Image Text:
OCAD U will provide students and faculty with compassionate support persons who are educated and trained in mental health and distress in and around campus in over 100 quiet spaces 24/7. Students and faculty in distress or who are dealing with a crisis will be able to talk openly and privately about their thoughts and feelings without the fear of being talked down to or dismissed. - Tania Costa
Artist Bio and Statement
My name is Tania and I am in my third year of Drawing and Painting at OCADU. I often think of myself as a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores the nature of the human form and identity in today’s digital world. This project in collaboration with Health and Wellness has given me the opportunity to engage and discuss with faculty and students, issues and stigmas surrounding mental health and distress in and around OCADU. Through the process of engagement, students were able to voice their needs around the school and find ways in which health and wellness may be able to develop a guide that provides them with useful information regarding mental health and distress. During this process, I learned about the services, training, and programs (around distress, mental health, crisis) that health and wellness offer in order to connect and provide students with the support and knowledge that is needed to learn and excel in an art practice. When we work as artists in communities, it is important to stay mindful of the roles and responsibilities we share with one another to engage and notice.