Terapia Artis
What is Terapia Artis?
Terapiaartis.fi is a free, safe and anonymous visual art platform for people who share common challenges with mental health. Terapia Artis publishes paintings, drawings and sculptures, both digital and handmade. No registration or fees. No art studies or diagnosis required. The platform offers its users the opportunity to share their own art without much effort.
Terapia Artis – Background
It can be difficult to talk about one’s mental illness, symptoms or thoughts. Feelings and experiences can be complex and difficult to put into words. Visual art offers an alternative way to express these inner worlds. We have learned this from our own experiences, where art has served as a channel for expressing and processing the mind. This realization has been at the heart of our project.
Objectives
The goal is to promote outsider art, to increase the presence of artists in the art scene, strengthen participants’ mental well-being, raise awareness about the positive effects of art on well-being, and encourage discussions about mental health and its importance.
The platform offers also peer support. Users can see the work done by others and realize that they are not alone with their thoughts or mental illness. Art displayed on the platform will stimulate discussions, whether in peer groups or in general, about mental health problems and alleviate the shame associated with them.
The Association
Terapia Artis is a small association that operates from Tampere, Finland, since 2022. At our Association, we always observe the principles of gender equality and non-discrimination.
Our mission is to create a platform that promotes visual art, outsider art and cultural expression, inspiring people recovering from mental health issues to produce visual arts, and to provide a gallery so that they can exhibit their work free of charge, regardless of their age or place of residence.
Outsider art is an art style that has a naive quality and is often done by people who are not trained as artists. Outsider art has its roots in the art made by psychiatric hospital patients from the 19th century.
