Creative Approach
The Age
Saturday May 10, 2008
ASK Tim Dakin why he does what he does and the arts access officer will tell you it's because the arts are good for everyone. Since taking up his position at Frankston Arts Centre in 2005, he has encouraged thousands of people to become involved as participants and audience members.
For many it's a small breakthrough during illnesses such as depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, which often isolate their sufferers from the broader community.Mr Dakin's own experiences with depression motivate him to work with support groups and health services for the mentally ill and also to reach out to individuals not formally linked to services.Through a ticket-subsidy scheme, guided tours, specialised workshops and Mental Health Week events, he enables participation in the arts and opportunities for people to make friends and understand they are not alone in facing physical disability, ageing and mental illness."We ran a program through the national seniors association to get people to contact friends who were depressed and people at risk of becoming socially isolated and tell them about our ticket-subsidy scheme. I go out and attend meetings and functions and create awareness of the arts centre and my role. We try to make it as easy as possible for people to come here."We'll work with anyone from six months to 90. We do parent-and-child creative play and art therapy workshops for mums with postnatal depression, and when we stage the comedy festival in May or June it's a great thing to see them coming along with their partners. We run workshops for parents, encouraging them to do creative play with their children, and a visual arts program for people with severe mental illnesses, people with physical disabilities and learning disabilities. This month we will be starting a pilot project with Chisholm TAFE art therapy students doing reminiscence programs for people with dementia."Mr Dakin's love of the arts dates from childhood. He studied drama, dance and arts administration at Deakin University while working part-time for Flim Flam's Singing Telegrams. "I leave it on my CV because it was good experience. I learnt how to work a room, get along with all sorts of people and get out of trouble if I had to. Through school it was my dream to be a performer but at uni I realised I was better at organising things behind the scenes. I love the arts but I realised that you don't have to be on the stage to be creative and innovative."In 1996 he joined the staff of CanTeen Australia, where he had previously been a volunteer running Theatresports, and spent four years working with teenage cancer patients in a number of recreation and co-ordination roles. Jobs with Coonawarra Farm Resort, Amnesty International and Melton and Yarra Ranges councils followed.The Frankston position was funded for three years through the VicHealth Audience Access Scheme. "Working under the VicHealth model of improving mental health and wellbeing by getting people socialising and participating in their local communities has been incredible, and we have a further year of funding from a private philanthropic organisation so we will be able to keep the project going."The program is a finalist in this year's LGPro (Local Government Professionals) annual awards for excellence, and one of relatively few, Mr Dakin says, in Victorian local government with a focus on mental health and the arts. "People at Frankston Arts Centre saw that there were a lot of people who could be accessing the arts and weren't and they were very much aware that the arts are good for people. Now over 2000 people a year access the arts through my role, taking part in a variety of workshops, linking into local theatre groups and coming to performances." -- CAROLYN RANCE
© 2008 The Age
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