Yogyakarta, 22 September 2025 - The Pure Art Study Program, Faculty of Fine Arts and Design, ISI Yogyakarta held a guest lecture (Guest Lecture) with the topic "Arts for the Blues: Bridging the Arts and Psychotherapy" on Monday, September 22, 2025. This event took place from 10.00 WIB until completion, located in room BI.2 Auvis on the 1st floor of the Pure Art Department Building.
This activity presented two international academics from the University of Salford, UK, namely Professor Scott Thurston and Dr. Joanna Omylinska-Thurston. Scott Thurston is a Professor of Poetry and Innovative Creative Practice known for her interdisciplinary research on poetry, dance, and artistic practice in the context of creative therapies, and one of the initiators of the concept of the creative therapist. kinepoetics which integrates poetry with movement as an embodied experience. Meanwhile, Joanna Omylinska-Thurston is an Associate Professor in Counseling and Psychotherapy and a counseling psychologist at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, actively researching innovative approaches in mental health services. The two collaborated in developing a model of Arts for the BluesIt is an arts-based intervention designed to support depression treatment by combining artistic practices such as writing, drawing, and movement with modern psychotherapeutic methods.
This guest lecture is an important space for Fine Arts students to expand their understanding of art practice. Through the introduction of the concept of Arts for the BluesStudents were invited to see that art does not stop at aesthetic expression, but also as a scientific approach that makes a real contribution to social and mental health issues. The presentation on the integration between art and psychotherapy presents a new perspective that art research can be developed through an interdisciplinary approach. Students are invited to understand how art can be positioned not only as a creative practice, but also as part of scientific studies that intersect with the fields of health, social, and humanities. From here, students can learn how interdisciplinary art research can be organized and conducted. More than just increasing knowledge, this activity fosters awareness that art has great potential as a bridge between creativity and humanity, while encouraging students to be more critical, innovative, and ready to play an active role in the dynamics of art that continues to grow.
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