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Programs

Mississauga Arts Council is a champion of Arts for Mental Health Programming in Mississauga. Here are some of the programs happening in our city.

Seniors Arts & Music Series (SAMS) – Fall 2024 & Winter 2025

The Seniors Arts & Music Series (SAMS) is a circuit of free in-person entertainment for older adults to participate in stimulating and varied arts classes and musical performances, presented to residents of long-term care and retirement homes in Mississauga.

Funded by the Government of Ontario, presented by Mississauga Arts Council, and organized by Entertainment Unlimited.

“Thank you and MAC again so very much for arranging the workshop – it was such a treat for my clients, and it was so beautiful to see their enthusiasm (and pride in their work!)… It means so very much to me to be able to provide my clients with such impactful experiences, and we so greatly appreciate your support in this! The SAMS project is truly wonderful.

Hospice Mississauga

Magic Monday x ArtsCare with Visual Arts Mississauga – Fall 2024

Visual Arts Mississauga, in partnership with Mississauga Arts Council presents Magic Monday x ArtsCare – a series of wellness-based arts workshops from different disciplines.

Oct 28 – 7-9 PM – Words Are Tools with Susan Ksiezopolski

Nov 4 – 7-9 PM – Inner Selfie with Carla Gonzalez-Casanova

Nov 11 – 7-9 PM – Illustrated Journal with Belynda Wilson Thomas

Nov 18 – 7-9 PM – Movement with Colleen Snell

Nov 25 – 7-9 PM – drumIN Workshop with Sam Liu

Dec 2 – 7-9 PM – Mindful Painting with Karlene Bland

Now I See Me, Now I Don’t – March 2023

Now I See Me, Now I Don’t was a 5-week ArtsCare Program developed and facilitated by Anna Silgardo (Artists in Momentum). Hosted by Polycultural Immigrant and Community Services, the workshops used visual art, creative writing, theatre, and movement to help newcomer women look beyond the reflective surface of the mirror to build their stories.
Now I See Me, Now I Don’t was funded through Mississauga Arts Council’s ArtsCare Program Development MicroGrant.

Wellness Art Workshop Series – March 2023

Alethia Caraccioli, a program facilitator at Visual Arts Mississauga (VAM) developed two 6-week ArtsCare programs, one for adults that ran at VAM and one for youth in collaboration with The Dam. These programs created connections within the group and a safe place for people to share and create freely. Approaching art-making from the lens of care and wellness allowed the process to be more accessible to all individuals regardless of prior experience in art-making. 100 % of Adult Participants found the wellness workshops beneficial to their mental health and well-being and would participate again.

Visual Arts Mississauga’s Wellness Art Workshop Series, led by Alethia Caraccioli was funded through Mississauga Arts Council’s ArtsCare Program Development MicroGrant.

Pocket Art – August 2022

Created and facilitated by Netta Ussyshkin, Pocket Art was a 5-week Arts for Mental Health program. This program took participants through mindfulness exercises and each week featured a different art form – from photography to creative writing to visual art. The program also supported local artists, providing them with paid work opportunities.
Pocket Art was funded through Mississauga Arts Council’s ArtsCare Program Development MicroGrant and generously hosted at Lakeview Discovery Centre in Mississauga.

Other Notable Arts for Mental Health Programs:

The Future of Music and Arts in Medicine and Health (Conference) – Berlin 2024 – IAMM & ISfAM

The Future of Music and Arts in Medicine and Health (Conference) – Berlin 2024 – IAMM & ISfAM

This hybrid event will bring together medical and artistic experts, researchers, practitioners, and students from around the world, offering opportunities for collaboration and networking across conti…

Mississauga Arts Council seeks ArtsCare Program Proposals and ArtsCare Participant Referrals

Mississauga Arts Council seeks ArtsCare Program Proposals and ArtsCare Participant Referrals

Mississauga Arts Council (MAC) is excited to expand our ArtsCare program! We are seeking participant referrals and new therapeutic arts program proposals so that we can expand our ArtsCare programming…

The Ozerdinc Grimes Family Therapeutic Recreation and Creative Arts Program

The Ozerdinc Grimes Family Therapeutic Recreation and Creative Arts Program

Learn about the Perley Health long term care home's Therapeutic Recreation and Creative Arts Program for long term care residents

ART Rx: Here’s why the Mississauga Arts Council wants to start a ‘social prescription’ pilot in Peel

ART Rx: Here’s why the Mississauga Arts Council wants to start a ‘social prescription’ pilot in Peel

From depression and concussion recovery to MS, arts have helped Mississauga residents take back their lives Published on The Mississauga News website on October 7, 2021. When Christine Long learned sh…

Federal election a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fix the mental health system, says CMHA

Federal election a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fix the mental health system, says CMHA

The Canadian Mental Health Association calls on federal parties to ensure mental health care is a top priority in the upcoming election campaign.

Rewiring our brains to understand how art promotes mental health

Rewiring our brains to understand how art promotes mental health

Christine Long's use of visual art to develop new pathways in her brain and her 17 year journey of recovering her physical and mental health.

Ontario Brain Institute: How dancing can boost cognitive health

Ontario Brain Institute: How dancing can boost cognitive health

TVO.org speaks with Sarah Robichaud of Dancing With Parkinson’s about how physical exercise can help the body — and the brain

Mississauga Arts Council receives Ontario Trillium Foundation Seed Grant for new Arts for Mental Health conference

Mississauga Arts Council receives Ontario Trillium Foundation Seed Grant for new Arts for Mental Health conference

Mississauga Arts Council receives Ontario Trillium Foundation Seed Grant for new Arts for Mental Health conference

Art of Wellness Documentary

Art of Wellness Documentary

The Art of Wellness documentary spotlights the important role of the arts and the positive impact that participating in arts-based programming has on our wellbeing, supporting people with high stress,…

Program: Write Around Peel (Writers Collective of Canada)

Program: Write Around Peel (Writers Collective of Canada)

Open workshops where participants create first draft writing. WCC has 6 essential practices that allow our writers the ability to go deep. We encourage authentic writing!

Program: Arts Wellness at SKETFCH (SKETCH Working Arts)

Program: Arts Wellness at SKETFCH (SKETCH Working Arts)

Various food, art, and mental health resources for youth navigating or on the margins of homelessness.

Program: Contagious Cities (Wellcome)

Program: Contagious Cities (Wellcome)

Contagious Cities was an international cultural programme which supported local conversations around the global challenges of epidemic preparedness. The programme was staged across four cities: Berlin…

Program: Artists in Momentum (Artists in Momentum)

Program: Artists in Momentum (Artists in Momentum)

An organization that promotes as as a vehicle for self-care in the workplace and in the community. Provides artists a safe space to express themselves.

Program: Heart House Hospice Programming (Heart House Hospice)

Program: Heart House Hospice Programming (Heart House Hospice)

Heart House Hospice (HHH) initiated our health and wellness program in 2015 with a grant from Baxter International.That grant provided us with the preliminary data to apply to the Ontario Trillium for…