Reflecting on 300 encounters as a Travelling Fellow

How (and why) I visited 40 organisations across 7 cities 

When I returned home last month, I began to worry that I had spent time with an unmanageable expanse of organisations and individuals during my year as a Travelling Fellow, and at the challenge of corralling so much information and thought into a single report. However, on re-reading previous Fellows’ reports, I am reminded that such breadth and intensity is often the nature of a Churchill Fellowship.

A common goal – and purpose – of ‘travelling to learn’ can be to cast a wide net, much wider than is otherwise possible, in order to gather as much relevant first-hand experience and materials from which to select for a ‘deep dive’. It is through this process that focused exploration of selected parts of the whole is permitted. Some of the key lessons came from exploring previously unknown places and practices I discovered along the way. The ability to follow up leads is a defining and useful feature of the Churchill Fellowships that I enjoyed, and exploited. Thankfully I’ve kept a detailed log in an Excel document, recording who, what, how many, the themes, the outcomes, the here, the when, the why.

During my travels, it was not possible to update my blog daily or even weekly, because I was engaged in meetings, observations, or travel every day. Now I am back I am looking forward to unravelling my experiences, and sharing them. Below is a list of the organisations and people who very generously gave their time and insights, for which I am very grateful.

Encounters with hyperlinks will take you blogs I have already posted this year; more are following! My report is available from 2018.

Fellowship Itinery

FINLAND 
Why Finland Features in the Fellowship: Day 1 from Helsinki
Ministry of Education and Culture, Helsinki
Dance Centre of Central Finland,  Jyväskylä | Dementia and Dancing Babies
Clubhouse International, Jyväskylä | Culture Club: “Diagnosis Free Zone” in Jyvaskyla 
TAIKE, Jyväskylä | Modelling Social Change: Arts Promotion Centre, Finland
The Finnish Association for Mental Health MIELI, Helsinki | Nimble Finland: Slot Machine Fund Supports Mental Health
Taikusydän, ‘Heart of Arts’, Turku
Korjaamo Culture Factory, Helsinki, Women Working in Cultural Sectors
Kaapeli Culture Factory, Helsinki
Lapinlahde Lahti Wellness Centre, Helsinki
Piipoo, Tampere
OmaPolku, Tampere
Presentation and open meeting at Tampere Public Library
You Don’t Have Hospital Clowns? You Can’t Be Serious!
Faculty of Art and Design, University of Lapland, Rovaniemi
Music & Health: Lapland’s ‘City Band’ Salaried by Local Government
Jaap Kleevering, Artists in Residence in care homes, Kittila
Ministry of Health and Education, Helsinki

BRUSSELS
Presentation to EU Social Inclusion Group | The Arts Can Foster Healthy Nations: EU Social Inclusion Meeting in Brussels

USA: New York
Fountain House & Fountain House Gallery |Churchill Was a Painter Too: Mental Health and the Arts in New York City
Professor Kimberley Hoagwood, NYU | Creating Healthy Communities: New York University Langone Health’s Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Carter Burden Network
Arts for Health MMU (in NYC on sabbatical)
Ysanne Spevack, artist
Eric Anthamattan, philosopher & lecturer
LAND studio and gallery (League Education and Treatment Centre), DUMBO| The Future Has LANDed: Locating the Artist Before the Outsider
Natchie artist gallery, DUMBO
Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital; NYC Arts in Healthcare Group
Alex Mandl, Head of Operations, Home-based Living
New York Society for Ethical Culture
TeleVisiting for Incarcerated Parents
Carnegie Hall Lullabies Project
Rikers Island: Literacy for Incarcerated Teens with Gigi Blanchard
Dr Baptiste Barbot, Psychology Department, Pace University
GOSO: Getting Out Staying Out, Harlem
The Whitney Museum, Chelsea

USA: San Francisco
Professor Sheri Johnson Berkeley & team, University of California Psychology Department