Innovating Art Community Therapies

<< Background >>The I-ACT project was conceived to address a critical gap in mental health services: the lack of participatory, inclusive, and community-based art therapy initiatives involving people with psychiatric disorders. In Belgium, no precedent existed for a festival of this kind. The project aimed to reduce stigma, foster social inclusion, and empower patients by enabling them to co-create a public event. Professionals lacked structured knowledge and exposure to innovative art therapy practices across Europe. The need to build interdisciplinary and transnational collaborations also emerged as essential to improve care practices and share methodologies. By initiating a participative process from June 2024 onwards—mobilising patients, caregivers, artists, and educators—the project responded directly to these needs, turning creative expression into a vehicle for resilience, visibility, and transformation. The project’s added value lies in bridging the clinical and cultural spheres through artistic collaboration and lived experience.<< Objectives >>The project aimed to reach four interconnected goals. First, it sought to acquire practical and transferable knowledge on how to organize an art therapy festival—a format still inexistent in Belgium. Second, it intended to foster a collective dynamic involving patients, professionals, families, artists, and external partners in a shared creative process, generating meaning and belonging. Third, it aimed to advance the use of art therapy by developing and sharing good practices and promoting therapeutic processes rooted in artistic expression. Finally, the project aspired to reduce stigma surrounding mental illness by increasing the visibility and active participation of people affected by psychiatric disorders. Through a participatory and inclusive approach, I-ACT strived to redefine the role of psychiatric institutions as places of cultural innovation and social connection.<< Implementation >>The project produced a methodological guide for organizing an art therapy festival, co-written with all partners and translated into the local languages of the participating countries. Designed as a practical and inspirational tool, the guide is freely available and intended to support replication by other institutions. The central event, the Saint-Bern’ART Festival, was held on April 8, 2025, and gathered nearly 400 participants, including over 50 contributors (patients, professionals, artists, residents, and international partners from Greece and Denmark). The festival offered more than 40 participatory activities, such as creative workshops, exhibitions, performances, and therapeutic sessions—many co-created and facilitated by patients. It successfully fostered community engagement, reduced stigma, and positioned the psychiatric institution as a space of cultural innovation. Post-festival evaluations confirmed a strong sense of recognition, enhanced professional collaboration, and increased self-confidence among participants.<< Results >>The project generated several concrete outputs. A methodological guide on how to organise an art therapy festival was co-written by all partners and translated into French, Danish, Greek, and English. This guide is freely available and intended to inspire replication in other psychiatric institutions. The Saint-Bern’ART Festival itself, while an activity, also constituted a key output in terms of visibility and public engagement. It led to the creation of over 50 original art therapy experiences, many of which were documented, photographed, or publicly exhibited. Beyond tangible products, the project achieved measurable results: (1) a visible reduction in stigma within the local community, (2) increased confidence and pride among patients and professionals, (3) reinforced interdisciplinary cooperation, and (4) long-term interest in institutionalising creative therapeutic practices. The evaluation survey confirmed high levels of satisfaction and a desire to continue similar initiatives in the future.