), teach, or create products relating to the subject. Consequently PMHPAought to gravitate it’s programming to reflect those activities.
Hence, a performing environment is maintained, ( e.g. the coffeehouse)a teaching environment is constantly available (the office) and productioncapabilities areon hand (Currently contracted out).
At the time of this writing PMHPA is leaning into six main programs.Music, Writing, Fine Art, Drama,Video and Telecommunications. These arethe programs we are encouraging at this time by bringing on board a numberof “professionals” to teach and start a secondary phase of program developmentwhich amounts to a “special needs art school".
Video documentation is a constant and necessarily ever presentneed. We rely upon video documentation to project the reality of the Who,Where, When and How of what we are doing . We use it as a tool to transmitknowledge of our activities and to interest new people in our activities.
The primary objective PMHPA's artistic direction is to increase theknowledge base regarding the needs and possibilities for creative expressionthrough a variety of performing arts for people who have mental disabilities.This includes an increase in the knowledge about the process of providingaccess to healthy creative expression for this group. Secondary objectivesare to increase the access to creative expression for the project participantsand to heighten public awareness about the possibilities for and benefitof creative expressions for people with mental disabilities.
The biggest problem we have in developing our work is stigma. We areconstantly surprised at how many good hearted, well meaning people thereare out there. People ready, willing and able to make humanitarian gestures.However, We have seen it go cloudy when the subject of mental health comesup. Something about the ground is a little too shaky to stand on. Thisis truly unfortunate but is definitely part of the landscape. It’s as ifthe culture is in denial of the immensity of mental illness and it’s impacton families and society in general.
Criminal actions are probably less stigmatized then schizophrenia. Advocatingthe true statistics, history, and the state of affairs in contemporaryCanadian culture regarding the nature of mental illness is a vital partof PMHPA’s direction. And if it can be done in terms of philosophy, poetry,fine arts and music all the better. Indeed as productions begin to unfoldwe are evolving PMHPA anthologies.
Through this work much is learned. There is also another objective ofthis direction - to pass some of this information on to those who wouldpursue similar activities, in the hopes that their efforts may be encouragedand facilitated. To that end everything we do is as well documented aspossible so at some later time steps can be retraced and the achievementcan be dissected and analyzed from any point of view.
Distribution is the blight of every recording artist in the world. Postmoderncompanies take over virtually all of the distribution networks and thereis little if any opportunity for a poetic community to find any space “onthe shelf”. If you find this cynical scan the thirty five radio stationson the dial and try and find anything that is not either nostalgic or corporate“made for the media “. There is practically no space at all for what couldbe loosely called art or personal expression. Ironically as the world recedesinto a virtual market that demands to be catered to in every way a newdistribution system moves into play. Internet with it’s WorldWide Web. To this end we are taking the processess and achievementsof PMHPA to the World through the Internet.
