Arts Wellbeing Collective in 2023 – A year of challenges, triumphs and growth
If you’ve found this year challenging, you’re not alone. But amongst those challenges, there have also been triumphs.
Ready to hear some good news about our industry? Read on, because here is what the Arts Wellbeing Collective has been up to this year:
Approximately 200 performing arts workers attended our wellbeing training since it launched in September. That’s 200 of your peers that put their hands up to learn how to take better care of themselves, others, and all the people they work with. All within the past few months.
And this wasn’t just individual commitment. We were thrilled at the initiative shown by the first companies to attend training, among which were The Australian Ballet, Melbourne Theatre Company, Footscray Community Arts, CDP Theatre Producers, Polyglot Theatre and Western Edge, with many more prominent companies are ready to follow suit when workshops recommence on 7 February next year.
Even those that didn’t have the means to attend still indicated their interest in what we do and what we stand for.
We now number almost 2,300 subscribers (including you, wonderful reader!) that we’ve been able to tell about new resources and good happenings, including our favourite free resources we published in 2023.
Resources
A lot of our advocacy occurred behind-the-scenes this year, with us appearing at key industry summits, and pursuing collaborations with arts companies and festivals. While not all our efforts are publicly visible yet, here are the ones that struck a strong chord.
Bite -sized videos about mental health fundamentals featuring Australian performing artists. Watchable and shareable by anyone, anytime.
Nourish your Body for Performance
Developed by lead dietician at the DDD Centre for Recovery, this resource is a supportive, practical guide on how to best fuel your body as a performer.
Myth-busting Eating Disorders in the Performing Arts
This popular webinar by Eating Disorders Victoria attracted over 40 live viewers and is now available to watch or read via transcript.
Developed in partnership with our Lived Experience Advisory Group, our guide for working collaboratively has now been viewed over 372 times.
Support
Conflicts, climate change, social changes, cost of living pressures… on top of work and personal concerns?! There’s been so many reasons why a person might be struggling, so be kind to yourself and others. Our Get Help page has a range of support options we would love for you to explore – you are
not alone.
