On Saturday 29th February 2020, over 70 people attended a sold-out event at the National Gallery in London, to launch edited by Ali Coles and Helen Jury and published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. The audience included museum professionals and arts in health specialists, as well as Art Therapists.
Following a welcome from Anna Murray (Communities and Access Programme Manager at the National Gallery) and Caroline Campbell (Director of Collections and Research), Val Huet (CEO of BAAT) set the context for Art Therapy in museums and galleries. This was followed by four presentations by chapter authors: Helen Jury on Conversations with Rembrandt; Ali Coles on What Do Museums Mean?; Emma Hollamby on Artworks as a Stimulus; and Stephen Legari and colleagues on The Caring Museum. It is hoped that recordings of the presentations can be made available in due course. Nana Zhvitiashvili (Art Psychotherapist), Pippa Beveridge (Artist) and Dr Christina Bradstreet (Adult Learning Programmer, National Gallery) then joined the presenters for a panel discussion, chaired by Val Huet, and the event ended with a drinks reception.