Mirrors of the Mind 3

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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The Psychotherapist as Artist” celebrates its third year. Organized by The Los Angeles County Psychological Association (LACPA), the exhibit offers a broad range of media with one unifying theme…psychology. Founders, Terry Marks-Tarlow, Ph.D. and Pamela J. McCrory, Ph.D., have invited a select group of working artists and psychologists to juror the exhibition.

“Mirrors of the Mind 3” will include painting, drawing, photography, textiles, sculpture, ceramics, woodwork and other 3-D pieces created by psychologists/psychotherapists, psychology professors, and psychology graduate students. The event has gained national recognition as a project in which psychologists are using art to beautify, educate and strengthen communities.

Assistant curator and co-chair for LACPA, Pamela J. McCrory, Ph.D., offered some insight on the purpose of the exhibit. “The Mirrors of the Mind event reflects our experience that community education through the arts is a powerful and engaging way to fulfill our mission. We believe that art is a universal way to make meaning of our experience, to enlarge our world, to create an opportunity for empathy and to celebrate our shared humanity as well as our diverse perspectives. By harnessing the power of creativity and art, we can educate the public about psychology, mental health and wellbeing. Through the study and clinical use of creativity and the arts, psychologists play a central role in revealing the enormous capacity of human potential.  Art provides the viewer with the potential for healing that can help individuals deal with crises and challenges of life.”

McCrory also explained that creativity in one area often helps to inspire creativity in other area. She continued, “To exercise imagination through the arts goes hand in hand with cultivating openness to experience. Both are intrinsically therapeutic and empowering.  When psychotherapists engage in the arts, we “wash the dust of daily life off our souls” and polish our trade. Psychologist photographers hone their capacity to see; sculptors cultivate their capacity to touch; and painters ripen the inner eye of imagination.  A variety of themes may be expressed through in the art, ranging from loss, social protest, parenting, spirituality and reverence in the human connection with nature. Creativity is an essential quality of healthy personal and professional expression and contributes to the development of those with whom we work and to our professional and personal lives.”

Curator of“Mirrors of the Mind 3” and co-chair for LACPA, Terry Marks-Tarlow is also an artist. “As a therapist, I think the arts are important because creativity is everyone’s highest level of self-expression. It is not essential to express creativity through the arts, yet many people do. Especially during early development, the arts become a primary form of growth. During later stages of life, they are often a way to find new meaning, especially in the face of losses. At all stages of life, the arts are a way to integrate the imagination with reality. They help people to actualize imagination in a way that works alongside reality, as opposed to retreating into fantasy, which all too often serves as a defense against reality.” 

“Mirrors of the Mind 3” opens November 1, with an artist reception taking place from 5 pm to 9:30 pm. Robert Carroll M.D., will host a poetry reading from 5:30 to 6:30 pm. There will also be performances throughout the night and a silent art auction. Mirrors of the Mind 1 and 2 Exhibition Art Books will be on sale and light refreshments will be provided.

There is a $10 admission for the general public and $5 for students and LACPA members. The exhibit will remain open for free for public viewing from November 1 through 8 at the gallery. ArtShare LA is located at 801 E 4th Pl, Los Angeles, CA 90013; (213) 687-4278; See the ArtShare LA website for gallery hours at http://artsharela.org/

To find our more about “Mirrors of the Mind 3,” check out the LACPA website http://www.lapsych.org/.