Art as thinking: MA Art Psychotherapy staff artmaking group in the context of the neoliberal university

Abstract

In this piece we present a visual ‘snapshot’ of artworks made in a staff art making group for tutors on the Art Psychotherapy training at Goldsmiths University, London, as we start the academic year 2023-24. In the group, which happens twice termly, the teaching team gather in the studio to talk, make artworks, and reflect on their meanings for the staff group in the dynamic context of the training. Our art making as a team has come to signify a place for critical thinking, connecting, and creating together in a way that feels authentic and that has become an essential part of our cohesion and survival as a team. We decided to show this aspect of our practice to foreground the role of art to think about personal, political, social and institutional dynamics. We believe that the value we place on art making as art psychotherapists can be part of our functioning and resistance in ‘the hostile environment of neoliberalism’ (Skaife and Martyn 2022).